The only way to produce people like Bill Gates and Steve jobs is to educate aspiring students from the grass root level. Recently, one of the renowned report showed that many graduates worldwide are unemployed. It is observed that the government is also struggling to respond to this trend. It seems that radical transformation is steered at a local level. Change is anchored in the communities where even a smaller range of initiatives can also be focused on. So, the challenge is where these changes can be done.
The idea of integrating entrepreneurship in education system has become increasingly popular these days. Some of the plausible reasons are as follows:
Economic Advantages
With better entrepreneurial understanding and actions, a country’s economic success and development will lead to the higher levels of economic output and productivity amongst the future workforce. Just for an example, one can look at the fast growth of the IT industry, which is becoming a major world force.
Societal Improvement
Many of the social issues, like the problem of unemployment can be easily solved with this idea. Logically the country’s infrastructure improves as a necessity to support economic growth. Only the business minds can change the way of working, improve the standard of living, and break away from the traditional ‘ways of being’ to embrace new technologies and a more fluid working life. This would be a revolutionary movement for the country. Just for an example, one can note the wonderful impact that Bill Gates has made in the USA to finance improvements in schools and communities through his success with Microsoft.
Citizenship
The political understanding of young people can also be improved by the entrepreneurial knowledge as future voters in a vibrant and fast-paced democracy leading to greater equality and opportunities.
Classroom learning
The theoretical aspect of an education system can be improved with the experience of entrepreneurial activities and concepts by linking learning to the real world. Entrepreneurial education, therefore, is important and it matters to students.
In the today’s 21st century, an entrepreneurial education offers the potentials for the personal and community growth which is necessary. So, the institutes need to cultivate an entrepreneurial spirit and understanding in young minds. This can be done by identifying the key skills and qualities that encourage such understandings and infuse them into all areas of the school or college curriculum. Also, teaching entrepreneurship as a discrete activity through specially designed curriculum programs. This gives the experiential constructive approach, which is required to foster skill development and the theoretical understanding. Thus, the students have the opportunity to come up with the original ideas. The identified skills include: taking initiative, intuitive decision making, making things happen, networking, and identifying opportunities, creative problem solving skill, innovating, strategic thinking and personal effectiveness.
Being an entrepreneur is not necessarily about making money, rather, it is about a mindset that develops personality and social identity, investigates personal ambitions and goals. It also enhances confidence and resilience and encourages self-discipline and organization. This allows the reflection on one’s own motivations, which is realistic. Even no uncertainties and risks can stop one from achieving their dreams. Thus, it is an education of the mindset that must be applied in all the aspects of education. A sense of enterprise and opportunity creation is essential to education.
Cultivating a young entrepreneurial mind is moving from the passive learning to the active learning. One of the best ways of doing this is to link it to a strong program of community service where the students are supported to go ‘beyond their comfort zone’. The entrepreneurial spirit can change the society, and indeed it should do, for the betterment of all in society.
