Why Schools Should Teach Entrepreneurship

The year 2023 is the year of remarkable change for India. According to IMF report, not only we are one of the fastest growing economies in the world but also we have become the most populous country in the world.

Considering the fact that development of any society hinges on the development of human capital, it is critically important that our education system  invests in the right model of education. The general refrain about any education system being does it provide sufficient employability skills to students. According to a World Economic Forum report, only 1 in 10 graduates coming of our Indian education system are employable.

The question is why?

A quick look at the employability skills provide the answer. These are: 

(1) analytical thinking

(2) innovation

(3) complex problem solving

(4) team-work

(5) resilience

(6) communication and 

(7) technology use.

The harder question for education leaders to ask is whether regular schooling is able provide these skills? 

There are multiple ways in which these skills can be developed. However, from a body of knowledge perspective, entrepreneurship as a subject is able to encompass each of these skills that can be integrally termed “life skills”. Entrepreneurship education teaches essential life skills such as creative approach to problem solving, work on real world solutions, develop opportunity seeking mindset through trial and error, collaboration and working with a team, develop resilience by dealing with uncertainty and so on. Entrepreneurship training opens entrepreneurs mind to find pathways to acquire critical resources, enhances innovation ability, develops an innovative personality, and builds multi-level learning channels by integrating various knowledge and value systems.

Educationist know that long term school education is same training your mind for muscle building. Practise makes the muscles perfect. The same holds true with entrepreneurship education. It works in subtle ways. But there is no short-cut to practise. It takes time to build and carve a good entrepreneurial muscle. Studies have proven that it is possible to do so with a good entrepreneurship education program. 

Latest research also conclusively proves that entrepreneurship education has strong influence on entrepreneurial intentions. With each passing day, as the jobs are getting limited, entrepreneurship can be seen as a significant career option among the current generation. The fact that entrepreneurship contributes significantly to employment creation and economic growth, educationists and policy-makers alike, including the New Education Policy 2020 seeks to motivate young minds to get exposure of the nuances of entrepreneurship. 

Entrepreneurship in 21st century is what science was in 20th century.