| PROGRAM CODE: | 19-20/WEB19 (Webinar) |
| DATE AND TIME: | 21 May 2020 9:30am Afghanistan | 10:00am Maldives, Pakistan | 10:30am India, Sri Lanka | 10:45am Nepal | 11:00am Bangladesh, Bhutan | 11:30am Myanmar | 12:00nn Thailand | 1:00pm China, Malaysia, Mongolia, Philippines, Singapore | 3:00pm Papua New Guinea | 5:00pm Fiji |
| TARGET GROUP: | Teachers, administrators and practitioners of TVET |
Entrepreneurship in TVETby Dr. Suresh Kumar Dhameja
Entrepreneurship, with all its attendant ingredients, is one of the best means of triggering economic and social development. The present day developed countries like USA, Canada, England, Germany, South Korea, Japan etc. owe much of their economic development to enterprising people of their respective countries. Developing and underdeveloped countries, having seen the history of economic development in developed countries, are now conscious of the significance of entrepreneurship education. Entrepreneurship education in most countries of the world is being increasingly tried to promote local entrepreneurship and accelerating the pace of small enterprise development.
Research studies conducted in USA and other countries suggest positive link between economic development and entrepreneurship. Similarly, systematically conducted research studies are much less available in developing and underdeveloped countries. But absence or lack of such studies does not suggest that such a positive relationship does not exist in developing and underdeveloped countries. Developing economies like India, Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and many other South Asian countries have always considered small business sector as an important sector of economy.
Entrepreneurship being an intangible factor is the moving force and development is the consequence. It has an important role in the context of developing nations which are confronted with major socio-economic problems. Entrepreneurship can play an important role not only in the industrial sector of a country but in the farm and service sectors also. Most of the developing countries in Asia Pacific region are being attacked by baffling problems of over population, unemployment, under-employment, poverty and the like. Entrepreneurship is consistently equated with the establishment and management of small business enterprises and setting up these units is the solution to these baffling problems. Concentration of economic power, regional imbalances, exploitation by monopolists, and many other giant problems find their solutions in the development of small scale enterprises which is another name of entrepreneurship in the developing countries.
Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) system of any country represents the backbone of all industrial activity. The TVET policies and programs designed specifically for entrepreneurship promotion can greatly affect the growth of entrepreneurs and also contribute towards a higher form of entrepreneurship which is technically more superior. This view has important implications for TVET system planners and policy makers.
Our TVET systems have not given adequate consideration to training of potential entrepreneurs. Inputs for self-employment and entrepreneurial development are either not yet provided or are provided in unstructured fashion. Majority of graduates from TVET institutions in Asia Pacific Region are unable to find employment in the wage economy because of limited opportunities and therefore tend to either remain idle or opt for underemployment. However, a better alternative is self-employment. This often requires skill as an entrepreneur, that is, the ability to identify a product or service for which there is a demand, and to bring it to the market place at a price that buyers will pay.
Thus, there is a need to embed the entrepreneurial skills and competencies in the students of our TVET system. It will go a long way in fulfilling the aspirations of those who have the desire and potential for setting up their independent ventures, but are unable to do so, as necessary training to be successful in entrepreneurial ventures is not yet being provided. Promotion of entrepreneurship in the TVET will also accelerate the process of economic and social development, resulting in growth acceleration.
A model has been proposed which, if implemented, in the TVET system can greatly augment the supply of entrepreneurs. The technique is through adoption of value innovation in the TVET sector which will be achieved by driving down the un-employability of graduates while simultaneously enhancing the entrepreneurial inputs. For implementing the value innovation, a four action framework resulting in Create-Raise-Reduce-Eliminate Grid has been suggested. This model has been proposed for a three-year diploma programme in engineering/technology, but can be suitably altered for programmes of higher or lower duration.
- To improve the self-employability of TVET graduates
- To embed entrepreneurial inputs in TVET in a structured fashion
- To orient the teachers/instructors/researchers/policy makers/curriculum developers of TVET for multiplier effect
To join the webinar, each participant should have the following:
- Minimum 2Mbps Broadband Internet
- Desktop/Laptop Computer or Mobile Device with Earphones and Mic
- Chrome Browser or any HTML5 Compliant Browser
- Google Account (Gmail) for Hangouts Meet
