The harsh economic realities in the country today notwithstanding, Stakeholders in the education sector are still confident that proper orientation and entrepreneurial education is the best option to boost national growth.
Educationists insist that deployment of entrepreneurship education across all levels in the education system remains the only strategic step to grow our national economy. They observed that youths represent over 70 percent of the population in the country and unemployment figures among this segment of the population poses a challenge to the development of the country if not tackled.
Experts in a chat with BusinessDay, said re-orientating undergraduates on the need to seek entrepreneurial skills while in school would go a long way to setting in motion plans which would in no distant time, boost the economic situation of the country.
Tolu Odugbemi, former vice chancellor, Ondo State University of Science and Technology, Okitipupa advised on the need for students to learn to employ a good time management technique in their studies, and to also hone their business potential while in school, so that when they graduate, they would be employers of labour rather than job seekers.
Odugbemi pointed out that it is important for undergraduates to be determined and know the aspect of their study that would help enhance their capabilities, while being smart enough to explore the opportunities of generating income around them.
“There is, therefore, no gain-saying that the anticipated growth and development of the Nigerian economy will be a little more realistic if majority of the youth are equipped with entrepreneurial skills, which can help them to be self-reliant, after graduation”, Odugbemi said.
Adeyomi Olumide, an entrepreneur told BusinessDay that entrepreneurship education should focus on developing understanding and capacity for pursuit of entrepreneurial behaviour, skills and attributes in widely different contexts.
According to him, “Economics that embrace entrepreneurial skills in educational facets can be portrayed as open to all levels of development, and not exclusively the domain of the high-flying, growth-seeking business person.”
Olumide therefore, added that when incorporated into the educational system, entrepreneurial skills would provide benefits to society, even beyond their application to business activity.
“Learn to manage your time well so as not to allow your training to suffer,” he advised.
Analysts disclosed that it is an empirical fact that there is high unemployment rate in the country today, adding that entrepreneurship skill garnered in school is a practical proof that graduates with skills don’t lack employment because they are trained to become entrepreneurs who employ others.
They urge undergraduates hoping to build their careers in the any profession need to apply themselves diligently and become dedicated to it.
On his part, Justus Okpara, an entrepreneur opines that it is one thing for us to want to give young people education, to turn them into professional, but we also need people who can be the conscience of the society, we need people who can share their creativity, their insights and enable us envision the kind of society we would like to live in.
He called on government and corporate bodies to continue to support and encourage the teaching and practice of Entrepreneurship education among youths because in his words, “These people are our future and what they have expressed while still in school will showed how people would like to see the future of their country”.
