Close
The landscape of entrepreneurship is gaining momentum these days in Pakistan; it is emerging as a course of central importance and attention. The mindset of young people is also changing with time; rather than approaching conventional ways to establish a career, they are challenging the status quo.
Previously, the domain was just seen as a contribution to the economy,
but now entrepreneurship trends are changing. The ongoing technological
advancement and increased globalization have made entrepreneurship even more significant than ever.
Entrepreneurial education is a necessary block of the entrepreneurial journey. It also plays an important role in socioeconomic development of a nation. It not only minimizes the risk of failures but also creates realistic perceptions about establishing a business.
Considering its significance, Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan also incorporated entrepreneurship at higher education level. There are many universities in Pakistan having a separate Entrepreneurship course as a part of their curriculum, and many students are graduating every year, but we rarely see any startup coming out of any university.
The real problem lies behind the idea of conventional methods of teaching where more emphasis is put on skill-development rather than making it a practical-oriented course. Entrepreneurial education is not about just skills development as they are no longer considered enough. Bringing out the potential to identify opportunities, approach them with a strong strategy, and have enough risk-bearing abilities is important.
According to a survey conducted by the Startup Magazine Team, “ 97.5% of the courses offered in the BBA/MBA degree programs of the business schools are management courses (marketing, finance, human resource management), while only 2.5% courses offered can be categorized as entrepreneurial courses. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that instead of acting as nurseries for budding entrepreneur, most of the business
schools are largely churning out graduates who go on to become salaried
professionals. Our survey indicated that 79.9% of the business students are aiming to pursue job-based careers.”
Most of the business graduates consider getting a job in a multi-national company a dream career. According to a survey by Startup Team, only
about 4.6% students are inclined towards the idea of starting their own businesses.
To bridge the gap between academia and market, HEC is trying to bring out a social change; they are trying to change the mere objective of most business students – a reputable job. HEC is trying to incorporate entrepreneurship at a deeper level now, making students more inclined towards perceiving entrepreneurship as a career option. It is taking initiatives to empower young entrepreneurs by developing entrepreneurship development centres (EDC) and Business Incubation Centers (BIC) within universities to encourage and accelerate in-house potential entrepreneurs and facilitate them in their initial stages. As per the new HEC policy, 20 BICs and 12 EDC have been developed in institutions across Pakistan.
HEC also started establishing Offices of Research Innovation and Commercialization (ORIC). The aim of ORIC is to make research transform an invention into innovation for economic welfare. More than 60+ universities have established ORICs so far, but there’s still a long way to go.
Many higher education institutions have realized the significance of entrepreneurship and changing trends throughout the world. IBA
AMAN-CED is a Centre for Entrepreneurship Development having a broader horizon, not limited to just IBA students. It not only seeks to open new gates of opportunities for economic growth but create diversified career options for young people.
Similarly, LUMS also has its own Centre for Entrepreneurship (LME), an independent centre dedicated to entrepreneurship, to encourage potential entrepreneurship. Iqra University also has contributed to open new horizons for young students. They have recently incorporated another course in their curricula – Entrepreneurship II with the idea of practical learning. The institute also celebrated Global Entrepreneurship Week in 2016 to foster the entrepreneurial culture. Various guest speaking sessions and pieces of training were organized to guide students with hands-on experience.
Besides, institutes acknowledge that a good business is backed by a powerful business plan. In this regard, many business plan competitions are organized across various Pakistani universities. The initiative of creating such a platform is welcoming because it helps young entrepreneurs to showcase their innovation and recognize the viability of their ideas.
Despite each and every effort, there is still a profound gap that needs to be bridged between academia and market. There is not only a need to make young graduates inclined towards establishing the foundation of their own ideas, but also enhance their capability to identify entrepreneurial opportunities from the market, analyze associated risk and commercial viability of a business. Institutes should also focus on shifting towards modifying their teaching pedagogy and imparting knowledge with a more practical approach.
