U'khand schools to hone entrepreneurial skills

‘Catch them young’ is the new mantra of the Uttarakhand government, to develop entrepreneurial skills among the youth, especially students.

As the rush for jobs grows in the hill state, the state government has launched a multi-pronged strategy to develop such skills among the youth, to enable them to set up their own units.

To begin with, the state government will shortly introduce course material on entrepreneurship for students in Classes nine and 10 in all government schools. Initially, students will be internally assessed in this subject. Private schools will also be asked to introduce such text books.

A team of experts comprising S K Gaur and Arun Kuksal of the Narendra Nagar-based State Council for Educational Research and Training (SCERT) has already completed the syllabus and text books and submitted them to the state education board for final approval.

“We are hoping that this syllabus will be introduced from the next session,” said Gaur. The experts took nearly three years to complete this work.

In class nine the students will be taught about understanding local needs and how to identify them in Uttarakhand. Besides, students will get to understand industries based on local resources such as lantana and medicinal plants.

Similarly, for class 10, the new syllabus talks about understanding the development of industries in Uttarakhand. Other chapters include identifying entrepreneurial opportunities in Uttarakhand, getting loans from banks for setting up businesses, industrial management and important projects in Uttarakhand.

The department of industries has also launched an exercise to take the views of industry and experts on the issue. An interaction session has already been held in Dehradun, with leading lights from industry and the National Institute for Entrepreneurship Development, the Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship and the Azim Premji Foundation.

“We are of the view that the syllabus in our schools should be such that they get inspiration to become entrepreneurs,” said S C Nautiyal, additional director in the state’s department of industries. Two vocational institutes have also been set up in the hill region, where the youth generally do not aspire to set up their own units.

“The problem with the youth living in the hill region is that they are mostly from poor backgrounds and only scramble for modest jobs in hotels and industries. It is very necessary to introduce such courses at the school and college levels, where they can learn lessons and get inspiration to set up businesses,” said Pankaj Gupta, president of the Industries Association of Uttarakhand (IAU)