Govt. Planning to Include ‘Entrepreneurship’ in School Curriculum, says Tom Jose

KOCHI:
In a major initiative to boost early-stage incubation in the state, the government plans to include entrepreneurship in school curriculum with the help of Kerala Academy for Skills Excellence (KASE), a top official said here today.
In addition, efforts would be made to identify people with entrepreneurial skills and provide every help to set up their business venture, said Tom Jose, Additional Chief Secretary, Labour and Skills Department. Jose, who was visiting the stalls set up at India Skills Kerala (ISK) 2018, a three-day event jointly organised by Industrial Training Department and KASE at Marine Drive here, also stated that the government is planning to adopt innovative designs displayed in the ISK competition in its various departments.
“The government will definitely think about it provided the designs are in harmony with the official rules prescribed in this regard,” he pointed out.
Stressing the need for creating awareness on the significance of entrepreneurship, he said, “Our biggest hurdle is we do not have a generation who understands the significance of skill development and the innumerable possibilities of entrepreneurship. That has to be changed. For that, the concept of ‘job hunting’ should be replaced with ‘job creation’. This is a must.”
He added: “When we look at successful economies, we could see that those countries which support entrepreneurial talents are making progress by leaps and bounds. A classic example is the US, a country which has many teenage millionaires. But if you ask if there’s a teenage millionaire in India, the answer would be a big ‘No’. It is all too apparent.”
Citing a study on the youths in Kozhikode and Ernakulam which revealed that most of them wanted jobs and were not receptive to the idea of starting their own venture,  Jose said such an attitude has to be changed. “We are ready to provide them every support but the attitude must change,” he stressed.
In order to instill confidence in the students pursuing technical education, he said the government would give due consideration to a suggestion that the winners of such technical competitions should be awarded grace marks to encourage them to pursue their dreams of entrepreneurship with greater vigour.