Karnataka's Task Force suggests mandatory entrepreneurship education beginning in Class IX.

The Karnataka Skill, Entrepreneurship and Start-ups Task Force has advocated implementing an obligatory Entrepreneurial Mindset Curriculum (EMC) in school curriculum commencing with Class 9 in the academic year 2022-23. 

According to the curriculum, students should be able to connect with entrepreneurs and learn from their experiences, as well as participate in problem-solving team projects and student-led activities to improve their communication skills. Among the other ideas that were discussed was a web tool powered by a chatbot for career explorations, mini research projects in entrepreneurship and the allocation of seed money to students in Class X and PUC to conduct business initiatives in groups.

Task Force Chairman S. Selvakumar, IAS, presented the report to the Minister for IT/BT, Skill Development, Entrepreneurship & Livelihood Dr. C.N. Ashwath Narayan, Minister for Higher Education, Government of Karnataka, on Tuesday, recommended that DSERT develop a curriculum in collaboration with an NGO “Udhyam Learning Foundation”, which has successfully implemented it in the curriculum of the schools of Delhi and other states. The minister further stated that it is necessary to implement EMC in the academic curriculum for one period everyday in all schools, from Classes IX to PUC, to develop entrepreneurial skills at the younger age.

District-based employment 

Building entrepreneurship ecosystems in districts to drive local jobs, developing digital skills and an entrepreneurial mindset in schools and colleges and launching a future digital jobs initiative for engineering colleges outside of Bengaluru clusters are some of the task force's other key recommendations.

It was suggested that the Karnataka Research and Innovation Authority (KRIA) be established as a nodal body to boost the state's incubation environment, similar to Israel's Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs). 

"The report has been created after getting comments from all stakeholders regarding how things may be implemented realistically," Mr. Narayan told reporters after receiving the 104-page study. The taskforce was formed in April 2021 with the objective of assisting adolescents with skill development and entrepreneurship. 

"We produced the study keeping in mind the actions that need to be implemented to create one crore jobs in the next ten years," Mr. Selvakumar added. 

An example of a survey 

It also suggested conducting a sample survey to assess the status of digital skills among students in the state, introducing digital skills for school and college students through gram panchayat libraries and instituting a mandatory curriculum on entrepreneurship mindset development beginning in class nine. 

It has requested that career counselling be made a required aspect of education beginning in grade eight, as well as the development of a central career guidance cell at the state level to provide consistent content and curriculum for career counselling. 

It also suggested establishing Enterprise Facilitation Centers (EFCs) at the district level and ensuring that EFCs facilitate market access, assistance in obtaining investment from government schemes, assistance in obtaining investment from angel investors and soft loans from banks for aspiring entrepreneurs. 

In order to address skill shortages and demand for skilled labour in the developing digital economy sector, the taskforce has proposed the creation and implementation of tailor-made skill courses for graduate students. 

Opportunities for internships 

It has also advised that the Karnataka Digital Economy Mission create internship opportunities for graduates in future skills with firms such as Infosys, Microsoft and IBM, among others (KDEM). 

Concerning Agriculture and Agritech, the taskforce has advised that Agri and RDPR Universities, as well as Farmer Produce Organizations (FPOs), undertake regular capacity development programmes for FPO executives in collaboration with State B-schools. 

The Task Force established a goal of creating 2-3 million employment in digital skills and tech-based businesses in Karnataka by 2025.

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