EDUCATION
The Concept of Education:
Education means the training of the entire person to
enable him read, write and calculate or be proficient in a given job and to
enable him to fit himself for living in society. Alumode (2005) says that
education is an instrument to nation for nations building. The development of a
country and her natural resources depends on the quality of its human resources
and the quality of human resources in turn depends on education.
The Nigeria philosophy on education
is based on the development of an individual into a sound and effective
citizen; the full integration of the
individual into the community and the provision of equal access to educational
opportunities for all citizens of the country at all level. Education generally
can come in two forms:
Formal
and informal education; formal is acquired in a
class room block which involves how to read and write while informal is
traditional in nature that is passed down from elders or from parents to their
children. The purpose is for socialization, cultural instruction, vocational
training.
The shafting from general education
to specific entrepreneurial education is because the general education has
failed to yield the desired effect of providing employment to graduates which is
the major socio-economic problem in Nigeria and does not also march with the
pace of industrialization in the country.
Entrepreneurship:
It
is of value through fusion of capital risk taking, technology and human talent.
The oxford English dictionary sees
it as one who undertakes an enterprise-acting as intermediary between capital
and labour. David C. McClelland sees him as an individual who takes moderate
risk and brings innovation. He finds now opportunity in business or more
opportunities in an existing business.
There are some characteristic that
contribute to the success of an entrepreneur; Initiative, Goal setting, Risk
taking, High energy level, team builder and motivator good communication skill
and good human relation is also required.
Entrepreneur is classified into four:
1. Innovative
entrepreneur: He introduces new product new techniques and new market are
introduced by this entrepreneur.
2. The
imitative entrepreneur: He imitates innovative entrepreneurs pattern and takes
advantage of it to make his profit.
3. Fabian:
He is a shy and lazy entrepreneur but he follow the set procedure by the
innovative entrepreneur to make his little profit.
4. Drone:
He refuses to copy or use opportunity
that comes on his way.
Entrepreneurship Education
The
united States Colorado educators. Cited in Osuala (2004) defined
entrepreneurship education as a programme that prepares individual to undertake
the formation operation of a small business enterprise. It is a program of
instruction that will enable the beneficiary to be properly equipped to
establish and operate a profit oriented business venture. It enables students
to acquire the skills ideas and managerial abilities and capabilities for self
employment rather than being employed for pay. Abhimanyu (2007) sees
entrepreneurship education as enterprise education
Issues in Entrepreneurship Education
Issue of dissatisfaction with the educational sector
Because the educational system in Nigeria fails to equip young people with
skills to compete in the labour market. It brought about unemployment as
government cannot provide jobs for all the graduates in the country and the
educational system does not prepare them to be self employed. It now lead to
poverty and increase in social vises since youth after graduation will come
back home only to stay idle. For a graduate to start up a business on his own
he must have acquired a skill; getting initial capital and be in an enabling
environment.
Apprenticeship system and
entrepreneurship development Apprenticeship:
Warran cited in Makoju (1999) noted that the system of
personal master- apprentice instruction (artisanat), had its origin or root in
the middle class guides. It can be
defined as mans oldest method of acquiring skills. In the process, the trainees
always watch his master work and then work after him hence. It is the oldest
method of acquiring skill. The trainee always stay with his matter for a
speculated period of time when the master craft man demonstrates with
materials, tools, and produces services or goods. The apprentice(s) watch and
learn the steps processes adopted in the use of tools and equipment until such
a time the apprentice is four fit to have learnt and acquired a marketable
skill.
National directorate of employment (NDE)
The National directorate of employment as an
entrepreneurial training programme was established in 1986. for practical
training in the acquisition of appropriate levels of literacy in manipulative
and vocational skills, as well as ethical moral and positive attitudinal behaviour
needed to function in a chosen field of interest among beneficiary. The
beneficiaries are well exposed to gain wide network of experiences in
information technology capable of assisting them link with successful
entrepreneurs and industries both local and international or even partnership.
Vocational Technical Education
Kolawole (1997) and Nuru (2006) opined that vocational
technical education gives appropriate training in skills abilities and
knowledge both mental and physical to individual to enable them enter and
progress in their chosen trained vocation. Vocational technical education
encompasses training in general education and the development of technical
vocational skills in formal schools setting. (Ezeagu 1999). It is part of
general education that focuses attention on the acquisition of skills that will
fit the recipient into the world of work either as an entrepreneur or an
employee. The major areas of vocational technical education are:
a. Vocation Agriculture
b. Vocational business and office
occupation
c. Distributive education
d. Vocational home economics
e. Technical education (Osuala 1987)
It is this type of education that will help the youth
to take control of their destiny, liberate them from dependency and endowing
them with initiative creativity and critical thinking, entrepreneurial skills,
democratic values and an appreciation of both the work and the world of work.
It is the need for this type of education that made the Federal Ministry of
education in collaboration with the curriculum planner to introduce
entrepreneur as GST in all the Universities since the general education can no
more Fetch graduates employment.
Entrepreneur in Distributive functions
Distribution
The majority of the economic activities today are
centered on distributive activities. The various roles players in channels of
distribution are entrepreneurs both by action and by virtue of their business
activities. The wholesalers and the retailers and even business agents are altogether
entrepreneur by their respective business activities and operation. Their
operations and success are often based on their knowledge and experience of the
trend and terrain of activities that characterizes the operation of the
business. It is therefore essential that students are exposed to the knowledge
and fundamentals of the business activities of the wholesalers, retailers and
agent in the channel of distribution. To improve the apprenticeship and guard
against problems affecting it, the federal state and local government through NEED
should as a matter of urgency and necessity ensure the establishment of
apprenticeship development board (ADB) to be incharge of the system across the
country and the board should ensure that vocational centers, technical and
local craft centres blend practical with tutorial or theoretical lessons.
Forms of entrepreneurship business
organization
Business organization can be defined
as an enterprise set by an individual or group of individuals government or its
agencies for the main purpose of making profit and providing goods and services
for the satisfaction of human wants Oduma (2004) described business as any form
of arrangement that utilizes the basic factors of production to satisfy human
wants on profit motive. The sole entrepreneurship describes those business
ventures set up, owned, and managed by their owners. It is started as a result
of the creative and innovative ideas of the entrepreneur. He bears all the risk
and takes all the profit from the business.
Partnership Entrepreneur: It may be described as a type of business
organization in which two to twenty partners agree legally to set up and manage
a business with the motive of making profit. The two to twenty persons agreed
legally to pool their resources capital or skill together and establish a
business. They always share the profit losses and risk of the business. Jointly
they always arrange a partnership deed covering the details of agreement on
investment pattern, profit shearing, and responsibilities of each partner.
Joint stock Company: It is an association of individuals called
shareholders, who join together for and agree to supply capital divided into
shares that are transferable for caring on a specific business. It consists of
more than 20 persons for carrying any business activities. The finance is
raised by issuing shares, debentures; loans form financial institutions, banks
and private agencies. The liability of shareholders is limited to that capital
only of which share are held. Co-operative societies are started basically to avoid
exploitations of by middleman
Women in Entrepreneurship development
Women
entrepreneurship: If an organization or business is started by a woman or group
of women, it is called women entrepreneurship. It is further defined as an
enterprise owned and controlled by women having a minimum financial interest of
51% of the capital and giving at least 51% of employment to women.
Women
entrepreneur can be classified into:
a. Affluent women entrepreneur
b. Pull factors woman entrepreneurs
c. Push factor women entrepreneurs.
d. rural women entrepreneurs and
e. Self employed women entrepreneurs
The
economic empowerment of women socio-economic opportunities, property right,
political representation, social equality, personal right and also in
developing both the family, market, community, state and the whole nation women
entrepreneur are faced with many problems among which are: Independency, the
financial institution are skeptical about entrepreneurial abilities of women,
women family obligation, they have low level of managerial skill, low-level
risk taking attitude.
Youths and Rural Entrepreneurship
Development:
The youth are special subset of the society and they
form the crop of the future leadership of our nation. The youth are blessed
with vision energy and creativity. The problems of unemployment have deprived a
good number of this group the opportunity to contribute effectively to the
economy of the nation. All round the world many countries are coming to
acknowledge the power of entrepreneurship as a viable solution to multiple
challenges facing the society. Entrepreneur has the promise of poverty
eradication, youth emancipation, and job creation, promoting productivity, and
then building the economy. Entrepreneurs are neither born nor made; potential entrepreneur
can be developed and stimulated to start their own businesses though
appropriate interventions. So we must work to promote environment that promote
entrepreneur development across board.
Problems of youth Entrepreneurship
Development in Nigeria
Onwubiko (2008) noted that
irrespective of the benefits associated with entrepreneurship, there are a lot
of barriers that have prevented youth from fully realizing their potentials and
assuming leadership position in the society:
1. Inadequate
working capital: the availability of
capital is central to the establishment and continued existence of any
enterprise irrespective of the size, focus and objective. It is known that for
an entrepreneur to start up a business, he must have adequate fund. In a situation
where the working capital is inadequate or unavailable, it becomes a problem.
2. Lack
of adequate training: The absence of
adequate training for students on a particular skill to enable them meets the
challenges of the future as leaders of business and change agants is another
problem that affect development of entrepreneur since it have been observed
that the educational curriculum in Nigeria. Focuses more on the theoretical
without a corresponding practical approach.
3. Low
standard of education: the fact that
education is the key to knowledge and that it plays a strong role in forming
burgeoning entrepreneur must be in tune with events around and about him.
4. Absence
of infrastructural facilities: It is a universal believe that certain
infrastructural facilities aid the development of the mind and body and assist
productivity in any environment. The facilities are good road, good water
supply, constant power, access to information and communication technology.
5. Lack
of adequate security: the inadequate security of lives and property and the
helplessness fostered on the citizens by the police that has most often than
not proved incapable of addressing the security by challenges over the years.
6. Other
Economic, social and political factor: Economic factors such as policy
reversals, high and double taxations, difficulty in procuring business
approval, high inflation and unstable exchange rates are some of the areas of
concern for the potential entrepreneur.
Entrepreneur counseling Services
Mankinde (1983) the main purpose of
school counseling is to assist students to explore and understand themselves so
that they can become self-directing individuals. Entrepreneurial counseling is
newly introduced due to the new global attention placed on entrepreneur among
nations of the world. Piercy (2006) noted that the new global attention placed
on entrepreneurship development is a wise approach towards stimulating the
youths and graduates to escape the danger of unemployment and poverty and
contribute immensely through small business start up to the development of
their economy.
The statues of entrepreneurial education
in Nigeria
Entrepreneurship and small scale
enterprise most often, entrepreneurship development is perceived as synonymous
with small scale business enterprises. Both entrepreneurship development is
related to small scale business only by structure and relevance. Augustine et
al (2010) noted that entrepreneurship development aims to enlarge the base of
entrepreneurs in order to hasten the pace at which new ventures are created.
Summary/Conclusion
The recent directive by the Federal ministry of
education on the Study of entrepreneurial education across all discipline in
tertiary institutions in Nigeria is a welcome development in the educational
system. If this directive is properly followed with diligent administrative and
infrastructural provision including instructional delivery strategy in the
subject area. It will definitely assist to re-channel the mind-set of the
youths while in school on the need for self employment through micro business
startup which will help in making education more functional to the recipients.
As level of poverty, frustration and social vices continue to increase among
the unemployed youths; it is believed that compulsory entrepreneurial studies
in Nigeria tertiary institutions will equally be lasting panacea in assisting
them to be self employed.