Capacity Building For Entrepreneurship Education: The Challenge For The Developing Nations

Abstract

Entrepreneurship is one of the key drivers for development in any society. The level of awareness of individual members, of a society, of their capacity to contribute to the economic, social and political development of their society is a key factor in development. A process of creating this self-awareness and the development of individual capacity for creative and innovative thinking, decision making and action/policy implementation should be an integral constituent of what people learn in schools, colleges and universities. The ability of the educational system to provide such training for individuals depends on the availability of the requisite capacity in terms of personnel and other facilities for appropriate transfer of knowledge, skills and building of mindset. Thus, this paper focuses on ways for developing the capacity appropriate for providing entrepreneurship education at all levels of education particularly in Africa. This paper is of the view that a wholesome education integrating entrepreneurship as part of the curriculum will provide the catalytic platform for jumpstarting development in all spheres of life, particularly in the developing world. The paper tries to find out how capacity building for entrepreneurship education has been pursued with particular reference to Nigeria, and opine how best this can be achieved in the light of the perceived lack of entrepreneurial approach to doing things, including in the public service. Also, the low level of entrepreneurship education as exemplified in the number of entrepreneurship courses offered in our Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) and the absence of entrepreneurship as courses of study that award certificates, diplomas and degrees in this part of the world are part of the factors necessitating this paper. Part of the focus of the paper also includes the possibility of inclusion of entrepreneurship in the educational curricula at all levels of education, establishing faculties of entrepreneurship studies in the colleges, polytechnics and the universities. It is obvious that these cannot be achieved without the necessary capacity in terms of personnel and other facilities that facilitate learning. Thus we are canvassing for a holistic approach to developing capacity for this, which should include training and retraining of personnel, including faculty members in the colleges, polytechnics and universities. There should also be a collaborative effort in terms of partnership with universities in the West where entrepreneurship education has taken root and are more developed. Such partnership should also include the private sector and the non-governmental organizations. The increasing economic and social challenges, especially in the developing countries, makes all this imperative.