Rector advocates entrepreneurship education

Dr Philipa Idogho, the Rector, Federal Polytechnic, Auchi, Edo, on Friday advocated the introduction of entrepreneurial studies as a subject in primary, secondary and tertiary institutions in the country.

Idogho made the call at the opening ceremony of the 1st International Entrepreneurship Conference/Capacity Building Workshop, held at Auchi in Etsako West Local Government Area of Edo.

The conference titled: "Building Human Capacity through Entrepreneurship Culture towards Attaining a Sustainable National Development", was organised by the Centre for Entrepreneurship Development (CEDAP), Auchi Polytechnic.

"To be able to realise the true benefit of job creation through entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship study needs to be introduced in school curriculum.

The rector added that entrepreneurship education seeks to provide students with the knowledge, skills and motivation to embrace entrepreneurial challenge in a variety of settings.

Delivering a paper titled: Strategies for Effective Entrepreneurship Delivery, an industrialist, Mr Joel Oyati, said acquisition of entrepreneurial skills by students was the solution to graduate unemployment in the country.

"Many graduates remained unemployed because they lacked entrepreneurial skills to be self-employed. This consequently resulted in many of them waiting for paid employments which are unavailable.

"Through robust entrepreneurship development education, students will be kitted with the necessary entrepreneurial skills that will make them employers of labour, rather than job-seekers’’, he said.

He urged the Federal Government to focus on Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs), toward rejuvenating the country’s economy.

"Government should support SMEs with good policies and adequate funding. Empowering the youth and ordinary citizens of this country through SMEs is one of the various ways to improve the economy and reduce unemployment’’, Oyati said.