Vemedo J Kezo
Asst. Professor Department of Education St. Joseph’s College Jakhama
Nagaland has 63,733 educated, unskilled and unemployed youth. We have produced through our formal education so much of human resource, and a certain degree of knowledgeable youth, however, we are not able to become economically self sufficient and self reliant. We have become totally dependent for the government to provide job for us. The government jobs are already saturated save for few administrative post reserved through public competitive exams. There are jobs available but not the present type of jobs with pay without work. Everyone is hunting for these types of jobs and naturally government is not in position to create jobs for every individual finishing their formal studies. Therefore, we have to really think seriously and create our own jobs in order to use our creative mind work for our own sustenance.
WHAT IS ENTREPRENEURIAL EDUCATION?
Quoting from Wikipedia, ‘entrepreneurship education provides students with the knowledge, skills and motivation to encourage entrepreneurial success in a variety of settings. Entrepreneurship education is offered at all levels of schooling starting from primary or secondary schools through graduate university programs and self-reliance is reliance on one’s own powers and resources rather than others. It is also called self-sufficiency, self-support, self-sustenance, self-standing, self initiative for any endeavour etc’ It is in a way, empowering students with workable technical know of business insights for enterprising ventures leading for self actualization and self reliance.
People from outside the state come from a business society and they have some degree of collective wisdom of business etiquettes. And by virtue of that they are able to start with humble beginnings but eventually come out with success. It is befitting to analyse at this point of argument to see what are the components of the entrepreneurial development for self reliance? Why locals are not able to come up like their counterparts? The following reasons justify for the same.
OBSTACLES IN ENTREPRENEURIAL DEVELOPMENT
Often we lack objective evaluation of the pros and cons of the business venture that we intent to take. Secondly, we do not have sufficient exposure and knowledge and insight of the market trend. Precisely because of this we fail. Thirdly poor financial understanding and the inability to study to hidden cost involved in the venture. Fourthly, we are not aware of the legal issues involved in setting up of the firm. Fifthly, poor knowledge of streamlining the human resource into its desired output. Sixthly, poor strategy in marketing the product to the potential consumers and not having the connectivity of business comrades. This is one the biggest drawbacks in the development of entrepreneurial spirit in Nagaland. As a result, we are not able to develop any venture and sustain it. People from the main land; see Nagaland as the potential place for business development and they thrive in their business, notwithstanding the multiple tax system.
Reiterating further, the land security is another obstacle in driving our young boys and girls for entrepreneurial development. We are not enterprising and innovative when it comes to survival and economic development. The immigrant community do better and they always put their heart and soul to earn their livelihood and venture into any business. They dare to take any challenge. They are ready to face any risk because they have no land security. They are driven by the maxim do or die.
They also make sure that they help one another to come up by giving them soft loans for establishing their business units.
THE ENTREPRENEURIAL SCOPE
The above points necessitate for the development of entrepreneurial education among the youth for economic self reliance. There are myriad of opportunities in Nagaland for the youngsters to explore and create job for themselves rather than waiting for the government to create a job for them. The following avenues could be just a tip of iceberg on the scope of entrepreneurial activities. Food processing, organic farming, whole sale dealer and retailer, grocery, hardware, toiletry & cosmetics, stationery, electrical and electronic goods, handicraft and tribal motif, manufacturing of musical instruments, floriculture, music production, swine production, poultry farming, fishery, tribal garments & textile, orchard, sports, martial and performing arts, construction works, tourism and hospitality, health care service etc and the litany can go on.
If we can venture out to some of these fields, problem of employment will be minimised to a great extent. It is in this context that we need to train the talented youth to use their creative mind for their self sustenance. Doing what they love and doing what they are good at becomes a key point of reference here. When passion and talent find outlet, things fall in place and the arena of survival is no more a question but only a matter of time to develop.
ENTREPRENEURIAL SKILL AND SELF RELIANCE
For the development of entrepreneurial skills among the youth, we need to start right from the primary education. We are busy in producing result but not empowering students to stand on their own feet. The whole system is chiefly exam oriented and there is little scope of self discovery of risk taking. Even at the graduate level, students are expected to reproduce what the teacher has lectured in the class. There is very little degree of assimilation, synthesizing and application on the part of the Students.
In Nagaland, education is primarily in the hands of the private players and 80% of the students are in private institution. There is stiff competition among the private players and the competition is seen only through the result which is a reflection of one aspect of students’ ability and intelligence. This type of education does not offer much scope for developing enterprising spirit among the students; nay it takes away the creative force of the students. We need to encourage the divergent thinking of the students, propelling their minds for creativity leading to sustainable career and profession.
What we require at this juncture is to promote and encourage students to develop their creative mind and energy to create their own jobs. When jobs are created by the locals the currency is circulated among them and economy is developed as there is exchange of services and goods in terms of currency. Thus in this process of job creation, there is no brain drain to another part of the world but the best minds stay and develop the society. As of now, we are not able to create job for ourselves, some of the best mind move outside the state for their livelihood. Call centres can be one example to quote.
Arguing more, when the young creative mind creates job, there is a positive chain of reaction affecting the society. In this pursuit of self reliance, entrepreneurial venture should be given lot of support and encouragement. The private firms should be encouraged to establish its unit in our state so that there is inspiration and ignition of ideas from one another thereby giving atmosphere for creation of jobs.
CONCLUSION
It’s a high time that parents should also encourage their children to develop their creative mind for their own survival. Anything that appeals to the mind has a commercial value and we need to explore more of that. Most of the time, parents impose their unfulfilled desires on their children not realising that the dreams of their children are otherwise.
