Veteran Indian Prof Says Entrepreneurship Course at School Level May Be A Bit Much Dr. Paritosh Basu of Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies encourages the scope of including one paper or a fifty mark test on entrepreneurship as a matter of knowledge for commerce and science programs
By Sneha Banerjee •
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Entrepreneurs are not born over night! Whether it's a dormitory of Stanford University or the benches of IIMs and IIT in India, the idea of entrepreneurship is conceived at these nook and corners of institutes.
Entrepreneur India asked Dr. Paritosh Basu of Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies about the relevance of entrepreneurship as a course at college and school level of education.
Dr. Basu, who is the Senior Professor and Chairperson (LAW) at NMIMS Mumbai, said that his institute has a dedicated "entrepreneurship cell' for honing future entrepreneurs by organizing events, conducting projects and via external engagement programmes.
Basu said that students come up with innovative startup ideas during the tenure of their course at NMIMS and while pursuing their syllabus he has seen them work alongside on their ideas.
Should entrepreneurship as a course be included in school level syllabus?
"I personally feel that right from standard 10th and 12th level at schools, if we inculcate the concept of entrepreneurship then perhaps the basic of the students will remain under developed. Of course, there can be a scope of including one paper or a fifty mark test on entrepreneurship as a matter of knowledge for commerce and science programs," Dr. Basu said.
"I am not totally against the idea of starting a business program or having a fifty mark exam about entrepreneurship and startups but having a full-fledged stream or course on startups/entrepreneurship at class 10th and 12th level maybe a little too much," Basu emphasized
Startups withdrawing employment offers
On asking about what goes through the students' mind when they hear about startups like Flipkart withdrawing offer letters, Dr. Basu said that it sets a very discouraging environment in the system.
"For a student who has spent 16 to 17 hours every day for two years, who themselves want to work at startups over regular MNCs, and work towards establishing it, a withdrawal throws a lot of water into his understanding. It becomes a very difficult situation for such ambitious students," he said.
Dr. Basu was one of the keynote speakers at the World Startup Expo conducted by Cocoon Ventures in Bangalore.
