There is a lot of discussion about employment opportunities for today’s youth. While it is important to plan around job creation, both in the public and the private sectors, the advent of automation, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and so on is bound to take away thousands of jobs in the lower strata of the pyramid.

Traditionally, independent India has developed a culture of its youth lining up for jobs in the government or the private sector. Creating jobs for themselves (and others) may not be the thought that crosses minds organically.

However, there is no denying the fact that in the present state of India, entrepreneurship will play a crucial role in socio-economic development and the generation of employment opportunities. The traditional approach of our education system has been oriented towards knowledge and skill development, which spawns job seekers, not job creators. I am not implying that business owners do not need such skills, but that they also need exposure to complexities that go much beyond.

So it is imperative to fine-tune our education system to contribute to the nation’s economy by ensuring that its graduates are contributors as well as leaders. It is my strong opinion that we should not wait for the youth to complete their formal training and education before providing them with entrepreneurial exposure. The sooner it starts, the more exposure can a budding entrepreneur get.

Entrepreneurship is a subject that will not only encourage self-employment but also help the students to develop a positive personality along with a sense of self-reliance and responsibility. Even if our youth do not go forward to set up their own business, exposure to entrepreneurship helps them understand the nuances of business executives and appreciate the decisions taken. This helps them stay in line with the company vision, with grounded expectations, thus ultimately helping progression in their career.

In VFS, we have a structured methodology to orient our women customers on entrepreneurship. We also expect them to take the learnings home to their children, the next generation. This is important as, with their mothers as examples, many of the children of our customers may want to be self-employed. The education received informally from the previous generation will help them grow faster.

Lastly, even if the formal education system does not have options to study the skills of entrepreneurship, I would urge my young friends and their parents to try and find avenues. Be it giving tuition, running small-scale social entrepreneurship programs, or even trying out the available games on entrepreneurship, please put in some serious effort and use the net to learn more about the business.

Let us not wait to complete our formal education, but get work experience before diving into the entrepreneurial journey. Try them in parallel wherever possible.