Govt outlines business ideas plan for students in Delhi public schools, part of Entrepreneuship Mindset Curriculum | Latest News Delhi - Hindustan Times
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Govt outlines business ideas plan for students in Delhi public schools, part of Entrepreneuship Mindset Curriculum

By, New Delhi
Sep 20, 2021 12:19 AM IST

On Thursday, the state education directorate issued directives for teachers and principals on implementing the programme in the city’s public schools for higher secondary students

Nearly two weeks after deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia announced the Business Blasters programme under the state’s Entrepreneuship Mindset Curriculum (EMC), heads of all Delhi government schools have received guidelines on how to implement the programme for classes 11 and 12 students in their institutions.

Launched in 2019, EMC classes allowed students of these classes to develop business ideas and create entrepreneurial ventures. (REUTERS)
Launched in 2019, EMC classes allowed students of these classes to develop business ideas and create entrepreneurial ventures. (REUTERS)

Launched in 2019, EMC classes allowed students of these classes to develop business ideas and create entrepreneurial ventures using 1,000 that each student received from the government as seed money. On September 6, the Delhi government confirmed that it will increase this funding to 2,000 per student this year as announced during the state budget in March this year.

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On Thursday, the state directorate of education (DoE) issued directives for teachers and principals on implementing the programme in the city’s public schools for higher secondary students.

“All participating students can receive seed money of 2,000 per student. Teams will use this seed money with a clear objective to either earn profit or create social impact,” the department said in its circular.

Schools have been asked to ensure that brainstorming, research, presentation of business ideas, and finalisation of projects are done according to the prescribed timetable, since the seed money disbursal process will be completed by October 15.

While brainstorming and team formation should be done over one to two periods each, discussing business ideas should be completed in three to four periods, and developing the idea after research should be done in another three to four periods, according to the timetable. The project should be implemented in four weeks of receiving the seed fund.

Students have also been asked to define if they are designing a product or a service, decide upon the budget, build the product, create a marketing plan, and prepare a presentation for a school panel.

All Class 11 and 12 students will be eligible to participate and pitch their business ideas, after which 1,000 teams will participate in inter-school competitions at the district and state level.

“The Top 100 projects are provided an opportunity to showcase their business ideas in an expo style exhibition. The top 10 teams will get to pitch their ideas to potential investors,” the circular added.

The education department has also prepared videos to orient the students on different aspects of the programme including developing the business idea, initial presentation, refining and implementing it, and school-level presentation.

Sapna Yadav, director of the EMC project, said, “During the pilot conducted earlier this year, we realised students have ideas for business-based profitable ventures and innovative ideas and services for social impact and change. We also saw that students had critical feedback on other projects which encouraged us to go for peer review model for their projects this time. We’ve also made videos explaining the idea behind these exercises and plan to share it with parents as well.”

Students can form teams and pool their seed money to start the project. For now, a maximum of 10 students can come together as a team. After formation of team and selection of team leader by the students, these teams will work to come up with one business idea which needs to be “useful, practical, profit or social impact, and growth possible.”

“Team will discuss these and shortlist two to three problems or needs, that the whole team would like to pursue. Teams can identify if they have any special talents and business ideas which can be built around them,” DoE circular said.

After identifying the problem, students have been asked to identify the target group and “think of solutions (business ideas) to address the problems.” The team members have also been asked to discuss the solutions with the target group before working on it. The directive asks has a list of questions on the target groups and other areas that students need to answer to their teachers to achieve clarity on the project. After finalizing the business idea, students will be required to give a presentation on their idea to the class and receive feedback. Teachers have been instructed to allow two “positive” things about the presentation and “one area of improvement.”

Schools have also been asked to ensure safety protocols. “Students should keep their parents and teachers updated about their movements and whereabouts. Students should not go to a stranger’s house or any other closed unfamiliar space. Limit your meetings to a public or familiar location,” the DOE directive stated.

Heads of schools are also asked to orient parents on the programme and obtain NOCs from them by October 15. Principals can also rope in local entrepreneurs, alumni, and students pursuing management or entrepreneurship courses for their higher education as business coaches to guide the students

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    Kainat Sarfaraz covers education for Hindustan Times in Delhi. She also takes keen interest in reading and writing on the intersections of gender and other identities.

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