Encouraging BoP Entrepreneurs through Innovative Pedagogy in Higher Education

The problems: High unemployment among university graduates Poverty-related issues: – URBAN: healthcare, poor-quality housing, poor sanitation, few jobs – RURAL: low productivity on small-holder farms, limited/no access to electricity/clean water/healthcare

One solution: HE programmes supporting youth-led entrepreneurship tackling BoP markets – Harness energy and imagination of young people to attack local problems – Create employment How to give young people the skills needed: – Entrepreneurship education using innovative pedagogical methods

Innovative vs. traditional pedagogy? Traditional Classroom- and textbook-based One-to-many; teacher- centric One ‘right’ solution; ‘fact-based’ Disconnected from practical realities Theory-centric Innovative Mixed environments Sometimes learner- centric Many possible answers Based in practice, field- work Theories applied to real- live problems Learning through play

Innovative vs. traditional pedagogy? Traditional Classroom- and textbook-based One-to-many; teacher- centric One ‘right’ solution; ‘fact-based’ Disconnected from practical realities Theory-centric Innovative Mixed environments Sometimes learner- centric Many possible answers Based in practice, field- work Theories applied to real- live problems Both models can be productively applied

Challenges to HE pedagogy on entrepreneurship in Afghanistan and Nepal Lack of entrepreneurial values (prefer public sector/job security) How to reach/encourage female students Lack of ‘basic skills’ Bringing theory to life Political instablity/security problems Providing young people with role models Women-only working groups Give students opportunities to run ‘safe’ businesses (e.g. school cafeteria) Case studies of local successful entrepreneurs (with face-to-face interaction)

Some examples of innovative entrepreneurship pedagogy Singing and dancing Shocking Cooking events (women) Working on Live problem of an entrepreneur ‘Safe’ Cases