Indian council of agricultural research introduced a programme in 2006 named Experiential Learning Programme aimed at equipping undergraduates with entrepreneurial skills. Since, its inception factors influencing the utility have not been studied, hence this study is aimed at finding those factors. An explanatory study aimed at finding out among students and teachers which institutional and curriculum related factors have influenced the utility of the programme. The findings revealed that the respondents perceive technical factors to have influenced the utility of programme, while administrative factors were perceived by teachers only. Significant differences and no significant differences were found for perceived factors influencing utility of experiential learning programme by students and teachers, respectively in relation to discipline. The use of most teaching methods was perceived to have been often by students and rare by teachers. Significant differences were noted on perceived utility by students for all the teaching methods except for project method, and for some methods as perceived by teachers. Extra-curricular activities were perceived to have been rarely used by both respondents while significant differences were noted on perceived use of some extra-curricular activities by students. No support provided to graduates who venture into self-employment by institutions. Efforts need to be made to improve on institutional factors in general and include extra-curriculum activities in particular.
Youth unemployment is a global concern, attributed among others to lack of appropriate skills. Skills-focused education has been found to be an appropriate tool to fill the void. Indian Council of Agricultural Research heeded to this by introducing a programme in 2006 named Experiential Learning Programme the aim which was to equip undergraduates with entrepreneurial skills. The programme has been running for a decade since its inception, hence its evaluation comes at a rightful time. An ex-post facto study aimed at finding out among students and teachers how useful the programme had been in imparting entrepreneurial skills and competencies as well as to enable students to go through all entrepreneurial education stages was conducted in six agricultural universities in North India. The findings revealed that the programme was perceived useful by both students and teachers in imparting entrepreneurial skills, entrepreneurial competencies and allowed students to go through all stages of entrepreneurial education. Significant differences of usefulness of the programme as perceived by students from different disciplines were noted. Generally there were significant differences on perceived utility on the basis of personal characteristics of respondents, except for students’ sex and age. Students had little intention of venturing into self-employment, whereas teachers indicated that none of their graduates had established an enterprise. Even though the programme had been perceived useful in equipping graduates with the necessary entrepreneurial skills and competencies, graduates were not yet motivated to venture into self-employment. Therefore, there is need to review the programme and provide start-up fund at institutions which can assist students to go through all stages of entrepreneurship education as well as lure graduates into self-employment.
Education, either formal or non-formal has been viewed as the pillar for human development. Central to the education system is the curriculum which determines what is taught, how it is taught what resources are needed for attaining its objectives. Indian Council of Agricultural Research introduced a programme in 2006 on Experiential Learning Programme aimed at equipping undergraduates with entrepreneurial skills. Alongside the programme, a curriculum was developed to instill entrepreneurial knowledge, attitudes, skills and culture among agricultural undergraduates. This has study undertaken to evaluate the performance of comprehensive Experiential Learning Programme curriculum. The curriculum has been in vogue since a decade hence its evaluation comes at a rightful time. An exploratory research study was conducted in six purposively selected agricultural universities in North India among students and a desk review aimed at finding out how comprehensive the curriculum was. Findings revealed that majority of students were aged between 20 and 24 years, first born, rural background, general caste and males except for home science which had 100% females. Course content was generally perceived to be relevant and adequate. The credit hours showed that the curriculum emphasized on both knowledge and skills development. The courses with the curriculum provided basic knowledge and skills on management, economic concepts, communication, marketing, technology, numeracy, legal aspect, support system and research skills which are needed for entrepreneurship development. To continue instilling entrepreneurial knowledge, skills and attitudes among agricultural graduates the curriculum should therefore be maintained.
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