How to promote entrepreneurship in higher education

The South African government candidates and sharply higher funding mechanisms are being used to enhance the production of scientific results. Now clever ways to promote entrepreneurship and innovation in higher education need to be found, Professor Ahmed Biwa, Durban University of Technology Vice-Chancellor said.

It is also for students to engage in entrepreneurial activity, and the driver of entrepreneurial activity for more opportunities for higher education in universities and business for the strong partnership between local stakeholders, including the "general education" component into the curriculum for the university said.

Vaal University of Technology, a science park in the province of Gauteng Biwa October 19-21, the "Entrepreneurship Education for Economic Renewal," the eighth annual International Conference on Technology Network in South Africa's opening address was delivered in 2015.

South Africa's biggest problems, low economic growth, unemployment and inequality are, Biwa said. Money sent by relatives working in cities - - but villages across the country, people have become reliant on remittances and economic activities of the local economies and communities lift themselves out of poverty, and therefore has the ability to destroy.

Only a lesson in business or work or knowledge of higher economic growth and that it is not about science. "It's very important, but it is more entrepreneurial activity. It is primarily a social activity.

"This is social justice. Self-sustainability of people and communities the ability to produce at a high level - we can make a massive restructuring of the entrepreneurial spirit. One of the problems that we face in the universities to understand how they interact."

The role of the national government

Biwa key to the development of entrepreneurship and innovation in the fields of politics, described three.

as evidenced by the creation of the Small Business Development Department, has been a growing awareness of the need for a broad-based national government level in business, that is.

"Whether it is of what needs to be done is another question. But at least the economic future of small [business] sector is based on the recognition that we have."

The economy of the great importance of the sector, even if there are major changes in employment will lead to erosion. Open access to a computer programmed to act without the knowledge - - for example, "people used to be made advances in machine learning machine that is made to work hard for decades to come.

So it should be an emphasis on small-scale industry, Biwa claim.

"The problem is not money. It's cultural and social development and offers new ways of dealing with people. It's life, you'd better get a grip on your hands, people are saying about the psychology is about."

"I cannot help it has offered, but in business, communities had been engaged in entrepreneurial activities’ not a big problem."

The government should focus on policies that would support this goal - and it looked like a good idea, but the job was to prevent the creation of small businesses, the policy on licensing policies were unhelpful, again; and opportunities for communities dependent on large investments in renewable energy projects in the roll-out of denial.

The role of Councils

Biwa doing such a good job as the Technology Innovation Agency and the Development Bank of South Africa applauded. the challenge now is to move beyond small pilot said.

"We, as imperfect as they are, and get our best practices you need to take them to scale, so we can get the business growing part of the individuals and communities."

Also, even if the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and the Human Sciences Research Council will be worth looking at how to handle the power of science bodies.

For several years, Biwa worked with the Ford Foundation in New York. One of the things he learned was the importance of small grants.

"It's a KwaZulu-Natal R100 million (US $ 7.2 million) grant has something to [the] government to roll out a cooperative - that I was a total disaster, I'm sure you've heard about the project.

"We said to the local communities, it would be completely different if the R100000, you can succeed in activities that are designed to work with the University of Technology in Durban.

"Commitments to this kind of scale in terms of money and in terms of who should be involved in. You can take a year or as soon as a national project, and then a series of problems come together."

Universities, Biwa, PhDs and research development, production was difficult to handle. "It's excellent. But we learned a philosophy of high-quality research and the growth of entrepreneurship and innovation, of course that is not going to lead.

"It is vital to have access to entrepreneurial and innovative society, but they are not enough input. We must have the entrepreneurial gap between where you are going and what you've left the university. This is a gap to fill in order to learn."

Qualified candidates and financial mechanisms to increase scientific results, Bawa said, "and should be looking at innovation and entrepreneurship in the same way."

"We can encourage the development of those areas, there are clever ways? Can we measure in addition to teaching and research, and we want to measure to what extent is the strengthening of entrepreneurship and innovation, higher mean?"

The role of universities

Third-level institutions of higher education have a policy. Biwa each university has its own dimensions and highlighting the work of suggestions based on context, technology, management, the organization has carried out at the University of Durban.

The study area. Durban University of Technology, or more than 30% of all teaching, among other areas soon, exposes students to the philosophy and ethics of a 'general' component has to be.

When I talk to employers of graduates, "I never hear complaints about technical education. I hear about skills, communication skills, work ethic, not written -. Such things are" starting to work with university students in these areas.

Biwa literature "general education" to include. He was speaking to students in the first course in 2011, 7000 and Sakes MDA, an award-winning South African writer, poet and playwright read something reminded me of how much to ask. "No hands went up. How can you build a nation of their own literature, a group of people do not know?"

The "general education" will be a part of teaching entrepreneurship. The history of entrepreneurship, the entrepreneurs moments, and includes areas such as the failure of the South African entrepreneurship. "This is definitely the business will produce, but it is the young people will present their views on entrepreneurship."

Connecting context

Industry, communities, NGOs, community-based groups, trade unions and other - Second, Biwa between the university and its local context there is a need to build a better relationship, he said.

"The university can not decide on business activity in isolation. You sit at a table and" I think it's a good idea to place a candle making factory "can not say. The only way you can do this through engagement."

Ideas partnership between business people need to get out of the university and outside it. "It's like the kind of subjects to divide itself as the world, to engage in interdisciplinary work means that you need. You run the interface between the university and the university within the context of where you are."

Durban University of Technology has created 12 research centers, and each of them with different audiences' dynamic interface "is required." This is an avenue for us to have this conversation.

"This kind of engagement opens up other possibilities. It could be joint meetings between the university and the people in the industry say people? Can be taught together? We could be mentoring a student?"

Entrepreneurial experience

Third, Biwa continued opportunities for students of the university had to deal with business experience. His work on projects for foreign university scholars, students, and it is a foreign company, a "software factory" created.

"The goal is to get the students involved in real life." The work counts toward students' work, and there is a sign: ". You have to work in an environment shaped by the opportunity to work"

Also, universities, businesses need to be more astute in dealing with the integrated learning placements. "Young people are not only menial tasks. They have to be people who are working on new products."

university, continue Biwa, only to be engaged in entrepreneurial activity and not part of the formal education "to all aspects of operations," "second teaching 'or outside the classroom through teaching.

"We all student organizations should be explained, 'we should have come to you, and we look forward to if we support you, we expect to be in business."

"I can vouch that this is a great passion for the business is not anything. I answered every student has an idea. How many of those ideas will be an innovation or entrepreneurial activity, is another question. The question of how to support and mentor."