Entrepreneurial Skills of TVET Students in South Asian Countries: Recommendations for Improvement in Pakistan

Abstract

The educational role has long been recognized in expediting the socio-economic growth of any country by improving the critical thinking and cognitive skills of students enabling them to capture self-defectiveness and employability. Education not only enhances the efficiency level of an individual by enabling him to play conducive and productive participation in the social fabric. Education incorporated with skills is considered to be an effective tool to pace the social development and economic progression of any country especially developing i.e. South Asian countries as nations having knowledge-based economies are rapidly translating their abilities into national and individualist development. The following study is an effort to identify the level of entrepreneurial skills among the students of Technical-Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Institutes in South Asian countries with a major focus on Punjab (Pakistan). To achieve this aim of the study enrolled students (both male and female) from Technical Education and Vocational Training institutes were selected as the population of the study. In the second stage, 300 students were randomly selected from different departments of these colleges to obtain data.

Data were analyzed by descriptive& infernal statistics to identify the level of skills and perceptions of students, showing that students have a low level of entrepreneurial skills, but also the perceived value they give to education for the development of these skills is very low. Similarly independent sample t-test was used to explore causes of low inclination towards entrepreneurial tendencies.

This paper highlights the significance of TVET Institutions in promoting employability and entrepreneurial skill among students of TVET Institutes of Pakistan in particular and mainly in Punjab.