—Md Mizanur Rahman—

Youth entrepreneurs play a vital role in mitigating unemployment and the economic challenges of a developing country like Bangladesh, where approximately 30% of the population is young. But, unfortunately, in terms of the Global Youth Development Index (YDI) 2020, published by the Commonwealth Secretariat, out of 184 countries, Bangladesh’s rank is 126th. Besides, as per the Global Entrepreneurship and Development Index (GEDI) 2024, Bangladesh ranks 132nd out of 137 countries. Finally, considering the Global Innovation Index (GII), in 2024, Bangladesh’s rank is 106th among the 133 featured economies.

These statistics give a clear picture that, in terms of entrepreneurial mindset and innovation, our youths are far behind the global average.

According to a report by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) Labour Force Survey 2023, 7.2% of the country’s 26.76 million young labor force aged 15 to 29 years are unemployed, accounting for approximately 1.94 million individuals. More precisely, 78.9% of the total unemployed population comprises youth aged 15-29 years, of which 31.5% completed tertiary education, 14.9% completed higher secondary education, and 21.3% completed secondary education.

Despite our youth’s full potential, Bangladesh’s traditional education system, particularly its entrepreneurship courses, makes our students job seekers instead of entrepreneurs. Thus, urgent reform is essential to improve the entrepreneurship education system and overcome this crisis through innovative teaching techniques.

The above statistics prove that Bangladesh’s traditional lecture-based teaching methods for entrepreneurship courses are insufficient for developing students’ entrepreneurial mindset and skills, including their creativity, risk-taking, and problem-solving abilities. Thus, instead of traditional teaching, urgent attention should be given to implementing the following innovative teaching techniques in entrepreneurship education, which can significantly enhance student engagement and entrepreneurial mindset development.

TEACHING THROUGH REAL AND PRACTICAL PROBLEMS

Students are introduced to real business problems instead of classroom lectures, mostly from domestic industries like agriculture, handicraft, or ICT. For example, students can be tasked with developing a cost-efficient e-commerce website for any domestic or local company. This real learning allows for critical thinking, teamwork, and innovation, keeping pace with Bangladesh’s growing digital economy.

LOCAL CASE-BASED TEACHING

Educating through elaborate case studies of successful Bangladeshi business and entrepreneurial people will help the students correlate concepts with practice. Using local examples, which are culturally acceptable, introduces entrepreneurship as something real and achievable.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP BOOTCAMPS AND HACKATHON

Short, intense bootcamps can be arranged, wherein the student teams work on startup ideas within 48-72 hours. For instance, the University can arrange a “Startup Hackathon” to discuss sustainable business solutions. This encourages rapid ideation, collaboration, and pitching, all of which benefit entrepreneurship challenges in the real world.

TEACHING THROUGH COMMUNITY-BASED PROJECTS

Students are assigned to rural areas to identify problems and devise small enterprises as solutions. One such project could be implementing a solar-power-driven mobile ice storage system for local farmers. These activities integrate business school with social entrepreneurship, an emerging field in Bangladesh.

SIMULATION GAME AS A TEACHING METHOD

Business simulation programs like “SimVenture” can be adapted with local content so university students can practice managing small garment factories or delivery enterprises. The students experience the management of businesses, financial management, and handling crises in a simulated environment.

Such innovative teaching methods allow Bangladeshi graduates to enhance their entrepreneurial mindset. By incorporating the above innovative teaching methods, universities can produce graduates who can start and continue successful businesses.

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Dr Md Mizanur Rahman, is an Associate Professor at BRAC Business School, BRAC University.