Lawmaker urges schools to teach entrepreneurship skills

A House of Representatives member, Malam Sha'aban Sharada, has urged secondary schools to teach entrepreneurship skills so as to inculcate the spirit of self-reliance in their students.

Sharada, who represents Kano Municipal Federal Constituency, made the call on Thursday in Kano at the grand opening and maiden symposium of "Enthused Entrepreneurship Secondary Schools".

He said that entrepreneurship potential should be identified and nurtured in secondary schools to produce an independent generation ingrained with the capacity to develop the country.

"It is unfortunate that the importance of developing a creative mindset among young people was neglected, devoid of giving the paramount importance it deserved.

"The challenge facing the world today is to make education meaningful and more inclusive to this set of young people around the globe," he said.

According to the lawmaker, the current educational system in Nigeria focuses on rote learning and does not actively encourage students to think on their own and prepare them to take on potential responsibilities in their endeavours.

"By now we all understand the reality that entrepreneurial potential should be identified, evaluated and develop at the secondary school level.

"The emergence of `Enthuse Entrepreneurship Secondary School" is apt and timely given how elementary entrepreneurship and leadership with conventional school subjects were conveniently blended" he said.

The lawmaker pledged to sponsor the 10 best students from Kano Municipal to study in the Enthused Entrepreneurship School under the Sha'aban Sharada Scholarship Programme.

The grand opening and the maiden annual symposium has as its theme "Institutionalizing skills based-learning as the cornerstone for nurturing, competence, character and self-reliance in the information age".

The event was graced by members of the academia, government functionaries and key personalities from various walks of life.