By Varun Bhardwaj :
New Delhi, October 30, 2019: In a press conference with Arvind Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of Delhi, Manish Sisodia Deputy Chief Minister and the Education Minister of Delhi announces Field Projects under the Entrepreneurship Mindset Curriculum in Government schools in Delhi to provide a real- world immersive experience outside school. “As part of the Entrepreneurship Mindset Curriculum, students shall pursue a business opportunity or social challenge using the seed money worth Rs. 1000 per student. Using this seed money, they shall try either to earn a profit or increase social impact, as they have the confidence to do some entrepreneurial activities. Within the next two months, this project will be completely executed”, said the deputy Chief Minister.
As per the Guidelines for Overall execution of Field Project under Entrepreneurship Mindset Curriculum, the students will have to prepare a budget and plan and execute their plan. A clear objective to increase value in terms of social impact or profit for either a social or business project will be required. They will be encouraged to apply their Entrepreneurial Mindset in their execution. This project will give students the opportunity to run a real business or social project. Students, in their teams, will do the project outside school hours and execute the project around school or in their communities. A maximum 6-week time-line for the field project implementation has been issued which ends on 30 December 2019.
As per the Guidelines for Field Project – Classroom Execution (Students and Teachers), the EMC field project for students of classes 11th and 12th has been designed to give students an opportunity to use their entrepreneurship mindset in their own life. Students will form teams and will identify social challenges or business to bring about an increase in value either in social impact or profit as per their project. Students will have to plan, prepare a budget and execute their idea for the project. Each student will be given Rs.1000 as seed money that they can use for their projects. The project will give students the opportunity to learn from their experience of running a project and apply feedback to better the implementation of their project.
The project has the following features:
1. Students will execute the project in teams with their classmates
2. Get an experience of working in the outside world
3. An opportunity to solve real-life challenges
4. Explore their hidden talents and showcase it
5. Learn something new
A comprehensive document comprising the details of the steps in executing the project and roles and responsibilities of all staff involved in the project has been issued.
1. Team Formation
2. Brainstorming
3. Pick Project Category
4. Ideation and Shortlisting
5. Safety Guidelines
6. Project Planning
7. Reflection after Execution
The Delhi government has issued the ‘Safety Guidelines for Executing the Field Project Under EMC’ to ensure the safety and healthy participation of students in the EMC Field Project. The detailed guideline is for Teachers, Students, Team Leads and Parents. They will be oriented before students start working on their projects. The guideline is aimed to help students to learn to take responsibility for their own safety while working with classmates and attempting to pursue a social change or business opportunity in the outside world.
As per the safety guidelines, each of the school staff has well-defined roles and responsibilities in the guideline for the smooth execution of the project. The project and the guideline will encourage and ensure that students take ownership of their project, collaborate with each other, maintain an account of expense and income and report any mishaps during the project. Other staff responsibilities range from ensuring that parents are informed about the project, take regular updates and feedback from students and parental accompaniment if necessary. Clear instructions for students on how to form teams, where and when to execute project, and how to execute the project have been giving and they will help students conceptualize and run their project smoothly.
“Three Lakh students in Delhi government schools shall make the plan for their respective entrepreneurial activities. The plans may be made either individually (Rs 1000) or in groups so that they can invest in a larger sum (amount depends on the number of students). The plan shall be presented and discussed thoroughly in the class. Students will evaluate the profitability of the project and raise questions that will improve the efficiency of the implementation. Afterwards, the project will be executed”, added the Deputy Chief Minister.
“This scheme is extremely important as it can instill the imagination and skills of entrepreneurship among the students, which are lacking in the education system. I wish that let the information about this scheme reach to parents. Sometimes people think that what shall the children do with the 1000 Rs that the government gives? What do they do? How do they do? How do we know about what they do? They may not be aware of the details of this project. If parents come to know about this path-breaking project through media, they shall discuss with their children about the project. Even they can help the children. Hence the involvement of the parents is very important”. Shri Sisodia also told that Rs. 30 crores has been allotted in the budget for this project.
Arvind Kejriwal the Chief Minister of Delhi said, “There are interesting ideas and examples coming up. Students can work in groups. Let the process be unfolded, we’ll provide you more details and stories to understand, how students in Delhi’s government schools acquire entrepreneurial skills”.