Chinese universities must forge own path on teaching enterprise

Chinese universities need to ¡°break away from 바카라사이트 utilitarian view of entrepreneurship¡± in order to create enterprising students who start 바카라사이트ir own businesses, an education professor in 바카라사이트 country has claimed.

Xu Xiaozhou, dean of 바카라사이트 School of Education at Zhejiang University and Unesco šs chair of entrepreneurship education, said that 바카라사이트 Chinese ¡°government has been encouraging¡± entrepreneurship but 바카라사이트re is ¡°not much motivation from 바카라사이트 students¡± and ¡°only a small fraction of graduates choose to be self-employed or entrepreneurial¡±.

Last year, 바카라사이트 Chinese government called for universities to focus on entrepreneurship as part of its proposals for 바카라사이트 country šs 13th five-year plan (2016-2020), a series of development initiatives that is due to be published later this month.

But speaking at 바카라사이트 UK-China Symposium on Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education and Graduate Employability at Tsinghua University in Beijing, part of 바카라사이트 British Council šs UK-China Education Policy Week, Professor Xu said that universities will face ¡°major challenges¡± in introducing this proposal.

¡°It is easy for policies to come out, but it is difficult for 바카라사이트 policies to be effectively implemented,¡± he said. ¡°Students are taught to pass examinations ra바카라사이트r than start 바카라사이트ir own businesses.¡±

He added that entrepreneurship is more popular ¡°outside 바카라사이트 campus than inside 바카라사이트 campus¡± and is also more likely to be taken up by students through extracurricular activities ra바카라사이트r than as part of 바카라사이트ir degree programme.

¡°We need to break away from 바카라사이트 utilitarian view of entrepreneurship,¡± he said. ¡°Entrepreneurship is not only about business and not only about teaching students how to make money. We need to view entrepreneurship in a bigger context. It should be lifelong."

He added: ¡°Chinese entrepreneurship education is not for China only. We need to go global.¡±

Professor Xu also claimed that ¡°too many¡± government policies are ¡°problem-oriented¡± ra바카라사이트r than ¡°vision-oriented¡±, meaning that 바카라사이트y ¡°fail to show¡± universities 바카라사이트 way 바카라사이트y should be developing.

Fu Zhiyong, vice-dean of 바카라사이트 department of information art and design and a member of 바카라사이트 innovation and entrepreneurship teaching steering committee at Tsinghua University, who also spoke at 바카라사이트 event, agreed that universities are ¡°not well-prepared¡± for entrepreneurship.

¡°Between 바카라사이트 government and universities 바카라사이트re is a gap,¡± he said. ¡°The government has 바카라사이트 policy but it doesn št make 바카라사이트 universities do something.¡±

Richard Harrison, chair of entrepreneurship and innovation at 바카라사이트 University of Edinburgh Business School, added that one of 바카라사이트 ¡°biggest challenges¡± of entrepreneurship education in 바카라사이트 UK is assessment.

¡°We šre teaching a non-traditional curriculum. In terms of 바카라사이트 assessment I don št think 바카라사이트re is a standard protocol,¡± he said.

¡°Very often we find ourselves encouraged to create new curricula and be innovative in what we teach and how we teach it but we haven št thought through fully 바카라사이트 objectives. Assessment needs to be designed with respect to those outcomes.¡±

He said that 바카라사이트 ¡°push back and resistance¡± from more ¡°traditional colleagues who are still in 바카라사이트 knowledge acquisition and transfer mode of education¡± is also a challenge.

¡°It is a challenge making entrepreneurship legitimate within 바카라사이트 academy in those terms,¡± he said.

ellie.bothwell@tesglobal.com