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In Indian education today, the concept of entrepreneurship remains confined to television dramas or courses in 11th and 12th grades. For most students, the word “entrepreneur” evokes images of glamorous startup founders featured in glossy magazines or sketchy reality shows where success feels like a lottery win rather than the result of intention and hard work.
This superficial exposure portrays a misleading image of what entrepreneurship is. Without early, hands-on experiences, students view entrepreneurship as either an unattainable fantasy or a narrow career choice reserved for a privileged few who study business.
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The Root Cause
The root of this problem lies in an education system built on rote memorization. Classrooms are designed to deliver facts that students must write down in exams rather than to spark inquiry, creativity or resilience, the very traits entrepreneurs need.
It is not like this problem came out of thin air. Teachers, who are already overloaded with work, have to juggle classes, tight deadlines, and administrative work. Schools also have no choice but to prioritise preparing their students for exams that prioritise rote memorization.
More importantly, teachers rarely receive the training or resources necessary to guide entrepreneurial learning. They are experts in mathematics, science and languages, and are extremely capable of teaching their subjects. But, it is a completely different ballpark to coach a student through the iterative process of ideation, prototyping and pitching.
With the obvious strains schools and teachers already have, it becomes a tough ask for schools to make incubator labs, or start mentorship networks, especially when their outcomes are difficult to quantify in the short run. In such a scenario, the powerful potential of entrepreneurship education remains untapped.
But this state of affairs will change. India is emerging now as a booming startup ecosystem, and there is a growing recognition of innovation in the business world. This is a real opportunity to embed entrepreneurial thinking at the heart of schooling. This could be done through Incubation Labs, which serve local schools or communities as formative playgrounds, where students from diverse backgrounds learn to turn challenges into ventures.
Whether it is a rural student designing a low-cost irrigation tool, or a teen creating a platform for local artisans, Incubation Labs provide access to entrepreneurial thinking and work that students will not find anywhere else.
PBL: An Excellent Way Forward
Incubation Labs aren’t the only solution. A more realistic and cost-friendly solution for schools would be to implement project-based learning. Project-based learning lets students experience their school subjects through complex real-world problems, many of which have no immediate answer.
By making projects around real challenges like building a solar‑powered lantern, for example, students experience the full cycle of investigation, collaboration and iteration. They learn to empathize with end users, to test and pivot when prototypes fail, and to communicate their ideas persuasively. This approach develops resourcefulness, resilience and a growth mindset far more effectively than textbooks ever could.
By weaving entrepreneurship into education, project‑based learning acts as the bridge. It transforms abstract concepts like opportunity recognition, risk management, and value creation into skills practiced daily. When we trust students to work on their own projects, they become proactive change-makers instead of passive learners.
They carry this line of thinking into every domain, whether they become startup founders, social innovators or visionary leaders.
As India charts its path toward a knowledge‑driven future, entrepreneurship education must evolve to a central pillar of schooling. By inculcating entrepreneurship, all students across India can have the confidence and creativity to build solutions that matter.
By guiding schools and educators through project-based learning, we ensure that the entrepreneurs of tomorrow emerge not from television scripts, but from classrooms alive with innovation.
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