Entrepreneurship plays a crucial role in driving economic growth and in the context of a developing country like Bangladesh, it holds immense potential for fostering innovation and job creation. An entrepreneur is a person with the initiative to create a business with their dexterity of creative thinking.
In Bangladesh both general education and technical education contribute to entrepreneurship development. In general education, students get introduced in the secondary level and remain thereon to develop the preliminary background for start-up initiate in the business field.
In 2016, The University Grants Commission (UGC) of Bangladesh officially recognised and approved the bachelor degree in this specified area. However, only a few universities, such as Dhaka University and Daffodil International University, offer Entrepreneurial studies as a four year-undergraduate programme.
Dhaka University offers a Bachelor of Social Sciences in Entrepreneurial Economics, which was launched in 2019-20. It’s a new programme in Bangladesh, even in Asia, introduced with a vision to create employability skills and job opportunities. This programme combines theoretical foundations with practical research-oriented approaches. As a result, the students can confidently apply the knowledge and experiences they already gained in their respective fields to cope up with the fast-changing circumstances of a growing economy and an evolving society like Bangladesh. Special focus, thus, is given on applied economics, along with computer applications, besides endowing students with a strong theoretical understanding on the courses taught.
Meanwhile, Daffodil International University also offers Bachelor Entrepreneurship Development (BED) Programme focusing on the opportunity to gather knowledge and skills which will help them to flex their minds into becoming a successful entrepreneur. They also have a department titled Innovation and Entrepreneurship. The Department of Innovation and Entrepreneurship aims to provide students a platform to develop relevant entrepreneurial skills through practical assignments and project work and elevating the growth of new ventures through continuous mentoring and funding supported by venture capitals, angel investors, entrepreneurship development fund and other seed funds.
In addition to traditional business education, universities like Brac has incorporated more specialised courses like, Social Entrepreneurship Practicum. This is a collaborative cross-institutional course in social entrepreneurship where student teams ideate and develop models for social enterprises. It encourages students to think critically about solving societal challenges through entrepreneurial ventures.
Similaryly, North South University offers a course titled Entrepreneurial Management (Mgt368) as part of its Bachelor of Business Administration programme. This course is designed to give the students a comprehensive idea about business models, local entrepreneurial ecosystems, and practical skills such as budgeting, market analysis, and customer targeting.
Nowadays many students are launching online businesses reflecting the growing interest in entrepreneurship among the youth. They can even put up stalls at their universities providing a valuable opportunity to showcase their ventures and engage in offline marketing. This exposure encourages students to develop and promote their businesses in real-world settings.
Bangladesh’s entrepreneurship landscape serves as a useful tool to visualise the entrepreneurship ecosystem and find the networks and relationships between the different enterprises and ecosystem builders.
These entrepreneurial courses equip students with hands-on experience about how and what elements are needed to start a business. This also fosters teamwork and collaborative brainstorming, helping students develop real-life problem solving skills.
10 minutes school, Aamarpay, Adcast, AirBringr, Shikho, myalice exemplify how ideas can turn into successful businesses. The minds behind these ventures identified solutions, conducted thorough research, and developed prototypes ultimately bringing their visions to life.