Tomorrow today; 2010 - unesdoc - Unesco

Entrepreneurship as thefishing rod in place of the fishYoung-Gil Kim, PhD and George Gihong Kim, PhD, Handong Global University, Pohang, KoreaThe world community has been spending a great deal ofeffort on tackling world hunger and poverty, especiallysince the adoption of the Millennium DevelopmentGoals (MDGs), but now that we are rapidly approaching 2015and many of the resources have been spent, the result is muchless than hoped for originally. There may be many reasons forthe limited result, but one basic common problem seems to bethe lack of sustainability of the initiatives undertaken.Changing mindsetsEstablishment of the will to act generally requires a change ofmindset among the people involved. This change should bringmotivation and hope to the community. It requires more thansimply learning what needs to change. A profound experience,rather than a transfer of knowledge, can often trigger the moreprofound change in learners needed to address sustainable development.This can best be brought about through Education forSustainable Development (ESD), which not only conveys informationbut also gives learners a more holistic experience.It is often said that ‘what is needed is a fishing rod instead ofa fish’ and that education should equip learners in this regard.However, the metaphor alone is not helpful without knowingexactly what the fishing rod means in real life. Essentially, itis what modern education should offer to learners through thechange of mindset it can offer them. This change brings peopleencouragement and confidence and breeds hope for a moresustainable future.The motivation to do something to improve livingconditions is often called the entrepreneurial spirit. Ina broad sense, this spirit refers to ‘creating somethingfrom nothing’, compared with its narrow sense, whichis ‘starting a new business’. Most understand only thelatter meaning of entrepreneurship, since people withan entrepreneurial mindset in the wider sense tend tostart new enterprises.For decades, there has been debate as to the role ofentrepreneurship in development, and it seems thatthere is a convergence of opinions regarding whatentrepreneurship contributes to the developmentof a country. 2,3,4,5,6 The traditional model for assistinglow-income countries has mainly been based onunconditional cash grants. It usually relies on thegovernments of the recipient countries for disseminationof the aid funds. However, this approach hasturned out to be unsustainable and has shown onlylimited long-term impacts. Moreover, it often hasdetrimental side-effects for the recipient countries.Most of all, the short-term perspective of this kind ofproject cannot offer robust long-term sustainability.The vital role of educationA more effective way to assist low-income countriesmight be to equip them with education in entrepreneurship,to give people the means to create theirImage: GET’10 in East AfricaImage: GET’10 in East AfricaClassroom consultation. communication is an important part of HGU’straining programmesGroup discussion. students compare their findings during anentrepreneurship programme[ 166 ]