What Can Be Done To Make Rural Entrepreneurship Successful In Asia?

With the growing challenges in the corporate world, most countries around the world are struggling to improve their economy. But can education help a nation in improving its economic performance?

In Asia, more than 50 per cent of the population still resides in villages and rural areas. However, this number is reducing....rapidly. Nowadays, most of the villagers, who are mostly reliant on agriculture, are now moving into the bigger cities in search of better opportunities. As a result many of the Asian mega-cities like Manila and Mumbai have become overcrowded and unsustainable. The rural migration rate is specifically high in China where almost 100 cities have over 1 million people. In contrast, the United Kingdom has only 2 overcrowded cities, Birmingham and London.

So what is the solution?

What can be done to prevent these villagers from leaving the rural areas? The answer is simple. We need to give them a worthwhile reason to stay in their villages. The key question here is how?

One of the most effective solutions is Rural Entrepreneurship, a theme which has gained prominence in the Purpose Economy Asia 100 prepared by Imperative, an US-based career consultancy.

Money comes first

Most business leaders and experts know that you need to money in order to make money. Currently Micro-Finance is the most suitable option which can enable the rural residents to start their own local business ventures. Micro- Finance, primarily Asian in origin, was propagated initially in Bangladesh by Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel Prize winner. Later it became popular in India and other developing economies.

Chetna Sinha, Founder of the co-operative bank Mann Deshi Mahila Bank in Maharashtra, India, says, “If people aren't able to access a micro-finance loan, then they will go to loan sharks”. Sinha, who was titled India's Social Entrepreneur of the Year by the Schwab Foundation recently, confirms that usually unlicensed moneylenders tend to charge high compound interest rates which can range from 20 per cent to 120 per cent.

However, Micro- Finance is not the sole option for these villagers as there are several other innovative loan options available for them. Mann Deshi Mahila Bank also provides specifically designed insurance products, pension services, individualised loans and savings accounts to their rural clients. Meanwhile in Myanmar, a social enterprise named Proximity Designs offers farm finance packages which gives loans for the planting and growing season. Moreover, the payments can also be delayed until the harvest.

Even though there are many rural finance options available now, but the fact remains that the loan amounts are usually very small and the interest rates are rather high for the villagers. Hence it becomes a daunting task for them to create a satisfactory credit score and be eligible for bigger sums.

Is Finance enough for successful Rural Entrepreneurship?

No. Actually it’s far from being enough. The main challenge lies elsewhere. Most of the time aspiring entrepreneurs in rural regions feel handicapped by their lack of relevant business knowledge, skills, entrepreneurial motivation, market awareness, and leadership & communication skills.

The factor which needs the most focus here is developing adequate entrepreneurial motivation and drive. The General Secretary of Sri Lanka's Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement, Vinya Ariyaratne, says, “You need to change the mindset of people. That is, (teaching them) that they can do things on their own without relying on external resources to come to the village, in particular the government”.

Sarvodaya works with about 15,000 villages and helps the residents to start new business ventures by providing training, collective thinking and dialogue and establishing community institutes. Vinya Ariyaratne, who was also chosen for the Schwab Foundation's award, says, “Other organisations see poverty basically as a problem with income and straight away start microfinance and so on. But we believe development needs to encompass … spiritual, moral and cultural development too”.

What can be else done provide necessary training to rural residents on a large scale?

How can the potential entrepreneurs in villages across Asia learn about business without feeling any financial burden? The solution is right in front of us...Online Education. Earning a business diploma study online can help the villagers prepare for Rural Entrepreneurship.

However, it would firstly require the respective governments to greatly enhance the existing infrastructure in the villages, so that they can access the internet. But the good news is many villages across the continent already have internet accessibility. Hence online diploma programmes like MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) can help them to learn relevant skills and gain business knowledge that will enable them to start their own business ventures. This would in turn improve the overall economy of the region and add to the national economy as well.

As a nation’s economy largely depends on different industries that have varied effects in the global market, the education level of the citizens, both urban and rural, greatly contributes towards its economic performance. Thus developing countries need to focus on improving the education system, both online and on-campus, so that more entrepreneurs and skilled workers can be created to support various industries. Moreover, the principle that every individual has a right to education has given rise to a movement for improvement of education.

By providing higher education opportunities to the rural population through online learning modes, we can enable them to be self-sufficient and contribute to their local economy. This will certainly prove to be an effective measure in persuading the villagers to remain and prosper in their own villages.

Online Courses: What is so attractive about them?

Online education is making its presence felt in a big way throughout the world. India is no exception to this worldwide trend. Take the example of Milan Sharma who is a software engineer and works at a travel firm. Though keen to gain new skills in upcoming technologies like big data analytics, his day job prevented him from fulfilling his wish. But that was before he opted for an online course with Edureka. As he says"The beauty of online courses is that it gives you flexibility and easy access to course content.” Lack of qualified teachers, professionals pressed for time and high education fees are all contributing to a rising demand for online learning that is catered to by a number of new startup ventures.

"We have more than 20,000 paid students right from Seoul in South Korea to Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh," said Lovleen Bhatia, co-founder of Bangalore-based Edureka. According to his expectation his company will earn a revenue to the tune Rs 30 crore in fiscal 2015.  Edureka started its operations in 2012 and offers courses in areas such as development of mobile applications and big data for professionals at fees ranging from 12,000 to 30,000. Edureka along with other online educators like handa ka funda and Jigsaw Academy put into good use a combination of live interactive sessions, animation to explain a concept in addition to flexible schedules and constant feedback.

The cost of online courses is just another incentive for students to sign up for such courses. "A typical course for CAT preparation offline would cost around Rs 30,000 to Rs 45,000 depending on the city. The costliest course we offer through our online platform is priced at Rs 4,000," said Ravi Handa, founder of handa ka funda.com, which had its inception in January 2013.

"We have seen tremendous response to online education," said Jigsaw Academy co-founder Gaurav Vohra, who started the company to offer courses in analytics.

The expectation of the company is to earn a revenue to the tune of Rs 40 crore in the next two years. According to experts courses have a market with tremendous potential with its reach of students from small town to metropolitan cities.

"Education is a lifelong investment, everyone wants the best in class education," said Pragya Singh, assistant vice president for retail at advisory firm Technopak. The lure of online courses isn’t limited to professionals, even school kids are looking forward to online help. One firm which caters to such students is the Bangalore-based Vedantu.com, founded by five childhood friends Anand Prakash, 33, Pulkit Jain, 30, Saurabh Saxena, 31, Vamsi Krishna, 30, and Ujjawal Misra, 30 . Vedantu is the second educational venture for this team of IITians, who sold traditional physical entrance preparation institute Lakshya to MTEducare in 2012.

"Online tutorial is catching up not only in India but globally, and I see potential for great scale," said angel investor VN Ramaswamy, who invested Rs 2 crore in Vedantu.com last year. Having an annual turnover of Rs.30 lakh, its expectations are to earn Rs 1 crore in fiscal 2015. 

Simple Steps That Will Help You to Find the Right Online Programme

Are you thinking about pursuing an online degree programme? But confused about which programme to choose? Well...I can assure you that you are not alone? Most students I encounter ask me how can they determine which online degree programme will be right for them.

Apparently there are numerous online programmes offered by innumerable online colleges and universities from around the world. Many institutes even offer the same programmes but with different course and credit structures.

So How Do You Choose the Right One?

The only effective way is to invest some time and do proper research. In case of brick and mortar colleges, you can easily visit the campus, read the guidebooks and brochures and even consult with the alumni. But in case of online degree programmes there is no such established path that will help you to find and choose the right programme and school.

In fact, it can be even more challenging as most online schools introduce new courses and programmes almost every week. If you search the internet for an online advanced diploma in business, you will find an abundance of websites that will guarantee to offer the best online courses and programmes.

Assistant Dean (for Graduate and Online Programs) at the Washington State University College of Business, Cheryl Oliver, says “There is so much static out there...It's really hard for people to know what is a legitimate degree and what programs are just going to take their money and put them through the motions.”

So what do you do? Simply follow these steps that experts believe will help you to filter information and find the most appropriate online institute and programme-

Check Individual School Websites and Reliable Sources

It is imperative that you check the websites of all relevant institutes in order to find the required information. An official website will provide you with detailed information about the institute and the programmes they offer. Websites that simply rank different schools and online programmes cannot provide you with comprehensive information. In fact, some websites will even ask you to pay money to get the information. Moreover, as some schools pay different portals to get featured, they get more online exposure. Hence the reliability of such information sources becomes doubtful.

Oliver says, “Some schools are paying to be on every one of those sites and now they are prolific. So students are going to continue to see that school when maybe the best bet for them is in their own backyard.”

If you want to get unbiased information and balanced statistics then simply visit the College Navigator tool of the U.S. Department of Education. It can provide you information about graduation rates, tuition fees and other valuable data.

Find Out If Your School is Accredited or Not

According to the Senior Vice President of OnlineSolutions at Pearson, Todd Hitchcock, accreditation is extremely important. The first thing you need to do is to check if your school is regionally accredited and recognised. You should also find out if the degree you want to pursue has programmatic accreditation (if eligible). You can check out the Council for Higher Education Accreditation which maintains a list of all approved accrediting organisations.

Executive Director of Online Learning at Regent University, Todd Marshall, says “Accredited schools tend to mention their accreditation in a prominent place...If you really have to dig to find it, or worse yet, can’t find it at all, that is not a good sign.”

Get Advice from Professionals in Your Field

It is often a great idea to speak with established professionals in your desired field and industry. You can call up HR professionals in your field and ask for their opinions about the institutes that you are currently considering. This will add to your initial research as you will get real-time feedback from industry professionals about your online programme and school. It will give you confidence about your qualification and you will be able to plan ahead for your future.

Speak to the Faculty and Students at Your School

The experts believe that after you have filtered your search to a handful of programs and institutes, you need to contact the staff, faculty and students at the schools. The officials at the schools will be pleased to respond to your queries and provide you clarifications about their services. They can also help you understand if the programme you are considering will be suitable for you or not. Moreover, you should also speak with the officials at the student service and find out about remediation and tutoring services.

Apart from these, the experts also suggest that you get in touch with the faculty members as this will give you an idea about the involvement of the teachers in the class. Bobbie Harris, Online Instructor at West Virginia University, says “You really want to vet the type of professor they are using because a lot of them are adjunct and the quality of those professors can range.”

However, the most important part is that you contact the recent or current students to find out the relevant information. According to Assistant Clinical Professor at Northern Arizona University, Corrine Gordon, “I don't think all programs are going to be 100 percent honest. Have that peer-to-peer conversation. That's something we think is very important.”

Check Tuition Fees of Different Institutes

Apart from the steps mentioned above, you also need to find out about the tuition fees as it may vary greatly depending upon the institute and programme. If you want to get enrolled in a reputed online International Business School, then find out about the tuition fees charged by different online business schools for your desired programme. This will not only help you to get a better idea about the fees, but you will also find the most affordable programme that will meet your requirements.

These steps will guide to find the most suitable online institute and programme and make the selection process simple and more effective.

Students Selecting Online Classes For A Promising Future!

Observing the surging popularity of online education among the new age learners, a number of universities are coming forward to add an online module to their usual curriculum. With a record of enrolling hundreds of students every year, online classes are striving hard to cater to the learners all over the world. Moreover, countries from developing regions are also showing their eagerness to join the revolution of e-learning to remove the educational issues from their societies with the help of technological advancement.

Learning online is a special and rational way of obtaining knowledge. The three prime reasons for it being preferred over traditional education system are:

No further hassles - Online classes allow people to enhance knowledge who are unable to attend universities because of either residing miles away from a reputed institution or have a too busy schedule to attend classes. Online classes commonly allow their students to take classes at their convenience. People with professional commitments or familial obligations fail to pursue an academic career through regular classes. But today you may attend classes on weekends, during evenings and even at late night hours. An internet connection is now at your disposal to let you enjoy learning when you feel like.  

No added costs- Monetary predicament has always been there as one of most serious issues that kept a large section away from pursuing further education. Learning via internet subtracts commuting costs, boarding charges, food spending and many additional expenses, that are unavoidable in regular courses. Apart from that, distance learning’s mission to reach out more to educate compels constant innovation. Their effort to enlighten more people results in more affordable courses for the learners from different class.

Career enhancer- Learners from different classes, sectors and countries are taking up online courses to boost their professional career as it hardly requires any compromise with job or family. Although varied courses are being offered and chosen, demand for professional and employer-based courses has elevated to a great extent. 

Demand for trained workers is on the rise and obtaining certified knowledge without career break has never been so easy; now everybody wants an impressive credential to achieve a better position in the company through a degree online. This is why a lot of students are opting for MBA courses online. Now you can hone up your managements and administrative skills through world-class institutions and that too without any career break. 

Especially since UK considered one of the most reputed places to obtain an international qualification, Online MBA courses in UK are getting response from billions of students across the world as it is giving them an opportunity to achieve a dream career and enhancing the leadership skills. Now anyone hoping to achieve a UK qualification from an online international business school can do so in an affordable way. Moreover, these online courses in business studies are giving huge confidence to the experienced workers who are deciding to start up something of their own after pursuing those degrees.

So, is it the end of campus learning?

Although the reasons are good enough to turn you away from regular learning courses, it would be really unintelligent to think that campus learning will cease. Audio-visual lessons are great tools for effective education but it cannot replace campus learning system. The importance of live or face-to-face instruction will always be there. Computers cannot replace tutors; experts think it’s funny to think that way. A section feels it would be much rational if it is considered as a supplementary system rather than treating it as an alternative medium. They think blended learning is the future and the option combining the best features of online and offline classes will be admired by the most in future.

Well, if face-to-face instruction will exist or students will be more attracted toward the blended learning remains a question; but growing popularity of online education is the present. And whether or not it will be able to remove the traditional learning form is not important now. It is getting more students eager to complete their courses and its winning strategies are gaining remarkable response is the fact. So, if traditional education system don’t mould themselves according to the situation and emerge as a more adaptable system, chances are there that the dearth in popularity will grow severe and online may appear as the principal system of acquiring knowledge very soon.          

Online Study, adapts Life and Work Smoothly

It is 8 p.m. in the night and Nadia Espinosa is in front of her computer with baby son in her lap, engrossed in virtual classroom on the internet. Being a working mother Espinosa felt strongly that she could earn her paralegal certification only if she would access online programme, which perfectly fitted her busy schedule. 

Like Nadia, there are thousands of aspirant mothers who feel the need of accessing higher degrees to find a reputable work life. Being a mother dedicating 9 hours a day in traditional classroom is impossible, but the online mode makes it feasible to juggle between work and life, simultaneously. Herein, colleges and universities are playing the most important role to reach out education into homes. After all, academic institutions are turning into benefactor of quality education to those who require flexible learning mode.

Colleges playing significant role in boosting web courses- Here is how

Gradually, a large number of schools and colleges from stretches of the globe are getting engaged in catering web based education to enthusiastic students. They may be housewives or working professionals or aged people who stay at home or young people who have just stepped into professional lives. Colleges and universities are collaborating with online education providers to cater web courses to those students.

Numerous schools are shouldering responsibility of boostng their online offerings to enable working adults add extra dimension to their career skills. If you look up the internet, you will be happy to find the new 2012 findings according to which about 6.7 million students consider at least one online course as part of study curriculum. To add more to the good news, 60 percent of those aspirants are engaged full time in jobs. 

So, it can be said that online education is gaining prominence gradually and the future is not far when the majority of students will get engaged online for higher studies. Let’s delve further into the benefits of online education and how it ensures study and work without hampering either.

Online Education tackles both with ease

Online education is meant for anyone who wants to pursue twin responsibilities of work and study at the same time. Today, professionals are most ambitious about working and learning without creating confliction between both. Seems, the online mode is their best option to help them achieve higher education so that they can manage their schedule most efficiently using multi-tasking features. Only the best part is these online degree courses are suitably designed to cater to the needs and interests of varied demands without forcing aspirants to compromise with either study or work. Nonetheless, one has to be self disciplined and motivated to ensure flexibility in learning without hassle.

People who have good sense of effective time management are worthy of better careers. Remember, only hard working and efficient individuals deserve to finish those web courses on time. Many people prefer participating in online courses due to cheaper tuition fees, freedom and flexibility of studying. Remember, only competitive and hard working people deserve to be part of distance education, which needs dedication and sincerity to follow the course. 

Sources: www.miamiherald.com/2013/09/03/3603824/online-courses-help-workers-juggle.html

www.convivencia.info/online-education-a-good-help-for-a-better-career.html

The basic advantage is you can log into a course while at home and study at your own pace without any hassle. Research says that online students gain huge success and privileges in their career and go on to create milestones by achieving compelling success in the long tenure.