TO compete in the fast-paced world of technology and business, there is a need to instill the option of technopreneurship as a career to the younger generation.

For Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) officer-in-charge Frederick Amores, introducing the concept of startups in schools is a big leap to achieving this goal.

“We are at the stage where we want to raise awareness that there is an option for our youth to take up technopreneurship instead of just getting employed somewhere,” he told SunStar Cebu.

“All of us know, we go to school where we are taught to do well so that we can get a job in a nice company but we should change the mindset. Entrepreneurship should be part of the options you have,” he said.

For the Philippines to have a shot at being a global player when it comes to startups, Amores said there is also a need to upgrade teaching paradigms.

“We’re used to strategies where you tell your students to memorize something, you take a quiz, fill in the blanks. There’s no critical thinking there. We just need to have a shift on how we teach,” he said.

Together with the Department of Education (DepEd), the DICT also reached out to schools where there are ideas for the next startup.

“We hope to have more schools to participate because that’s where a lot of ideas come from. Even in startup events, a lot of winners come from Cebu,” he said.

He said that in events like the Philippine Start-Up Challenge, the winner’s pool continues to be dominated by startups from Cebu and for him, it is a good and encouraging sign that Cebu provides an environment for ideas to thrive.

The Philippine Start-Up Challenge is a national startup competition targeting college students.

“We need a lot more ideas because the next big thing might come from Cebu,” Amores said. JOB