Almost 100 Irkutsk students are interested in the INRTU "PRO-Entrepreneurship" program
A new season of the free educational program "PRO-entrepreneurship" started at “Tochka Kipeniya”of INRTU. 99 students from Irkutsk are involved in the project. The participants of the program will learn how to generate and implement business ideas. The authors of the best ideas will get a scholarship from the Rector of INRTU.
Rector Mikhail Korniakov welcomed the participants. He thanked the educational center Easy School, which is implementing the program together with the Polytechnic University for the second year. The rector emphasized that some other Irkutsk educational institutions have joined the “PRO-entrepreneurship” program.
"The most valuable thing in this program is the opportunity to start your own business. Ideally, the student business should turn into a thesis. We hope that our graduates will become enterprising, successful people ready to support their university in the future," Mikhail Korniakov said.
The project is supervised by Irina Chelpanova, Head of the Department of Youth Policy. She notes that the Polytechnic University creates conditions for comprehensive development and successful career start of students. "PRO-entrepreneurship" program is one of such initiatives. The organization committee approved 99 of 163 applications from the students of INRTU, Mechanical Engineering College and Irkutsk State University. The selection took place through business games and interviews. 26 participants study at the School of Economics, Management and Law. Irina Chelpanova said:
INRTU conducted a survey of entrepreneurial activity in December 2022. It showed that more than 40% of respondents want to be entrepreneurs, and almost 3% of them run their own business. Graduates of the first season are already demonstrating their first results. For example, Valeria Borkhonova opened a wedding salon ANNET under the mentors' franchise. Ivan Stanovikhin and Vyacheslav Kolosov are developing "Prestige" photo studio. Daniil Alekseev continues the family business of forging handmade items”, said Irina Chelpanova".
The educational intensive consists of two parts. The first part, «Self-determination», is conducted by the employees of Easy School. Students will develop required skills for an entrepreneur and form a business idea in three months. Participants will receive a document about additional education.
Students will undergo an "Immersion" stage in September-October. During this stage they will create a business plan and get acquainted with measures of entrepreneurs support. The participants will present their projects to mentors at the “PRO-entrepreneurship” forum.
Rick Walker, who founded Easy School more than 20 years ago, congratulated the students on the opening of the program. He encouraged the students to follow their dreams and keep their aspirations to become entrepreneurs:
"The meaning of your training will become clear after you complete it. I wish you to become a sponge and absorb the maximum of the knowledge this project can offer you. I am sure that one day you will thank yourself for joining the program, for overcoming laziness and mastering the course to the end".
According to Nikita Pegov, a student at the School of Information Technology and Data Science, the training is a good opportunity to communicate with successful businessmen, develop communication skills and ability to adapt in new conditions.
Arina Bobrikova, a first-year student at the School of High Technologies, successfully passed the selection. Her dream about starting own business appeared in high school. The student intends to learn how to run a business in crisis situations and start working in the pastry business:
"I have already tried to create a business plan on my own, but it was quite difficult. I hope the project mentors will help me."
INFO: The "PRO-entrepreneurship" program started in April 2022. 70 people passed final selection, 50 students took part in mentor sessions, 20 students defended business plans to start their own business.
