HYDERABAD: Students of Government Girls High School Saeedabad presented brief ideas for business during an event arranged by Sindh Community Foundation in cooperation with Small Grants and Ambassador’s Fund (SGAFP). During the intra-school competition on sharing ideas of entrepreneurship, 41 students presented their work. The competition was aimed at creating spaces of learning and critical thinking on entrepreneurship for students of secondary schools. The ideas they presented range from handmade fans, handmade jewellery, Sindhi topi making, chicken soup corner, etc. The jury awarded positions to the best three ideas after visiting all the stalls featuring a prototype of the idea and selected ideas based on scope of feasibility, market plan, loss and profit analysis and innovation as well clarity of ideas and also inquired about the technique and work done by the girls. SCF head Javed Hussain said that spaces of learning have been shrinking and become rare, leaving the talent of female students in secondary schools unharnessed and the only way to improve the situation is through the provision of space for critical thinking and learning for their social and economic empowerment. Entrepreneurship is the need of time so we should prepare our next generation to combat future challenges of poverty and human insecurity. It should be part of curriculum, he added. He claimed that such competitions have been conducted in nine secondary schools as well in District Matiari and around 480 students of three institutions were awarded kits including shoes, pair of uniforms and schools bags besides notebooks.Such incentives increases the educational retention and enrollment of girls who otherwise are vulnerable prone to dropping out of schools because of poverty. Matairi District Education Officer Ghulam Hyder Bulo was of the view that girls’ education should be the priority of education department and despite attempts to improve status; there was need of collective effort in this connection. He praised the role of SCF supporting girls’ education in the district. SCF representative Aisha Agha and Khadim Ahmed, Government Secondary Teachers Association Representative and School Headmistress Zahida Keeraio also spoke and distributed certificates to the participating students. Published in Daily Times, November 1st 2017.