Abstract:
In general terms an entrepreneur is known as a person who starts a new business
venture. There are many definitions for the word “entrepreneur”. According to the
Oxford Dictionary an entrepreneur is “one who undertakes an enterprise, especially a
contractor - acting as intermediary between capital and labor”
As a developing country, Sri Lanka has a vital responsibility to strengthen the
economy to strive towards development and maintain the sustainability of
development. Entrepreneurship development has been recognized as an important
strategic sector for generating high economic growth and reducing unemployment
and poverty in Sri Lanka. The Technical Educational and Vocational Training
(TEVT) system represents the backbone of all industrial activity. The TEVT sector
within the education sector is specifically responsible for providing technical and
skilled manpower to industry. The Department of Technical Education and Training
(DTET) is a major component for Technical Educational and Vocational Training.
This study is focused on analyzing the impact of Technical Education and Vocational
Training for Sri Lankan IT entrepreneurship development. The main objective of
this research is to investigate the internal influential factors that affect an Information
and Communication Technology (ICT) Entrepreneur from the DTET. Further, it
identifies the situation that the DTET has on ICT entrepreneurship in Sri Lanka and
attempts to identify opportunities for improving the recognized internal factors which
have an effect on producing entrepreneurs.
The conceptual framework was designed such that it consists of four independent
variables and a dependent variable. The data was gathered by distributing
questionnaires among the students and the academic staff in the Colleges of
Technology which conduct ICT courses. Data was gathered separately for the
variables. The research findings revealed that personal capabilities necessary to
become an entrepreneur could no longer be considered as an influential factor
promoting the development of ICT entrepreneurship. Course curricula, infrastructure
facilities and career guidance and counselling support are influential factors in the
DTET which promote ICT entrepreneurship development.
