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Across the globe, in the post-pandemic scenario, there is a growing interest among academicians and government agencies to promote social entrepreneurship as a remedy for many social menaces. It could be sustainability, hunger issues, empowering the deprived sections in society, protection of the environment, etc. The research also meant that universities and higher educational institutions (HEI) can, must and should play a significant role in fostering or nurturing empathy by evoking social entrepreneurial intent in the young generation through curriculum, co-curricular activities and involving students in community services during their academic tenure in a university/HEI (Mavuri.S, 2019). Research also proved that such efforts of educational institutions will go a long way in instilling human values and kindness in the young generation as their way of life. This, in turn, will help to build a compassionate society with a business of having a social entrepreneurial mindset and the emergence of social entrepreneurs from every sphere of an economy. Social Entrepreneurs are encouraged and promoted as they might offer solutions to environmental and social problems countries face and generate social value by offering sustainable solutions over a period of time. In recent times, the pandemic has created avenues for the emergence of new business opportunities which needs the attention of the businesses to address social problems, to name a few like online education, food safety, emergency management, online medical care, healthy living, telemedicine, the reworking of supply chains, remote communication, and better waste management. All these are such business ideas which are not just private This may create opportunities and ideas for the development of social entrepreneurship projects. Let us look at some of the variables which foster social entrepreneurial intent explained in an academic research model developed by Hockerts (2017). Prior experience Prior experience is the exposure and involvement in several social entrepreneurship activities, which may inculcate the desire to work with and find solutions to critical social issues. Prior experience with social issues gives confidence and makes people believe that they can make a difference in society. Involvement in social activities, social organizations, and social volunteer activities are linked with a positive attitude toward social entrepreneurship and result in greater self-efficacy. Empathy Empathy is the ability to understand the emotions, thoughts, and motivations of another and to resonate with them. Empathy can be of two types – Cognitive and Affective. Cognitive empathy is an ability to recognize and understand the pain of another person, whether or not you are resonating with them. Affective Empathy is not just understanding their pain but feeling the pain of others and helping them. Empathy and Compassion drive attitude towards the behaviour. According to Ajzen and other researchers attitude towards behaviour is one’s assessment towards performing or not performing certain behaviour which has a positive impact on social entrepreneurial intent. Empathy is an antecedent to social intent. It can also act as a trigger for the social entrepreneurial process. Moral obligation According to past literature personal moral values and standards are important traits a social entrepreneur possesses. Human decision-making is influenced by values and morals and there is evidence of the role of values in attitude formation and behaviour. One of the determinants of behaviour is perceived moral beliefs and adherence to societal moral standards. The study uses the perception that societal norms imply a moral obligation to help people excluded by society. Social entrepreneurial self-efficacy Self-efficacy is the belief in the abilities of oneself and to exhibit behaviour to produce a given level of achievement. It is confidence in one’s competence to successfully perform tasks related to a new venture. According to some research studies, individuals with high social entrepreneurial self-efficacy will tend to create more social value. Past research contradicts the relationship between self-efficacy and social entrepreneurial intent. Some studies conclude that there is a positive relationship between self-efficacy and social entrepreneurial intent. The effect may be direct on intent or indirect in the form of perceived feasibility. There are some studies which did not find any relationship between self-efficacy and social entrepreneurial intent in their research. Self-efficacy is a variable in every social entrepreneurship model which makes a person believe in himself and results in the perception that the creation of a social venture is feasible. Perceived social support Social Support is the support in the form of trust and cooperation from the government, banks, family and friends. Social support plays an important role to foster the intent of young people and helps in enabling the social entrepreneurial process. It is a known fact that entrepreneurial networks and networking affect the entrepreneurial process. Family and friends share bonding and trust which play a key role in shaping the intention towards becoming social entrepreneurs. The perceived social support to a great extent influences the perceived feasibility and in turn the intent. The degree of social acceptability and social support in terms of providing resources is one of the predictors of entrepreneurial intention.  Social entrepreneurial intent Social entrepreneurial intent is to add value to the existing social enterprise or create a new one. The intent measures how serious a person is about a social issue and the time and effort one invests in a social cause and makes it a reality (Ajzen, 1991). Individuals’ personal characteristics to a great extent influence entrepreneurial intentions. Social Intent on implementation manifests into a social enterprise. Prieto defined social entrepreneurial intention as the innovative purpose that a person exhibits in starting a social company to create social value. The studies on social entrepreneurial intention have exhibited the involvement in social enterprises and environmental support toward social entrepreneur intention (Hockerts, 2017). According to the study by Chavali, et.al (2021), some of the important activities universities/HEIs can plan for students to promote their social entrepreneurial intent in them are – exposure to students in the volunteer field with organizations that work for a social cause, workshops by government bodies, emotional, social and ethical skill training, networking with alumni, working with sustainable development projects, mentoring, nurture new ideas of students,

The development of good quality human resources and utilization of their potential ensures the development of a nation. Therefore, the Human Development Index (HDI) emphasizes that people and their capabilities are the key criteria to assess the development of a country, not alone GNP/capita. An upper trend of HDI ensures that the fruits of economic growth are reaching the common citizenry, instead of being parked in a few pockets. If two countries with the same level of GNI/capita, end up with different HDI, it indicates either wrong policy choices or its implementation by the government of the nation.  HDI consists of three key dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, being knowledgeable, and having a decent standard of living. It is the geometric mean of normalized indices for each of these three dimensions. A careful look at these three variables boils down to the sense of a commoner as to the availability of the quality of education, health, and living enjoyed by the citizens of a nation, which then cuts into a good figure in the index. If the value is closer to 1.0 on the index, the better it’s standing in regard to human development. In the year 2022, Nigeria has an HDI of 0.534, indicating somewhere in the middle in a global scenario.  Unfortunately, Nigeria is the home of the global highest number of kids (at least 10.5 million) out of formal schooling, though formal primary education is officially free and compulsory. One in five out-of-school children in the world is Nigerian. This grim situation has been acknowledged by the Federal Government which has pledged to increase Nigeria’s annual domestic education expenditure by 50 percent over the next two years and by 100 percent by 2025. This increase will reach 7.2% of the allocation of the national budget; though the internationally expected benchmark of spending in education is 15-20% of the national budget.  Nationally, only 61% of 6-11 year-olds regularly attend primary school, but in the northern part of the country, this figure drops down to 53%, a sharp decrease of 9%. Therefore, the picture is grimier in northern Nigeria. This even further drops down to around 47% for the girl child in northern parts. Various factors like financial affordability, insurgency, social instability, socio-cultural norms, and religious practices discourage participation in formal education and especially for girl children. In the health sector, there are several avenues, which vary from one place to another, available in seeking remedial treatment once a person gets a disease. Like in the case of Nigeria, there are mainly two types of resources viz., formal medicines (allopathic) and traditional African medicine (TAM). Allopathic medicines are synthetic or semi-synthetic chemicals, traditional medicines are also chemicals but made from natural sources. In the population, sometimes a division is observed in choosing which one is better for health. To my observation, TAM sides have an allegation of deprivation of proper attention or promotion in the usage of their products and as a result, allopathic medicines have become dominant. Personally, I have observed the other way round, allopathic practitioners recommend taking traditional medicines if found suitable. TAM practices depend on faith, not on clinical evidence. Nigeria and other African countries possess tremendous amounts of repositories of TAM, which claims to be effective against the disease but has not passed through clinical trials. Both World Health Organization and African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have discouraged to use of these medicines as the clinical trial has not taken place for these natural chemicals.  To this end, all these right decisions will expedite the development of Nigerians as people, and as a nation, and are expected to fetch higher HDI globally.  Reference: https://www.unicef.org/nigeria/education#:~:text=One%20in%20every%20five%20of,years%20are%20not%20in%20school. https://www.unicef.org/nigeria/press-releases/unicef-warns-nigerian-education-crisis-world-celebrates-international-day-education https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0033350620304170   Dr. Susanta Pahari is a Professor in The Department of Biochemistry, Skyline University, Nigeria. He has a PhD in Biochemistry, MSc in Biochemistry from University of Calcutta, India. You can join the conversation on Facebook @SkylineUniversityNG and on Twitter @SkylineUNigeria