MOHE Focused On Transforming Students From Job Seekers To Job Creators - Mustapha

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 15 (Bernama) -- Efforts to transform students from job seekers to job creators after graduation is the focus of the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) in the Malaysian Education Development Plan (PPPM) 2025 - 2035 which is currently being drafted.

Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Mustapha Sakmud said entrepreneurship is one of the fields that can create jobs that graduates should pursue, but research shows that only 10 out of 100 university students are involved in the field.

"This is a big challenge, but I think we need to improve it so that it (entrepreneurship) can prepare students for the world of work and become entrepreneurs.

"Nowadays I think it is easy with the use of technology. In the past, becoming an entrepreneur was quite difficult and required a large amount of capital, but now it is easy, we can produce coding or content with technology," he said when met after appearing as a guest on the Ruang Bicara programme Broadcast by Bernama TV, here today.

 He said the MOHE also provided a special fund for university-level business start-ups besides organising competitions among students of Institions of Higher Learning (IPTA) to increase their creativity.

Mustapha also emphasised the importance of providing long-term practical training to students to make them competent and understand the world of work better.

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"In the past, we talked a lot about theory but now we want to emphasize giving more practical things to our students. When they go out into the workforce, they don't feel clumsy and that's what matters.

"We also have the 2U2i Programme, where students will study for two years at university and two years be attached in industry so that they are exposed to the industry earlier," he said.

 Mustapha also said that the MOHE's On-Campus Industry (IOC) programme also helped provide early exposure to the world of work to students through visits by industry experts to the university.

"We bring industry into the campus. There are those who open a 'test lab' on their own campus and interact with students about the real world of work," he said.

-- BERNAMA