By SIMRIT KAUR
STUDENTS
who graduated from Islamic studies should not limit themselves to
stereotypical careers such as religious officers or teachers.
Rather,
they should explore other fields of work including becoming
entrepreneurs, said International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM)
deputy rector (student and alumni affairs) Hamidon Abdul Hamid.
With
that in mind, IIUM has set up the Waqec Business and Entrepreneurship
Training Centre within its Department of Quran and Sunnah Studies.
“We
hope that the new centre will spearhead an entrepreneurship drive among
students, including those from other departments and faculties,” said
Hamidon at the launch of Waqec on Feb 23 by Deputy Entrepreneur and
Cooperative Development Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah.
In
his speech, Saifuddin said that only 2.4% of graduates become
entrepreneurs in Malaysia, compared to 10% in the United States.
Saifuddin(left) visiting the Waqec Business and Entrepreneurship Training Centre
with Hamidon (right) and Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences
Faculty dean Assoc Prof Dr Hazizan Md Noon.
He acknowledged that more needs to be done to inculcate an entrepreneurship mindset among local university students.
“We
introduced a one-year entrepreneurship placement programme for Islamic
graduates last year to increase the number of halal product
consultants,’’ he said.
A total of 100 graduates are currently
on the programme. A further 200 will be accepted into the programme
this year and next. The programme is also open to Malaysian graduates
from overseas.
Other measures the ministry is taking to boost
the number of entrepreneurs among graduates include improving the
effectiveness of entrepreneurship programmes at local universities,
enabling final-year students to apply for entrepreneurship loans
instead of having to wait until they graduate and encouraging
undergraduates to form companies while still in university.
