KUALA LANGAT: Entrepreneurial education should be made a core subject in secondary schools instead of being a curriculum in a bid to produce a future "nation of entrepreneurs" (bangsa usahawan).
Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan said entrepreneurial skills cultivated during the secondary school period would churn out business-minded students armed with knowledge to chart their future economic development.
Ahmad, a member of the National Employment Council (NEC), said he had suggested at a meeting chaired by deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof at Dewan Rakyat that Form 1 to 5 students be taught the entrepreneurial subject.
"It was well received by the NEC because of the annual 500,000 Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) school leavers , only 40 per cent (200,000) of them enter Form 6, pursue studies in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) or at private and public higher learning institutions.
"Whereas the other 60 per cent (300,000) end up with only the SPM qualifications and become income earners working in factories with a minimum income or getting into the e-hailing field.
"This (minimum wage) is not good enough for their future progression. If they are given exposure to business knowledge on a weekly basis in school for five years, the 300 SPM leavers can grow to be good entrepreneurs and they would not fall into the Bottom 40 group but Middle 40," he said after opening Gerakan Belia 4B Malaysia's 42th and 43th annual general assembly,here,today.
Ahmad hoped Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek, who is also a member of the NEC, would look into the matter swiftly, as entrepreneurial studies will aid Malaysian youths' successful venture in the business field.
"When we have more entrepreneurs, it is easier to become a developed country, or else it will be a third world country.
"We want to be a developed country with high income earners and this can be achieved if they become successful entrepreneurs," he said.
Ahmad, through the Finance Ministry, channeled an allocation of RM150,000 to Gerakan Belia 4B Malaysia to hold entrepreneurial related programmes.
He encouraged the delegation of 300 youths to take advantage of a RM40 billion loans offered by the government to those wanting to kickstart businesses.
He urged them to seek guidance when exploring business opportunities instead of going into it with no direction which would result into failure.
Ahmad advised them to go into blue ocean strategy businesses, devise good marketing strategies, sell out of the box products and go heavy on e-commerce.
