NILAI, Oct 6 — Vocational colleges (VC) are not only producing competitive graduates, for they have also succeeded in producing young entrepreneurs who are able to earn a lucrative income at a young age.
Education Ministry vocational training division deputy director Datuk Haidzir Hussin said this was evident when VC graduates earned about RM70,000 a month from their “kuih bahulu” (spongy cake) business.
“We have several programmes in collaboration with third parties like the 1st Step with the Companies Commission of Malaysia to train students. There is a series of nationwide tours where students are given specialised courses in entrepreneurship so that they could enrol their companies for free as well as obtain funding and guidance.
“That's why some of our graduates are able to earn up to RM20,000 and RM70,000 a month through business. Some have opened cake shops and are able to earn RM40,000 a month at the age of 23,” he told a media conference after the Fourth Vocational College Convocation Ceremony at Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) here, yesterday.
The convocation ceremony was officiated by Education Ministry deputy director-general Ahmad Rafee Che Kassim.
Haidzir said VC graduates have a high marketability rate of 97.02 per cent in 2018 and students were offered employment even while they were still undergoing industrial training.
Due to this, Haidzir reminded students that in today's increasingly challenging world, they needed to provide themselves with skills and not just academic qualifications.
The perception of the public and parents that vocational education is second-class should also be eradicated, he said.
A total of 14,387 vocational college graduates from all over the country received their diplomas. — Bernama
