KUCHING, Feb 3: The school cooperative system in Malaysia has been considered as an ideal model to develop more entrepreneurs, as it provides young people the skills to manage a business.
Sarawak Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg said the country’s school cooperative system is a successful system that is recognised internationally.
“The school cooperative system in Malaysia are looked upon as reference by other countries because they operate under an organised and systematic movement.
“The school cooperative, combining work experiences and school-based education, introduces young people to the cooperative model of enterprise while providing exposure to the skills needed in running a business.
“Furthermore, this model enables young people to gain pre-employment experience and the ability to choose the cooperative option to do business,” he said at the opening of the Global Youth Forum 2020 here today.
His text-of-speech was read by Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.
Abang Johari said the cooperative movement in Malaysia provides an appropriate ecosystem, consisted of young people from school to higher learning institutions, to learn about entrepreneurship.
“The Ministry of Education and the Malaysian Cooperative Movement (Angkasa) have done a good job in promoting cooperative inclusion as a subject matter in school curriculum.
“There are 2,433 schools cooperatives in Malaysia with 1.6 million members as in June 2019,” he continued.
Abang Johari noted that the Ministry of Entrepreneurship Development and Cooperative planned to create a culture of entrepreneurship, as well as encouraging more entrepreneurs to become job creators as specified in the National Entrepreneurship Policy 2030.
He said there are approximately 14,417 cooperatives in Malaysia with a membership of 6.1 million people, as disclosed by the Malaysia Cooperative Societies Commission. The figure represented about 20 per cent of the country’s population.
On another note, Abang Johari said the total share capital or membership fees of cooperatives in Malaysia stood at RM15.2 billion with total assets amounted to RM143.7 billion and turnover of RM40.3 billion.
Among those present at the Global Youth Forum 2020 were International Cooperative Alliance’s (ICA) president Ariel Guarco, Angkasa president Datuk Abdul Fattah Abdullah and representatives from 107 nations.
The forum provides participants the opportunity to learn about entrepreneurship, networking with each other and a platform to acquire more knowledge and skills. — DayakDaily
