New course to make grads bolder

New course to make grads bolder
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/7/12/nation/18283141&sec=nation

BANGI: Public university students are expected to have greater confidence when they graduate following the introduction of a new course in entrepreneurship.

Starting with the intake for the 2007/2008 academic year, all students will now be required to take the Basic Entrepreneurship Acculturation module.

Higher Education Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed said that one of the aims of this move was to expose students to the entrepreneurial culture.

“This will enhance their confidence and train them to be independent and bolder when going into their fields after they graduate,” he said yesterday after closing the Institutions of Higher Learning Student Representative Councils Convention 2007 and the launching of the module here.

I see now that the ministry is seriously tackling the problem of the unemployed / unemployable graduates in Malaysia! A good effort, I guess.

The compulsory module, which comprises both theory (25%) and practical (75%) components, will include project papers, internships, presentation skills and input from successful entrepreneurs.

It is a standalone course with a two-credit weight and students must take it at least a year before they graduate.

So far so good.

Mustapa said private institutions of higher learning were encouraged to adopt the module for their students.

Higher Education Management Department director-general Prof Datuk Dr Hassan Said said that students not affected by the requirement could also take the course as an elective, subject to the availability of places.

The module was prepared jointly by the ministry, public institutions of higher learning and the Malaysian University Student Entrepreneurship Council.

Oops. Here's where it starts to fall apart. For a course that is supposedly designed to help students get some first-hand experiential knowledge on entrepreneurship, it's highly suspect that the module does not involve the expertise of the many companies, corporations, businesses and real entrepreneurs. Instead, the main shareholders of this venture are *gasp* the ministry, the universities and a student council! If there are no inputs from real businesspersons with real gems and experience, I wonder what quality will this module impart to the students.

This just shows how poorly informed the bureaucrats at the higher education ministry really are. By shielding themselves from the actual situation at the ground level, they come up with half-baked initiatives that, while sounding good on paper, is probably highly unworkable due to the fact that key sectors' involvement is not sought after.

Can anyone say that this is another patch job? BLA BLA BLA!