OPINION: Vocational training the key to curb joblessness

Dear Editor,

IT IS sad to learn that there were 14,461 locals who were unemployed in the Sultanate according to unemployment data in January 2014 (The Brunei Times, March 27, 2014).

I believe the Sultanate needs to modernise vocational training institutions by making them attractive to youth not only in terms of skills courses being offered but also financial help provided through interest-free loan so that students can start their own business once they completed their studies successfully.

Students need to be taught that the age of seeking jobs from the government is over; it is the age of creating jobs that require creating the conducive environment for reading and learning. Here, the government needs to build modernise public library so that youth can spend valuable time there rather than wasting their time in the shopping malls.

After six year of experience working as senior lecturer at Faculty of Business, Economics and Policy Studies, Universiti Brunei Darussalam (2006-2012), I believe that Islamic microfinance enterprise is also the answer for youth unemployment problem that was well documented by two studies conducted by author with the support of his Master students in Islamic Banking and Finance.

The first study was on “An Islamic Microfinance Enterprise, The Financial Vehicle That Will Change The Face of the Islamic World: The Power of Salam Financing”, and the second study was on: “Islamic Microfinance untapped potential”.

These two studies demonstrated without any doubt that Islamic microfinance enterprise has huge potential for the country and the government need to take the matter seriously.

To enable youth to start their businesses, seed capital is vital base on Islamic microfinance principles. Generally speaking, microfinance is a financing tool that provides very small loans to the working poor who are traditionally considered non-bankable, mainly because they lack the guarantees that can protect a financial institution against a loss.

Islamic microfinance provides an innovative interest-free alternative to conventional microfinance. Based on the profit sharing principles of equity based finance, Islamic microfinance offers greater resilience than conventional microfinance.

If a business fails, nothing is paid; if a business succeeds, profits are shared. Risks and rewards are always proportionate to equity shares.

While any return on capital in the form of interest is completely prohibited in Islam, there is no objection to getting a return on capital if the provider of capital enters into a partnership with a worker or entrepreneur and is prepared to share in the risks of the business.

Though still a long way from the financial mainstream, many governments now see Islamic microfinance as an effective way to build up local enterprise and reduce unemployment.

In light of the above, microfinance is seen as a powerful tool for reaching out to the unemployed youth, raising living standards, creating jobs, boosting demand for other goods and services, contributing to economic growth and alleviating poverty.

The main purpose of this noble task is to enable youth to succeed and to be financially independent to live according to what Allah wants us to be (as human beings) through decent life that is called “Hayat Taeebah”, through which there is no fear from tomorrow.

If it is well carried out and managed by efficient and experienced professionals, it will undoubtedly lead to make major changes about the way we think about them.

Finally, the government today is looking for graduates who are problem solvers with strong personality and fear of Allah SWT to be an asset to the nation rather than burden on them.

Dr Saad Al-Harran,
Business Consultant, Palmerston North, New Zealand.
Email: drsaadalharran@yahoo.com


Sumber - The Brunei Times