KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 14 — The Bangi Industrial and Rehabilitation Centre (PLPP), an institution under the Welfare Department (JKM) has successfully produced 30 entrepreneurs among people with disabilities (PwDs) through its entrepreneurship courses offered this year.
JKM director-general Datuk Shaharuddin Abu Sohot said most of them ventured into the food business after attending courses in basic entrepreneurship, business forensics as well as a coaching and mentoring programme at the Bangi PLPP.
He said to ensure that each participating PwD was equipped with knowledge in entrepreneurship, they were also given guidance on a one-to-one basis or through seminars.
According to Shaharuddin, Bangi PLPP has also established an entrepreneurship division which is responsible for providing the needed support, wider networking and working closely with industry players, entrepreneurship institutes and stakeholders.
“The success has proven that JKM through Bangi PLPP is always concerned with the needs of its students and the PwD community, especially in the field of entrepreneurship which has become the catalyst of change for the economic expansion,” he told Bernama recently.
Besides that, Shaharuddin said Bangi PLPP had also offered four short courses to 60 PwD this year through reengineering training which was in line with the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
The courses which started last July and participated by 15 PwDs provided training in traditional massage and cupping therapy, men’s hairdressing, skin and sinus treatment and woodcraft.
“In order to remain competitive and relevant, PLPP will continue to offer short courses in the future. This is to give more PwDs the opportunity to undergo courses that meet the needs of the industry as well as to help them build their own business based on the skills that they have acquired,” he said.
Meanwhile, Shaharuddin said the PLPP had also set up a unit called the Employment Support Division which is responsible for helping PwDs and former PLPP students prepare themselves for the job market.
He said the Employment Support Division which comprised three units, namely the job placement unit, the career transition unit and the advocacy unit, would also implement programmes to promote disability awareness within society.
“The units are also responsible for establishing ties with potential employers or government agencies such as the Social Security Organisation (Socso) which will provide more job opportunities for PwDs and the necessary support to help them improve their self-confidence, communication and leadership skills, as well as self-esteem,” Shaharuddin said.
PLPP was established to provide services to the PwD community through vocational training and medical rehabilitation and it has managed to produce 2,220 disabled graduates since its inception in 1999.
— Bernama
