KUALA LUMPUR: Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) was awarded with the Most Entrepreneurial University of The Year in recognising the initiative of Higher Education Institution (IPT) and its academicians in education and entrepreneurship development.
Most Entrepreneurial University of The Year, an award by the Education Ministry, is one of the segments in the Ministry of Education Entrepreneurial Awards (MEA) 2018 Institution Award category.
In a statement released today, it said USM walked away with the entrepreneurship development grand prize worth RM250,000, a trophy and a plaque. The prizes were handed over to USM vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Asma Ismail.
The awards were presented by the Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik in a ceremony held last night.
It said the other two finalists for the same catergory was University Malaya (UM) and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM).
“Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Polytechnic (POLISAS) won the Most Polytechnic of The Year award while Kolej Komuniti Baling and Kolej Komuniti Sungai Petani emerged as the Most Community College of The Year.
“MEA is a part of the Higher Education Institution Entrepreneurship Development Policy initiatives and 2015-2025 Malaysia Education Development Plan (Higher Education) and 2016-2020 Entrepreneurship Action Plan of Higher Education Institutions to encourage conducive ecosystem for development and education in local IPTs through various holistic entrepreneurship programmes.
“The implementation of MEA concept is based on the model adaptation from Entrepreneurial of the Year Award which is organised by the National Centre for Entrepreneurship in Education (NCEE) under the Times Higher Education Awards, United Kingdom,” it said.
Awards from other categories were presented by the Education Ministry secretary general Datuk Dr Mohd Ghazali Abas.
Meanwhile, Best Student Enterprise Award was awarded to Liyana Sweetland Resources project which was carried out the UITM students, Outstanding Entrepreneurship Mentor Award awarded to Prof Dr Mohar Yusof from UNIRAZAK, Outstanding Graduate Enterprise Award (Jiwa Generasi Sdn Bhd, UiTM), and Outstanding Student Social Entrepreneurship Award (Mulberry, UMS).