Improving women's education contributes to economic growth
27 Aug 2022 10:42am
Noraini said the increase in the level of education among women in this country has contributed to Malaysia's economic growth. - Bernama Photo
Therefore, Noraini said the increase in the level of education among women in this country has contributed to Malaysia's economic growth.
According to her, 20.6 per cent or more than 180,000 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) were owned by women last year and the sector contributed almost RM70 billion to the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and offered almost 800,000 job opportunities worth over RM11.1 billion.
"Studies by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) revealed that increasing women's education contributed to higher economic growth by about 50 per cent in OECD countries over the past 50 years," she said.
Noraini was in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada to attend the 65th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference (CPC) from Aug 20 to yesterday, organised by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) which brings together more than 600 Members of Parliament, Parliament staff and decision makers of more than 40 Commonwealth countries.
She said the main goal of the conference was to hold discussions, expand the network, and share experiences with other participants on global issues that are affecting the world today.
At this conference according to Noraini, there were also side meetings such as the CPA Executive Committee Meeting, the CPA Small Branches Conference, including the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) conference.
"In the CPA executive committee meeting, a proposal was brought by CWP to have equal participation of women or at least 33 per cent as exco in the CPA to ensure the voice, opinions and issues related to women are given priority.
"In this regard, I also share initiatives in supporting efforts to empower female Members of Parliament and promote diversity or intersectionality. In the context of our country, currently, the Dewan Rakyat in the Malaysian Parliament is represented by 33 women or 14.9 per cent of its 222 members," she said.
Noraini said the number was actually still small compared to the female population which comprised almost half or 47.7 per cent of the 32.5 million Malaysians.
She said women have played an active role in making Malaysia as an international hub of higher education in higher learning institutions (IPT).
"In 2021, there were more female employees which at 56.8 per cent compared to males who make up 43.2 per cent at our public IPTs. Public IPTs also house more female students at 61 per cent compared to males 39 per cent.
"In addition, almost 60 per cent of the more than 15,000 employees of the Ministry of Higher Education are women. Based on these figures, I expect greater achievements among Malaysian women in the near future," she said.
Therefore, she said such initiatives are in line with the idea that when women are given the opportunity to reach their potential and the country will become more advanced on the whole. - BERNAMA
