Microcredit pioneer Dr Muhammad Yunus has urged students to implant the concept of social business in their academic curricula for better understanding of the idea to create a world without poverty.
Speaking at an event titled Social Business Academic Conclave (SBAC) 2015, the Nobel laureate said the concept of social business was already being introduced in many prominent universities around the world, and the young people in colleges and universities would be better equipped to articulate the concept in their decision-making process as entrepreneurs.
The day-long event, jointly organised by Eatern University and Yunus Centre, took place at the university campus in the capital’s Dhanmondi area yesterday. The theme of the programme was “Implanting Social Business in Academia.”
The keynote speaker at the event, Yunus recalled the history of introducing social business and elaborated its meaning and scope of implementations using different examples.
Stressing on the need to redesign the world’s economic system to eradicate poverty, he said students should be advised to become entrepreneurs, not job-seekers, describing entrepreneurship as a natural trait of human character.
Yunus said young people had the creative power and ability to understand things in a way that was different from that of the old generation. They should not be polluted with the old-fashioned thinking, he said.
Eastern University’s Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Abdur Rab also spoke at the programme and said today’s students were leaders of tomorrow, and through implanting the concept of social business in academia, the young minds could be imbued with the spirit of social services.
“I hope that the conclave is going to be a platform for students, academicians and social entrepreneurs for better understanding of the concept of social business,” he said.