3.0 Solution unemployment in Malaysia
3.1 Changing the mindset of graduates

The readiness of our youth and young professionals to search for opportunities overseas posed the third challenge. There is a need for institutional changes of mindset to overcome the fundamental problems of quality rather than quantity and to change the mindset of the locals for the need to work harder, to get out of their comfort zone and not be content to allow future generations to work in the present environment while the world is moving at a faster pace. It was recommended that a strategic approach be adopted to promote a change of mindset, more demonstration of needs more than wants in order to build quality professionals.
Current economic issues faced by the nation are on the escalating prices of essential goods, building materials, petrol, diesel, gas and electricity tariff. With this price increases the effects on the Malaysian economy is a rise in the consumer price index which hit a 26-year high in August 2008. Inevitably there is rise in inflation and slowdown in output growth even though exports are still not affect at the moment. There is pressure on wages with MTUC’s
call for minimum wages of RM900 per month and a cost of living allowance of RM300 per month. However, this can only be viable if productivity is increased and there is a reduction in number of foreign worker in the country. The government has put in cost cutting measures by cutting down on mega projects, expenditures related to entertainment, overseas travel and cabinet allowance to counter the impact of these issues. Even though Malaysia still has full employment, it is expected that there will be an increase in unemployment rate, retrenchment or voluntary separation and closure of businesses. MEF did a survey on the impact of the increase in fuel prices and found that it resulted in increases in overall operating cost, human resource and labor cost, cost of raw materials, cost of transport related services as well as cost of products and services. In order to cope with the challenges of rising prices, it was suggested that individuals will have to make necessary adjustment to their lifestyle and implement ‘Green Book’ policy where possible. Private sector employers can cut down unnecessary expenses while employees in order to remain employed must possess multi-skills and the ability to adjust quickly.
Ideologically, we need to be more ambitious as a nation. Only ambition can break the cycle of inevitable failure. We have a strong basis for growth and could become a cutting-edge, sustainable, technology-led economy. There is no sound reason to accept the status quo, nor to believe we cannot, in the medium-term, aim significantly higher. Their minds start to rot, intellectual growth is suppressed, and the end result; they hit rock bottom in the ‘real’ world. Groping in the dark, they try to find a way out, but to no avail. Thereafter, enlightenment ensues, a harsh realization, that the scroll in their hands is merely that, a scroll. On the other hand, the introduction of a compulsory soft skills course serves only to magnify the deficiencies of our education system. Students have forgotten how to interact, how to communicate, and how to ace that interview, to the extent that such drastic measure has to be taken. While this solves the problem on the surface, it effectively sweeps the bigger chunk of it under the carpet. Undergraduates cannot be expected to learn the art of eloquence and to gain self confidence overnight. It takes more than a course to create the wholesome undergraduate. More importantly, undergraduates must be provided with room and space for holistic growth. Intellectual discussions, debates and forums on any topic at all should be encouraged and the underlying fear that students will rebel, retaliate or even form extremist groups, I would like to state, is unfounded. As adults, they should be respected as such, which means also to be given inter alia, the right to freedom of expression. What is right or wrong is not the point. The focal point is, undergraduates must be allowed to think, to express themselves, and to dissent if they want to. Keep pushing them around, and what do you get? A bunch of pushovers in society. The bottom line is this. Whether or not an undergraduate will ever be ready to face the ‘real’ world is essentially a matter of choice. Choose to maintain your status quo, you continue in your temporary bubble in Neverland, waiting for the ‘real’ world to come crashing through. Choose to free your mind from the fetters of tradition for tradition’s sake, and to move out of your comfort zone, you embark on a journey with nothing guaranteed, except unfamiliarity.


3.2 Education Collaboratin for Sustainable Development

The objectives were to promote and strengthen industry-education collaboration so as to develop a common understanding of the industry’s needs and how polytechnics and community colleges can fulfill those needs for the national as well as the international market. Education institutions were urged to prepare students who are able to meet job market requirements immediately. Four challenges were posed for graduates – the need for sufficient qualifications and experience; to be multi skilled and adaptable to changing “glocal” environment and circumstances; to be prepared and ready to search for opportunities overseas and lastly to have the confidence to succeed in foreign countries. In order to meet these challenges call for the change of mindset from the institutions and graduates with benching with the worlds’ best and international accreditation and getting out of the “comfort zone”. In the Question and Answer session, issues on skills in human management, enhancing the status of sub-professionals, international exposure for students and graduates, preparation of students for the international market jointly with the industry, career guidance programmes to smoothen the transition of school-to-work, placement units in institutions to facilitate employment, advice from professional bodies on benchmarking and international standards which can facilitate student and graduate mobility, embedding multi-skills and multidisciplines into the curriculum, setting up of “preferred polytechnics”, guest lecturers from the industry, the need for mastery in foreign languages so as to be competitive on the international front, the need to import of skilled craftsmen to train our locals and training for wet trades to reduce dependency on foreign workers. Participants from the industry were surveyed on their readiness to collaborate in DPCCE‘s programmes. The results were very encouraging. 36 respondents out 42 indicated their interest to collaborate in different areas. More than 70% of these respondents wish to take in students for training, share their expertise in curriculum development as well as be guest lecturers in the institutions. More than 60% are willing to giving career talks, presenting papers, be an advisory committee member of an institution and take part in work based learning programmes. 58.3% of the respondents are willing to take in lecturers for internship at their organizations.
The objectives were to promote and strengthen industry-education collaboration so as to develop a common understanding of the industry’s needs and how polytechnics and community colleges can fulfill those needs for the national as well as the international market. To meet the requirements of the industries, DPCCE’s institutions are embarking on a new concept of “Finishing Schools” to train and prepare its’ final semester students as well as unemployed graduates with industry-specific knowledge, skills and competencies to facilitate and improve their employability. Career guidance programs are also being strengthened at the institutions to ease the institution-to-work transition and ensure graduates are in jobs that will best use them. Complementary models such as life-long learning are also being developed to enable workers to be able to access and continually update their skills and knowledge for job mobility up the human capital chain as well as personal skill development. Industry must play a collaborative and supportive role towards the planning and implementation of the above action plans. Input is essential for the identification of the skill sets, competencies and soft skills needed for the graduates to be relevant in the job market. Industry can also play a role in career guidance and support the students’ industrial training and lecturers’ attachment to the industry. Education institutions should prepare students who meet job market requirements in terms of hands-on knowledge and relevant skills as companies are not keen to train new employees. The graduates need to be able to start to contribute immediately as at present it takes two years before fresh graduates can start to contribute to the organization. The Ministry of Higher Education and Ministry of Education can work together with the industry on career guidance and training in preparing students for the job market.
Four challenges were put forward on how to develop talent for international ventures. The first challenge posed was on the professional capabilities of our graduates. Irrespective of whether the graduates are “blue collar” or “white collar” professionals, one needs to have sufficient qualifications and experience, especially internationally recognized qualifications and specialized skills and related experience before venturing on the international stage. Polytechnics and community colleges need to offer these specialized training as basic generic skills are no longer adequate. Being multi skilled and adaptable to changing “glocal” environment and circumstances is the second challenge faced by our graduates. Environment and circumstances in different countries are not necessary the same as conditions in Malaysia. Therefore what we train our graduates locally may not be immediately exportable. As we develop our human capital, we must bear in mind and recognize the need to benchmark internally but also to understand that different parts of the world need different skill sets and technologies.

3.3 Enhancement In Soft Skills And Retraining Program

During the Eighth Plan period, the economy maintained full employment and recorded growth in labour productivity. Employment expanded in line with economic growth, which was mainly contributed by the services and manufacturing sectors. The quality of the labour force improved with the increasing supply of educated and skilled human resource. Various initiatives were undertaken including the implementation of several training and retraining programmes to reduce skills mismatch and enhance the employability of labour, particularly graduates. Likewise, entrepreneurial skills have been incorporated in order to enhance entrepreneurship focus, as students will require general business skills in addition to technical skills. A Graduate Enhancement Scheme is also in the pipeline, targeted at all higher education graduates. Through this scheme, the graduates will get an opportunity to hone their entrepreneur skills as well as acquire and reinforce industryspecific knowledge, skills and competencies. It was highlighted that joint certification training programs can further enhance the employability of our graduates. Employing graduates with a strong desire to learn is more important than taking in the best graduates. The bridging from school to the working world is very important. Teaching the basics of MS Office and communication skills are essential for this transition. The main challenge facing graduates is their inability to articulate a line of thought, regardless of language. There is a need to put in place a programme where thinking and communication skills, are taught, irrespective of discipline. Special programmes/action plans, in line with market needs, must be designed to enable Malaysians competitive on the international front. Language skill is important as a marketing tool in any export market, for example, Arabic in the Middle East market and English in European markets. There is a need to change the mindset of the younger generation to be proficient in foreign languages. We should not be misguided by national pride to refrain from learning other languages.
The capacity and capability of public training institutions will be strengthened to meet the training needs of public sector employees. Existing training programmes will be continued and new programmes will be offered with special emphasis on values and ethics. Towards this end, Institut Tadbiran Awam Negara (INTAN) will expand their training programmes to include courses such as developing high performance employees, customer services and Islamic finance. To facilitate the development of lifelong learning among civil servants, INTAN will lead the implementation of e-learning initiatives based on the Public Sector e-Learning Blueprint. To further enhance the management skills and professionalism of education personnel, Institut Aminuddin Baki will intensify its training efforts. Training in specialised areas such as customs, safety and security, health, property evaluation, diplomatic relations, and professional and technical fields will continue to be provided by the respective training institutions. These institutions include Akademi Kastam DiRaja Malaysia, Akademi Bomba dan Penyelamat Malaysia, Akademi Imigresen Malaysia, Institut Kesihatan Umum, Institut Penilaian Negara, Institute of Diplomacy and Foreign Relations and the IKRAM Training and Infrastructure Development Institute. Private training institutions will continue to provide management and other specialised training to meet the demand for highly competent managers to ensure industries become more resilient and competitive in the global market. In this regard, institutions like the Malaysian Institute of Management, Institute of Bankers, FMM Institute of Manufacturing and Malaysia Institute of Human Resource Management will be encouraged to expand and strengthen their training programmes. The National Productivity Corporation will also expand their training capacity. During the Plan period, the entrepreneurial training programmes will be intensified to promote greater self-reliance and competitiveness, particularly among Bumiputera entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurial training will be expanded, among others, by increasing the capacity of the Institut Keusahawanan Negara. As a coordinating agency for entrepreneurial training, the institute will enhance the quality of and standardise the entrepreneurial training programmes. The training programmes will also emphasise positive values and ethics. In addition, programmes will be undertaken to change the perception of society, particularly school leavers and graduates, on self-employment. To encourage and facilitate school leavers and graduates in self-employment and foster entrepreneurship, integrated information on self-employment will be provided. During the Plan period, with the greater focus on agricultural development, agricultural agencies will expand their retraining and skills upgrading programmes for farmers and entrepreneurs as well as their employees. The existing training programmes offered by various agricultural agencies will be reviewed with the objective, among others, to strengthen commercialisation and management skills, improve environmental management as well as place greater emphasis on ethics and positive values. To intensify and strengthen the provision of training in agricultural-related areas, agricultural training institutions will offer part-time training programmes and conduct short-courses. Towards this end, training needs analysis will be conducted to measure the skills gap as well as identify the types and level of skills required in the agriculture sector.
Increasing Accessibility. Access to industrial skills training will be increased to expand the supply of highly skilled human resource, particularly at diploma and advanced diploma levels. The capacity of advanced training institutions will be expanded and upgraded and training programmes will be redesigned to meet the increasing demand for skilled workers with entrepreneurial skills. Private training providers will continue to complement Government efforts through the provision of quality training. Quality Improvement. The quality of industrial skills training will be enhanced through accelerating the development of market-driven curriculum, which is based on the new NOSS, strengthening collaboration with industry, improving the quality of instructors, reviewing the accreditation procedure of the training providers and assessment method for trainees and expanding the application of e-learning. In addition, to improve the planning, designing and implementation of training programmes, the management information system in training agencies will be strengthened and the National Advisory Council on Education and Training will be established.