MIRI: The ministry of higher education is taking a holistic approach in education to ensure the right quality and quantity of graduates are produced at the right time to meet the demand in the job market.
“We make sure all the courses offered in the institutions of higher learning are of the right quality and we have the mechanism to screen the courses made available to our students to avoid job mismatch,” said the deputy minister of higher education Dr Hou Kok Chung.
He told this to reporters during a press conference after officiating the inaugural Curtin International Business Conference 2009 held at Curtin University of Technology Sarawak Campus.
He said the jobless graduates scenario in the country is not that alarming, pointing out at least 76 per cent of graduates land a job after six months of graduation.
"We are happy with this statistics because the remainder of the students may be continuing their further studies taking their masters degree and even to doctorate level," explained Hou
He said the government is making the effort to reduce the gap between jobless graduates and the employment available in the market.
One of the strategies is to offer courses that are relevant to the current market needs so that graduates are more employable when they seek for job in a competitive work environment.
"We also advise students to choose courses properly in the universities so that they are marketable," said Hou
The government have a programme under the ministry of human resource called Train and Place programme currently going on for jobless graduates in the country seeking to reduce the unemployment rate among fresh graduates in the country.
At one time, the jobless graduates was said to hit a record high of 80,000.
Earlier in his speech at the official opening ceremony of the conference, Hou said the government recognises the need for successful human capital development and is committed to spearhead a concerted effort to transform the national education system at all levels from pre-school through higher education.
“Developing human capital with attributes such as desire for knowledge, critical and innovative thinking, creativity and competitiveness, reinforced with high moral and ethical values, to meet both the national and international level demands, becomes a national mission,” said Hou.
Present at the opening ceremony were the Pujut assemblyman Andy Chia, the pro vice-chancellor and chief executive of Curtin Sarawak Professor Dr John Evans, the dean of Curtin Sarawak Professor Joan Gribble, the conference convenor Shamsul Kamariah Abdullah, the chairman of Curtin Sarawak Sdn Bhd Datu Dr Hatta Solhee and the city mayor Lawrence Lai.
There were about 100 participants and a total of 108 paper presented during the conference, themed “Business Sustainability in the Era of Globalisation”. ENDS.
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Caption: OFFICIAL LAUNCHED: Hou beating the gong to signal the start of the conference with other guests looking on from left Chia, Evans, Kamariah and Hatta.
