Lack of soft skills among issues we hope to address and change, says MEF

PETALING JAYA: The new integrated cumulative grading system for the next intake of students in five public universities will create more marketable, competitive graduates, said Malaysian Employers Fede­ration (MEF) executive director Datuk Shamsuddin Bardan (pic).

However, he warned that it might take some time for the effects to be felt.

Commenting on the new cumulative grade point average (CGPA) system to be launched in September, Shamsuddin said soft skills were important, an area that many new graduates were lacking in.

“Currently, we have issues about the soft skills of the graduates but, of course, with new programmes, we hope that things will change.

“Naturally, we cannot expect immediate changes as that’s not realistic.

“The impact will most likely be felt after three to four years as students experience it from first to final year,” he said in an interview.

He said an “important” part of the new scheme was implementation.

“It may look good on paper but what often happens is that the implementation is not effective.

“So, that’s the challenge the institutions will face.”

Five universities, including Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, will begin using the system this year to better develop talent and innovation, and Malaysia is the first country to adopt such a system.

Proposed under the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2015-2025 (Higher Education), it will assess academic performance as well as values, community service and leadership qualities.

Students had since come out to say that they would welcome the new “holistic” grading system but only if the Government could match this with adequate soft skill classes and if the varsities were clear on how to grade students.

Shamsuddin said the current batch of students were weak as far as soft skills were concerned.

“Probably 30% to 40% of students are not really employable at the appropriate category for the first six months after graduation.

“This year is particularly challenging,” he said.

With the new plan, he said it was possible that Malaysian graduates would do better on an international arena, especially with the start of the Asean economic community.