JOHOR BARU: The Human Resources Ministry is encouraging university students on their semester breaks to work part-time to improve their marketability.
Its minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam said this would enable students to understand the actual working culture and challenges in the job market.
“We are launching this programme in University Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) with 200 participating students and I hope to expand this to all universities nationwide.
“This is important as this will help improve the graduate’s marketability as presently although 80% of UTM graduates are employed within the first six months after their graduation, the national average is about 47% to 55%,” he said.
Dr Subramaniam hoped that the private sector would take part in the programme by hiring the students during their holidays.
“We are starting with 200 students from UTM next year but we hope to get 1,000 students annually in future.”
Students who signed up for the stint would be paid an allowance and it is on a voluntary basis.
Asked about the difference between this programme and an internship, he said that the latter is only done at the end of the final curriculum but this programme on the other hand utilised a student’s long breaks annually.
“By taking up such training stints, a graduate will have more opportunities in future.”
Dr Subramaniam said that the students need not necessarily be given high-level jobs but should take on jobs as operators or even technicians to allow them to know about the issue on the ground.
“We are also looking into the curriculum of universities to find out if they were able to meet with the needs of the industry.”
The Government, he added, is committed in ensuring the marketability of students and hoped to launch its graduate employment blueprint by the end of the year to address the issues affecting graduates.
At the event, two private companies signed collaboration with UTM to take in their students under the holiday job placement programme.
On separate issue, Dr Subramaniam said Singapore had responded to the Government queries on banning workers from Sabah and Sarawak for employment in the island republic.
“Every country has its own decision when it comes to manpower and if they say there is no blanket policy, then we have to accept their answer,” he added.
It was previously reported that Singapore had barred Sabahan and Sarawakians aged between 18 and 35 from working there.
The move was attributed to a number of criminal cases such as fights involving male youths from both the east Malaysian states.
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