Sustainability of Graduate Employability in the Post-COVID-19 Era: Initiatives by the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education and Universities
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Literature Review
2.1. The Impact of COVID-19 on Graduate Employability
2.2. Ministry of Higher Education’s Initiatives to Increase Graduate Employability
2.3. University Initiatives
2.4. Theory of Employability
3. Method
3.1. Research Design
3.2. Participants
3.3. Officer Data Collection
3.4. Student Data Collection
3.5. Data Analysis
4. Results
4.1. The Initiatives Undertaken by the Ministry of Higher Education to Improve the Marketability of Graduates in the Post-COVID-19 Era
4.2. The Initiatives Undertaken by University Malaysia Saba to Improve the Marketability of Graduates in the Post-COVID-19 Era
4.2.1. Upskilling and Reskilling Programmes
Reskilling and upskilling programmes are very necessary to be held to enhance students’ skills because most of the job opportunities that exist during the pandemic era require new skills to ensure the sustainability of the marketability of graduates. According to him, the university has planned three categories of upskilling and reskilling programmes, one of which is the Training and Placement programme. This programme is implemented in collaboration with industry to train students in the disciplines required by the industry so that they may be hired by the industry.
The new job opportunities that exist in the pandemic era require new working skills, which makes it difficult for literary students to obtain employment. Therefore, the university implements online upskilling programs aggressively so that students can obtain employment.
4.2.2. Gig Economy Programmes
It can be said that as many as four to six economic gig economy programmes will be conducted by the university every week to give exposure and opportunities to students to get involved in the field of gig economy. I have attended six programmes, and the one in which I chose to participate actively is Siswa Mal.
4.2.3. Entrepreneurship Programme
The Student Career and Entrepreneurship Development Centre also helps and encourages graduates to choose entrepreneurship as one of their career fields in the pandemic era. For example, through Bank Rakyat’s Entrepreneur Programme, students are given business assistance of RM 5000 to RM 7000 to start a business. In addition to that, the Career Programme with the Ministry of Entrepreneurship was held to give exposure to students on how to register a business and obtain business start-up funds.
Through 2021, the Entrepreneurship Unit will implement 32 entrepreneurial programmes and activities. The programmes consist of education, training, and exposure to the world of entrepreneurship. The students will be exposed to entrepreneurial abilities and knowledge. In fact, our objective is to increase the number of students who become entrepreneurs, as employment opportunities in the industry have decreased since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The university always plans and implements numerous entrepreneurship programmes to encourage students to pursue entrepreneurship as a career. Both of us from the Food Science Faculty participated in the Bank Rakyat Siswa Entrepreneur programme. This programme exposed me to numerous business opportunities and provided me with funding to launch a cake business.
4.2.4. Finishing School Programmes
The main activities awaited by most students to attend during the Finishing School Programmes are the My-Resume writing workshop and My Future Job training.
I am looking forward to attending Finishing School Programmes because I am learning extra knowledge on how to find my dream job with a good salary.
4.2.5. Online Career Fair
I often receive career fair posters from CCSED via email and WhatsApp. I have attended the online career fair four times and managed to secure a job that suits my field. Therefore, I would like to thank CCSED for helping me get my dream job.
The career fair organised by CCSED to help graduates get a job is very good and effective. This is because every month there is a career fair, and various industries participate. The jobs provided are diverse and allow students to work from home. In addition, graduates are also given the opportunity to work online with companies in Singapore and Thailand.
5. Discussion
6. Implications of the Study
7. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Informed Consent Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Officer Responses | ||
Themes | Frequent | Example |
MySTEP Programme (Short-Term Training and Placement Programme) | 72% | The My Step programme is the main programme implemented by the government to increase the marketability of graduates. |
Penjana KPT-CAP (Career Advancement Programme) | 20% | It is the second-most popular programme among graduates because students are trained for one week and placed to work in a selected company for a year. |
Penjana KPT-PACE (Professional Certification Programme) | 7% | This programme is quite important because the graduates are trained to obtain professional certificates in various fields to increase their marketability. |
Penjana KPT-CAP @ State (Career Advancement Programme at the state level) | 3% | Malaysia’s Ministry of Higher Education also collaborates with the state government to implement the CAP @ State Sponsorship Programme to increase the marketability of graduates from their respective states. But the opportunities provided are few and limited. |
Student Responses | ||
Themes | Frequent | Example |
MySTEP Programme (Short-Term Training and Placement Programme) | 75% | This is one of the best programmes organised by the Ministry of Higher Education to enhance graduate employability in Malaysia. During the programmes, I was given the opportunity to learn soft skills such as communications, writing a proper email, and dressing code (participant 7). |
Penjana KPT-CAP (Career Advancement Programme) | 15% | This programme has enhanced my career by getting me my dream job. I attended one month of training at the university as an aircraft maintenance technician and was offered a job as an engineer at Air Asia. |
Penjana KPT-PACE (Professional Certification Programme) | 5% | Thank you to the Ministry of Higher Education for offering me a professional certification programme. Throughout the course, I attended a power BI course, which helped me secure a job at an IT company in Sabah (participant 5). |
Penjana KPT-CAP @ State (Career Advancement Programme at the state level) | 5% | The state government of Sabah and the Malaysia Higher Ministry of Education collaborated to organise a very good programme to enhance Sabah state students’ employability. The students are given a choice to embark on train-and-place courses or place-and-train courses to secure a job in the endemic era. I have attended place-and-train courses and secured a job in a bank. |
No | Programme Name | Total Funds | Number of Students | Types of Upskilling |
---|---|---|---|---|
01. | Internet of Thing Industrial Skills Certificate Course | RM 53,806.89 | 50 | KPT-CAP |
02. | Certified Drone Precision Agriculture Proficient | RM 49,328.61 | 50 | KPT-CAP |
03. | Aircraft Manufacturing Technology | RM 41,259.46 | 35 | KPT-CAP |
04. | Carnival Event Management and Sales | RM 58,518.13 | 50 | KPT-CAP |
05. | Management and Business in Music | RM 56,724.47 | 50 | KPT-CAP |
06. | Trust Unit Consultant | RM 45,625.64 | 100 | KPT-CAP |
07. | Halal Executive Certificate | RM 26,904.55 | 40 | |
08. | Food Safety Management Executive Programme | RM 53,808.14 | 80 | KPT-PACE |
09. | CSWIP 3.0 Visual Welding Inspector Certification Course | RM 9416.42 | 14 | KPT-PACE |
10. | NDT Liquid Penetrant Testing (PT) Inspector | RM 9416.42 | 14 | KPT-PACE |
11. | NDT Magnetic Particles Testing (MT) Inspector | RM 9416.42 | 14 | KPT-PACE |
12. | Certificate of Competence–Occupational Health Nursing (Occupational Health Nurse–OHN) | RM 77,348.18 | 115 | KPT-PACE |
13. | Workshop on Banana Tissue Culture Techniques and Commercial Banana Plantation | RM 33,632.91 | 50 | KPT-PACE |
14. | Certified Environmental Professional in Schedule Waste Management | RM 4708.60 | 7 | KPT-PACE |
15. | Radiation Protection and Safety Training | RM 25,561.01 | 38 | KPT-PACE |
16. | Certified Team Leader | RM 23,057.13 | 25 | KPT-CAP-STATE |
17. | Certified Team Leader Phase 2 | RM 40,590.22 | 35 | KPT-CAP-STATE |
18. | Certified Digital Marketer | RM 45,229.06 | 43 | KPT-CAP-STATE |
19. | Entrepreneurship Pioneer Course | RM 59,187.53 | 50 | KPT-CAP-STATE |
20. | MySTEP Management Programme Course | RM 320,150.76 | 100 | MySTEP |
No | Name of Programme | 2021 | 2022 |
---|---|---|---|
Number of Students Who Participated | Number of Students Who Participated | ||
01. | Writing E-Resumes | 50 | 78 |
02. | Interview Preparation | 57 | 92 |
03. | Mock Interviews | 43 | 69 |
04. | Effective Communication | 36 | 84 |
05. | LinkedIn Registration | 34 | 65 |
06. | My Future Job | 62 | 102 |
07. | Personal Branding and Planning for Job Application | 37 | 71 |
Month | 2021 | 2022 | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Number of Career Fairs | Job Opportunities | Number of Career Fairs | Job Opportunities | |
January | 1 | 10 | 4 | 100 |
February | 1 | 15 | 4 | 120 |
Mac | 2 | 50 | 5 | 200 |
May | 2 | 80 | 6 | 150 |
June | 3 | 40 | 6 | 180 |
July | 3 | 40 | 4 | 110 |
August | 2 | 50 | 6 | 200 |
September | 4 | 80 | 5 | 180 |
November | 4 | 150 | 4 | 160 |
December | 10 | 550 | 16 | 1500 |
Total | 32 | 1065 | 52 | 2900 |
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Share and Cite
Bikar, S.S.; Talin, R.; Rathakrishnan, B.; Sharif, S.; Nazarudin, M.N.; Rabe, Z.B. Sustainability of Graduate Employability in the Post-COVID-19 Era: Initiatives by the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education and Universities. Sustainability 2023, 15, 13536. https://doi.org/10.3390/su151813536
Bikar SS, Talin R, Rathakrishnan B, Sharif S, Nazarudin MN, Rabe ZB. Sustainability of Graduate Employability in the Post-COVID-19 Era: Initiatives by the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education and Universities. Sustainability. 2023; 15(18):13536. https://doi.org/10.3390/su151813536
Chicago/Turabian StyleBikar, Soon Singh, Rosy Talin, Balan Rathakrishnan, Sabariah Sharif, Mohamad Nizam Nazarudin, and Zulfhikar Bin Rabe. 2023. "Sustainability of Graduate Employability in the Post-COVID-19 Era: Initiatives by the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education and Universities" Sustainability 15, no. 18: 13536. https://doi.org/10.3390/su151813536