USM grads highly marketable

KOTA BARU: Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) graduates have no difficulty getting jobs; 75% of them are employed before their convocation in August. 

However, the university is concerned whether these graduates obtained jobs that matched their qualifications, said its vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dzulkifli Abdul Razak. 

He said the university was taking steps to ensure that its students met market demands and had made certain adjustments to its courses to ensure graduates had the competitive edge.  

He was speaking to newsmen after the opening of the new RM1mil neurosciences laboratory by USM board chairman Tan Sri Ani Arope at the Kubang Kerian medical campus. 

Present were deputy vice-chancellor (academic affairs) Prof Rosihan Ali, campus director Prof Datuk Mafuazy Mohamed, USM training hospital acting director Dr Zaidun Kamari and neurosciences department head Prof Jafri Malin Abdullah.  

Prof Dzulkifli said he met 100 industry leaders last year to gauge market demand, adding that a memorandum of understanding (MoU) had been signed with companies in the Kulim High-Tech Park.  

Based on the MoU, third year students would undergo industrial training for between six months and a year and earn academic credits. 

Such training would also expose USM students to the job market and enable them to acquire skills and build their confidence.  

He described the setting up of a new laboratory as a historic occasion for USM as neurosciences were the “wave of the future”, after biotechnology and nano-technology.