Varsities to focus on jobs overseas

BY IAN MCINTYRE

PASIR MAS: Learn your skills at home but go overseas to work and earn a handsome income.  

This is the thrust of a revised curriculum for higher education that both the Government and the private sector will be working on together.  

Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Dr Shafie Salleh said seeking greener pastures overseas was now a positive move as money that would be sent back home from abroad would benefit the country,” he told reporters after launching the ministry's community college here yesterday. 

“We will ensure that our graduates have skills for the overseas markets besides catering to our own needs.” 

Dr Shafie spoke of his experience overseas, such as in Cambodia, where many hotel managers were Malaysian, and in Saudi Arabia, where there was a huge demand for highly-qualified nurses. 

“They will remit some income home, so Malaysia will enjoy a spill-over effect similar to that experienced by India where its information technology experts were sending a sizeable income home from the United States,” he said. 

Dr Shafie said the private sector would be requested to give their input when the curriculum in tertiary education is revamped. 

Since last December, Dr Shafie has met key players in the education field to encourage them to give their views. 

All vice-chancellors were also directed to meet those in the private sector for curriculum input and to ensure that each speciality degree has entrepreneurship elements in their syllabus. 

This would make the country's workforce globally competitive and produce towering entrepreneurs, Dr Shafie said. 

To address unemployment among graduates, he said, the country must now export skilled talents besides having local universities to tailor their degrees to meet job demands in the private sector. 

Malaysia's public institutions of higher learning produce 60,000 graduates annually, of which 70% find jobs. The remaining are either self-employed or jobless.