It comes to mind that the idea of calling our local universities "world class" seems to be a bit of a stretch to many lawmakers and even the general public. My thoughts on this is simply that such a statement would be relative. If you were to compare our universities to those in Libya, Iraq and current Syria, we would probably be better off.
However, the Second Education Minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh instead chose to compare our universities to those in the United Kingdom, Germany and Australia.
Oy vey.
So I decided to take a look at the QS ranking to just, you know, do the good thing and verify the information he quoted instead of being a politician pandering troll.
Universiti Malaya still remained Malaysia's highest ranking university, and yes, according to the list, it is ranked higher than the Louvain Catholic University (Germany), the University of Bath (United Kingdom) and even Macquarie University (Australia).
Technically, then, Idris is not wrong. One would have hoped a journalist on the scene would have asked which universities he was comparing ours to in his "world class" comparative study. What we have here, then is simply a sin of omission.
Nobody thought to ask the Minister if he was comparing UM to Oxford, or simple to the ones listed above.
Of course, the matter then spread to how it is a ludicrous comparison considering how our local university graduates cannot even get jobs. Of course, again, politicians are more comfortable blaming the institution and the faculty even, rather than the students themselves.
I have no such limitation since I'm not chasing votes so here's the hard truth. Our students are unemployable to some extent because they do not master the English language and have sucky attitudes.
A Jobstreet survey among employers highlighted problems in hiring fresh graduates include poor command of English (55.8%), poor character, attitude or personality (37.4%), asking for unrealistic salary/ benefits (33.0%), and a mismatch of skills (30.2%).
Even Bank Negara highlighted a similar issue in which 77.6% of companies they surveyed said that our graduates do not have the necessary skills.
The above two paragraphs are also from a speech made by Idris in 2014 as his keynote address at the 18th Malaysian Education Summit hosted by the Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute (ASLI).
So if Malays are not so forgetful, let's hope that the honourable minister and those who attended the event at least remember this.
Employability has nothing to do with the university other than when it involves training the necessary skills of a career. For us Information Technology/Computer Science grads, that would mean the university needed to ensure that whatever coding language, networking technology and even mobile app development tools we learned was what the job market wants.
As far as the university should be concerned, that is all. The employability of a student is not guaranteed by the university, especially when it comes to the issues raised by the employer that has nothing to do with technical skills.
That's up to the students.
Perhaps the lawmakers do not want to say this, but the university is not your babysitter or English teacher who tells you to read Jack and Jane's adventures with Spot, the dog!
If students really suck at English at the average age of 18 even with access to Astro upon entering universities, then obviously this issue is a systemic breakdown not just of the Malaysian education system, but the Malaysian culture of bilingualism.
A culture that we have had since even before our establishment as a nation in 1963, and our independence in 1957, I might add.
However, the government has been working on this issue since 2012 with a due date in 2017 called the National Graduate Employability Blueprint (http://jpt.moe.gov.my/PENGUMUMAN/GE%20blueprint%202012-2017.pdf) launched by the Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin, now the Mentri Besar of Johor.
The objective of the plan was to increase the number of graduates able to get jobs within six months of graduating to 75%. One would think someone could ask what happened to this programme and its current status?
It is easy for us all to snort in derision at the minister’s statement, but guess what? We aren’t exactly speaking up and suggesting solutions either.
How do we, collectively as Malaysians, solve the issue of poor control of English and even horrible attitudes from disruption the job prospects of the next generation of Malaysian graduates?
That is the major question right now, and honestly, no single politician nor commentator is actually opening up to say just how to do that on a major scale other than to blame the government.
Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country, right?
So, what can we do as Malaysians?
Hafidz Baharom
Wed Feb 25 2015
Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh had said that Malaysia's higher education is now on par with those of developed nations, including the UK, Germany and Australia.
PDRM gerak unit skuba forensik, K9 cari bukti hari ini
Polis Diraja Malaysia (PDRM) akan menggerakkan unit skuba (Unit Forensik) serta Unit Anjing Pengesan (K9) ke lokasi penemuan mayat Nur Farah Kartini Abdullah, 25, di Kampung Sri Kledang, Hulu Selangor, pagi esok.
Timbalan Ketua Polis Daerah Hulu Selangor DSP Mohd Asri Mohd Yunus ketika dihubungi Bernama berkata proses mencari bahan bukti akan dimulakan sekitar jam 9 pagi di kawasan parit berhampiran ladang kelapa sawit berkenaan.
Timbalan Ketua Polis Daerah Hulu Selangor DSP Mohd Asri Mohd Yunus ketika dihubungi Bernama berkata proses mencari bahan bukti akan dimulakan sekitar jam 9 pagi di kawasan parit berhampiran ladang kelapa sawit berkenaan.
Dewan Rakyat: Langkah meknoktahkan kemisikan tegar di Sabah antara tumpuan hari ini
Langkah-langkah untuk meknoktahkan kemiskinan tegar di Sabah terutamanya di lapan daerah yang dikategorikan termiskin di Malaysia antara tumpuan persidangan Dewan Rakyat hari ini.
Kagame, menang 99.5 peratus pilihan raya Rwanda
Paul Kagame meneruskan khidmatnya buat penggal keempat berturut-turut sebagai Presiden Rwanda, selepas memenangi 99.15 peratus undi dalam pilihan raya negara itu.
Polis kerah lebih 300 anggota kawal perlawanan Piala FA
Seramai 351 anggota polis ditugaskan bagi mengawal perlawanan separuh akhir Piala FA antara Terengganu FC (TFC) dengan Selangor FC di Stadium Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin (SSMZA) Jumaat ini.
Perisik Korea Utara berpaling tadah
Seorang diplomat Korea Utara berprofil tinggi yang ditempatkan di Cuba dikenali sebagai Ri II Kyu, 52 tahun, berpaling tadah ke Korea Selatan.
Dua warga AS antara yang ditemui maut di bilik hotel di Thailand
Jabatan Negara Amerika Syarikat ambil maklum mengenai laporan mengenai dua warganegaranya yang ditemui mati di sebuah hotel di Thailand.
EU tolak label UNRWA sebagai organisasi pengganas
Ketua Dasar Luar Kesatuan Eropah (EU), Josep Borrell mengulangi penolakan blok itu melabel Agensi Bantuan dan Kerja Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu untuk Pelarian Palestin (UNRWA) sebagai organisasi pengganas.
Mengimbau sedekad tragedi MH17
Pesawat MH17 Malaysia Airlines ditembak jatuh di timur Ukraine sejurus berlepas dari Lapangan Terbang Schiphol di Amsterdam, mengorbankan kesemua 283 penumpang dan 15 anak kapal di dalamnya.
Tragedi yang berlaku pada 17 Julai 2014 itu, kini memasuki tahun ke-10 kejadiannya.
Tragedi yang berlaku pada 17 Julai 2014 itu, kini memasuki tahun ke-10 kejadiannya.
Kerajaan teliti kaedah baharu lantikan tetap, pastikan kewangan negara lebih mampan
Kerajaan sedang meneliti kaedah baharu lantikan tetap bagi memastikan pengurusan kewangan negara yang lebih mampan.
PDRM gerak unit skuba forensik, K9 cari telefon, rantai Nur Farah Kartini hari ini
Proses mencari bahan bukti akan dimulakan sekitar jam 9 pagi di kawasan parit berhampiran ladang kelapa sawit berkenaan.
Pelupusan hutang peneroka Felda telah dilaksana ketika saya jadi PM - Muhyiddin
Bekas Perdana Menteri, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin mendakwa tuduhan dilemparkan oleh Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim berhubung pelupusan hutang peneroka FELDA merupakan pembohongan besar.
Shabery Cheek dilantik Pengerusi baharu Felda
Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek diumumkan sebagai Pengerusi Lembaga Kemajuan Tanah Persekutuan (Felda) yang baharu berkuat kuasa 1 Julai 2023.
Idris Jusoh lepaskan jawatan Pengerusi Felda
Idris menerima keputusan Pejabat Perdana Menteri bagi memberi laluan kepada lantikan pengganti beliau.
Penyata hutang peneroka Felda dibentang akhir Jun
Penyata hutang peneroka Lembaga Kemajuan Tanah Persekutuan (Felda) bagi 2022 akan dibentangkan selewat-lewatnya hujung Jun ini.
Malaysia-Indonesia capai resolusi kurang kadar kemiskinan, model Felda akan jadi contoh
Malaysia dan Indonesia telah mencapai satu resolusi untuk mengurangkan kadar kemiskinan di Asia Tenggara serta meningkatkan sekuriti makanan di rantau ini.
Pelupusan sebahagian hutang peneroka Felda beri impak kepada aliran tunai
Pelupusan sebahagian hutang peneroka Lembaga Kemajuan Tanah Persekutuan (Felda) berjumlah RM8.3 bilion yang selesai dilaksanakan pada tahun 2021 telah memberi impak besar kepada aliran tunai Felda.
Tiada perancangan kembalikan Felda United FC - Idris Jusoh
Felda mempunyai perkara yang lebih besar untuk dititikberatkan sebagai proses rasionalisasi lembaga itu.
PRU15: Idris umum tak bertanding, beri laluan pemimpin muda
Keputusan untuk tidak bertanding pada PRU diambil sejak 2013 bagi memberi laluan kepada pimpinan muda meneruskan legasi parti.
PRU15: Idris Jusoh serah kepada parti tentukan pencalonan
Tan Sri Idris Jusoh menyerahkan kepada pucuk pimpinan UMNO, untuk menentukan sama ada beliau akan disenaraikan bagi mempertahankan kerusi Parlimen Besut yang disandangnya.
Dewan Rakyat: Kerjasama pelbagai agensi diperkukuh elak penipuan visa furada berulang - Idris
Bagi musim haji 2022, TH telah memberikan lesen kepada 22 syarikat PJH dan THTS untuk mengendalikan pakej haji.