Local universities in the country have been urged by the Ministry of Human Resources to incorporate skills training packages to enhance the job prospects of graduates. According to Minister Datuk Dr Fong Chan Onn, training components under the retraining scheme identified by the ministry for unemployed graduates have been especially helpful to them in securing jobs, and therefore, hopes that it will be introduced as part of the university curriculum.

Datuk Dr Fong added that the retraining scheme?s two-month on-the-job training with prospective employers has helped the graduates improve their communication skills and self-esteem, and eventually, gained recruitment in respective work sectors.

He said that universities hold the responsibility in producing graduates who are equipped with marketable skills. This is because the Human Resources Minister felt that graduates? failure to secure jobs is primarily due to their poor interaction skills.

With jobs nowadays involving the marketing of products, it is becoming increasingly important for graduates to acquire communication skills apart from building their self-confidence in order to be able to deal with clients. Datuk Dr Fong also said that graduates? unemployment could have also resulted from the mismatch of university courses and the job requirements of employers.

In the meantime, the Government is reported to have recently granted RM30 million to the Ministry to provide retraining programmes to approximately 10,000 graduates this year. 21,228 unemployed graduates have so far been trained under this scheme which was first introduced in 2001.

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