Malaysia is producing more graduates than jobs, says MOHE

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The Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) is not about to run out of bullets in slowing the rate of unemployment among fresh graduates. 

It sponsored a training programme called Graduated Career Accelerated Programme (GCAP) for unemployed graduates. And just recently, launched  Ready4Work, a portal created by Talent Corporation (TalentCorp) Malaysia and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) for 500,000 public university students. 

According to latest statistics, about 40,000 graduates are still unemployed. The percentage of graduates still unemployed was 21% from public institutions of higher learning, 27% from private institutions, 28% from polytechnics and 35% from community colleges. 

To stunt unemployment growth, government announced last week that it would allocate RM179.5 million for high-impact student programmes. These programmes will improve entrepreneurship as well as the development and employability of graduates. 


“We are producing more graduates than jobs,” said Minister of Higher Education (MoHE), YB Dato Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin during the launch of Ready4Work portal held at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) Kuala Lumpur Campus. He added that entrepreneurship education helps stress the power of ownership to create wealth.

Minister YB Dato Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin (center) speaking to the press during the Ready4Work launch event


According to a study commissioned by the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), global development has entered a phase where entrepreneurship will play an increasingly important role. It argues that entrepreneurship will contribute to growth and employment creation in advanced, emerging and least-developed economies alike.


During the press conference of Ready4Work, MoHE Minister admits that these skills upgrading programme for unemployed graduates is not the “silver bullet” for improving the employability of students. With the new Educational Blueprint, plans of improving students’ communication skills at an early age are already underway. 

“We hope to prepare students who are not only equipped with academic qualitfication but also soft skills.” Soft skills include writing skills, team skills, adaptability, being self-directed and motivated, dependability, courtesy and many more. According to most employers, they want a valuable employee who can grow and learn as the business changes.

He added that, “the country cannot take full responsibility of these graduates just because they are unemployed.”