PUTRAJAYA: The employability rate for Malaysian graduates rose by 1.1 percentage point to 77.2 per cent this year.
This marks an improvement from the 76.1 per cent rate recorded last year.
Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh said the finding was based on the results of the 2016 Graduate Tracking Survey, conducted by the ministry since Nov 22.
“The employability rate of graduates from Malaysian higher learning institutions over the past five years, starting from 2012, recorded an increase of 2.8 percentage points.
“Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) graduates recorded a robust increase in employability this year, with Malaysian technical universities showing a graduate employability rate of 87.1 per cent, followed by Polytechnic (88.6 per cent) and Community College (97.2 per cent),” Idris said in a statement today.
Out of 224,575 graduates who took part in the survey, he said, 126,966 or 56.5 per cent secured a job within six months after graduating; 32,063 (14.3 per cent) had secured places to further their studies; 5,246 (2.3 per cent) chose to further boost their skills, and 9,053 (four per cent) were still waiting for job placements.
“The rest, 51,247 graduates (22.8 per cent), have yet to secure jobs.”
Idris said the ministry would continue its efforts to boost Malaysian graduates' employability, including via forging strong ties between higher learning institutions and industry players.