LETTERS: reported by the International Labour Organization (ILO), there are 68 million youth who are still unemployed in 2019 and among them are graduates.
In Malaysia, there are over 200,000 graduates who have yet to get any job in 2020 and the threat of Covid-19 is being said to be among the main cause.
It is true that every year, almost every country recorded high number of unemployed graduates and without efforts to find a solution, our graduates' future, as well as our economic progress, may be jeopardized.
Most graduates use education loans to pursue their studies. Therefore, they expect to have a career once they graduate as they want to repay the loan but in reality, it is hard to find a suitable job as not all the jobs in the market are meant for higher education certificate holders.
In some ways, it can lead to graduates wasting their time looking for a job to utilize the knowledge and skills they have received. Being jobless means the graduates will not be able to repay the loan, leading them to having unstable finances while being shackled by debt.
Other than that, the impact of graduates' unemployment also leads to inefficiency in using resources. If graduates work in a place that is not relevant their skills, it can affect the nation's economic growth.
Most graduates in Malaysia are from B40 families and are having a hard time finding a job after graduating as stated by the Department of Statistics Malaysia. If these issues persist graduates in the future may face poverty.
Admittedly, it is impossible to bring graduates' unemployment rate to zero per cent but we should try to make some changes to ensure our graduates do not fall into such a situation.
It is time for the government to start revising the courses that are irrelevant and concentrate on the ones in high demand in the market to ensure graduates' futures.
The government should also start working with human resource units on drawing up a plan to accept fresh graduates to work in government-linked companies and provide training to them if needed.
Graduates also need to work on improving themselves, especially their soft skills. In other words, graduates should never rely or put high expectations on their institutions to give and teach everything. Graduates need to know how to sharpen their own skills to prepare themselves for the future.
Education institutions also can organise career programmes by including various activities that students can do and explore such as inviting employers from big companies to give a talk about what they expect from graduates and how graduates should market themselves.
Every country the world over including Malaysia should strive to solve youth unemployment, especially among graduates, as they will be the next generation to continue creating a better future for us.
Such efforts will prevent us from lagging behind in terms of economic development and enable us to move ahead with productive workers who will spur the nation's growth.
NUR ATHIRAH MUHAMED ASRI
Kuliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences, International Islamic University Malaysia
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times