The facts speak for themselves; up to last year 59,250 graduates were jobless, of which 96.33% were bumiputras, 1.73% were Chinese, 1.7% were Indians and 0.24% were other races. And as of September last year, the government had spent RM240 million to retrain 38,124 jobless graduates*. Under the graduate retraining scheme introduced in 2001, the government not only paid for the participants’ training fees, but also provided them with a monthly allowance of RM500.

Alarmingly however, the unemployment rate among graduates is still high. This begs the question: Where did it all go wrong? The facilities have been put in place and the opportunities are there for the taking, so why are Malaysian graduates still struggling to find jobs?

Unfortunately, the truth hurts. In a recent Jobstreet.com poll on unemployed graduates, some 3,800 hiring managers expressed unhappiness with the graduates’ poor command of English, unsatisfactory character, attitude or personality, unrealistic expectations of salaries or benefits, limited general knowledge and poor demonstration of problem-solving skills.

According to Fong, one of the main reasons for the discontinuation of the retraining scheme is because unemployed graduates were becoming a negative asset to the country. I couldn’t agree more. Spending millions of ringgit to retrain graduates who are not up to the mark is a huge waste of taxpayer’s money. The onus is and should be on the graduate to equip himself with the necessary skills and knowledge to secure a job. Providing training schemes and a monthly allowance for jobless graduates will only make them reliant on retraining to secure jobs.

Furthermore, while retraining schemes can be assumed to be beneficial for unemployed graduates, the government never actually conducted an in-depth analysis on its effectiveness. With no strong evidence to prove that retraining schemes really helps unemployed graduates to secure jobs, is it any wonder that the plug was pulled? At the moment, sending an unemployed graduate to a retraining programme is akin to sending him back to college, except this time the government pays for the fees.

Discontinuing the training scheme also forces the graduates to become independent. Final-year students will have to start taking their own initiative, securing an internship before they graduate to smooth the transition from studies to career. A change of attitude is also required because many final-year students are so used to letting their universities secure internships for them. Students will also have to be more proactive and anticipative in adjusting their studies to suit the job market.

Ultimately, the government’s decision to discontinue retraining schemes for jobless graduates is a step in the right direction and should be lauded. It will result in graduates who are more independent, creative, adaptable and highly employable. Most importantly, it will result in graduates who won’t have to beg for jobs.

*Source: National Economic Action Council