KUALA LUMPUR, July 26 — The percentage of Graduate Employability (GE) among students in facing the demands of the fourth industrial revolution (IR4.0) can be increased through various technology adoption programmes especially in the electronic and microelectronic field, said Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Noraini Ahmad.
She said through programmes such as organised by the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) together with the Intel Elite Internship Programme, graduates from the electronic and microelectronic field can be directly absorbed into the industries without the need for additional training.
“MOHE has actively worked together with Intel in various programmes, and I am pleased to acknowledge Intel’s active role in coming up with various technology adoption programmes that are in line with the focus of the government.
“I would like to express my gratitude to Intel for functioning as catalysts of new curriculum revolution in universities in the areas of electrical and electronic as well as computer science,” she said in her officiating speech at the virtual launch of the programme today.
Noraini said Intel’s operations in Malaysia is their largest offshore location which provides a strong base for career options among graduates where it has accepted more than 2,300 students as interns and graduate trainees.
The minister said MOHE has also invested in several efforts to minimise the impact of the pandemic towards graduate employability including career improvement programmes such as the National Economic Reform Plan (Penjana) Career Advancement Programme which offers reskilling and upskilling as well as entrepreneurship development programmes.
She said MOHE has also established collaborations with the Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives (Medac) for the University to Community Programme, and a job matching programme implemented in collaboration with the Social Security Organisation (Socso).
Meanwhile, Noraini congratulated the 120 students who have been successfully selected to participate in the 2021 MOHE and Intel Elite Internship programme.
She said the 10-week internship programme is specifically tailored to equip undergraduate students with the knowledge of industry-standard electronic-design-automation (EDA) software of synopsis as well as integrated circuit (IC) design flow.
The students are currently pursuing their studies in Electronic and Microelectronic Engineering at 12 of Malaysia’s public universities namely Universiti Malaysia Perlis, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Universiti Malaya, International Islamic University Malaysia, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia and Universiti Malaysia Sarawak. — Bernama
