Tuesday January 27, 2015
Kamalanathan getting a tour of the Ind-E-Zone at UPSI, Perak.
Deputy Education Minister P. Kamalanathan has launched the first Industry Engagement Zone (Ind-E-Zone) in Perak at the Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) last week.
The Ind-E-Zone initiative attempts to connect undergraduates in Malaysia with internship opportunities to help reduce the rate of graduate unemployment in Malaysia.
TalentCorp Malaysia has partnered with selected public universities and employers to roll out Ind-E-Zone centres nationwide to empower students to better prepare themselves for employment.
According to a report by The World Bank in its June 2014 Malaysia Economic Monitor, the skills mismatch between new graduates and industry demands are one of the main reasons for graduate unemployment in Malaysia.
The lack of collaboration between universities and industries are also a contributing factor for graduate unemployment, with most companies not currently engaged with local universities to enhance the employability of graduates.
Ind-E-Zone aims to connect undergraduates to industry-relevant content and educate them on internship and career opportunities by offering them a range of activities such as industry engagements, networking sessions and career talks, to help students make more informed career decisions.
“The career services centres of universities need to be closely engaged with industry in order to ensure that they are able to advise our students well in pursuing careers suited to them. We must be able to help them understand employer expectations, in order to empower our students to realise their career potential in a fast changing economy,” said Kamalanathan.
As an important link between universities and the labour market, Ind-E-Zone enables employers to have a consistent and more visible presence at universities as well as play a more active role in matching students with the appropriate types of professional opportunities.
A total of 11 Ind-E-Zone centres are expected to be operational at Malaysian public universities by the end of 2015.
For more information on TalentCorp and its graduate employability initiatives, visit www.talentcorp.com.my and www.ready4work.my
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