TVET graduates may have jobs, but are they the right jobs? MEF asks

The Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) emphasizes the need for comprehensive assessments of TVET graduate employability, focusing on the relevance and quality of employment rather than just employment rates.

MEF senior adviser Datuk Dr. Syed Hussain Syed Husman supports evaluating graduates on their skill utilization, career development, and industry alignment.

He calls for stronger industry-education collaboration to ensure TVET programs remain responsive to evolving workforce needs, proposing a model involving employers in various aspects of education and training.

Additionally, he stresses the importance of aligning education and investment policies to create sufficient high-skilled employment opportunities for TVET graduates.

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 23 — The Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) has called for a broader assessment of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) graduate employability to better reflect their skills, career progression and contribution to the workforce.

MEF senior adviser for Government, Media and International Engagement Datuk Dr Syed Hussain Syed Husman said the federation supported Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir’s call for the employability of Polytechnic and Community College (PolyCC) graduates to be assessed beyond headline employment percentages.

He said the 2025 employability rates of 98.5 per cent for polytechnic graduates and 98.8 per cent for community college graduates were encouraging, but the quality and relevance of employment should also be considered in evaluating TVET outcomes.

“A graduate may be employed, but the critical question is whether the job utilises the skills acquired. We should distinguish between being employed and being appropriately employed,” he said in a statement today.

In this regard, Syed Hussain suggested that future TVET performance indicators should also take into account employment in fields relevant to graduates’ training, starting salaries and wage progression, career development, employer satisfaction and job readiness.

He said other indicators could include industry-recognised certifications, participation in lifelong learning, reskilling and upskilling, as well as graduates’ progression into higher-value and higher-skilled occupations.

He emphasised that technical competency remained fundamental, but graduates also needed strong communication, teamwork, problem-solving and adaptability skills to succeed in different workplace environments.

“We must remember that skills alone are not enough. Employers need people who can apply those skills in the real workplace, communicate effectively, work as part of a team, solve problems and adapt when circumstances change,” he said.

Syed Hussain said stronger collaboration between industry and educational institutions was essential to ensure TVET programmes remained aligned with changing workforce needs.

He proposed a stronger industry-to-classroom-to-workplace model, with employers involved in industry demand forecasting, curriculum design, practical training, competency assessment, certification, recruitment and continuous upskilling.

He said that such an approach would help ensure graduates were better prepared for the workplace while allowing TVET institutions to respond more quickly to technological and industry changes.

Syed Hussain also said that efforts to further strengthen TVET needed to be matched by the creation of more high-skilled employment opportunities for graduates.

He said producing skilled graduates without creating enough high-value jobs could lead to skills underemployment, while attracting high-value investments without developing the right talent could result in skills shortages.

Therefore, he said education, TVET, industrial and investment policies needed to move in the same direction to create sufficient opportunities for skilled graduates.

“If we want our TVET graduates to have good jobs, we must create more good jobs. Education policy and investment policy must move together.

“The Government must continue to bring in investments that are driven by technology, engineering, automation, digitalisation, advanced manufacturing, renewable energy, electric vehicles (EVs), aerospace, semiconductor-related activities, logistics, cybersecurity and other high-value sectors,” he said.

He said MEF remained committed to working with the Ministry of Higher Education, National TVET Council, PolyCC institutions and relevant agencies to strengthen industry-education collaboration and build a demand-driven, industry-led and future-ready TVET ecosystem. — Bernama

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马来西亚雇主联合会 (MEF) 强调需要对职业技术教育与培训毕业生的就业能力进行全面评估，重点关注就业的相关性和质量，而不仅仅是就业率。

MEF 高级顾问 Datuk Dr. Syed Hussain Syed Husman 支持对毕业生进行技能运用、职业发展和行业匹配度方面的评估。

他呼吁加强产学研合作，以确保职业技术教育培训项目能够满足不断变化的劳动力需求，并提出了一种让雇主参与教育和培训各个方面的模式。

此外，他还强调，应协调教育和投资政策，为职业技术教育与培训毕业生创造足够的高技能就业机会。

吉隆坡，9月23日讯——马来西亚雇主联合会（MEF）呼吁对技术与职业教育培训（TVET）毕业生的就业能力进行更广泛的评估，以更好地反映他们的技能、职业发展和对劳动力的贡献。

马来西亚教育联合会（MEF）政府、媒体和国际事务高级顾问拿督赛义德·侯赛因·赛义德·胡斯曼博士表示，该联合会支持高等教育部长拿督斯里赞布里·阿卜杜勒·卡迪尔博士的呼吁，即对理工学院和社区学院（PolyCC）毕业生的就业能力进行评估时，不应仅仅关注表面上的就业率。

他表示，2025 年理工学院毕业生的就业率达到 98.5%，社区学院毕业生的就业率达到 98.8%，这令人鼓舞，但在评估职业技术教育与培训成果时，也应该考虑就业的质量和相关性。

“毕业生或许能找到工作，但关键问题在于这份工作是否能发挥他们所学的技能。我们应该区分就业和合适的就业，”他今天在一份声明中说。

在这方面，Syed Hussain建议，未来的职业技术教育与培训绩效指标还应考虑毕业生在与培训相关的领域的就业情况、起薪和工资增长、职业发展、雇主满意度和就业准备情况。

他表示，其他指标可能包括行业认可的证书、参与终身学习、技能再培训和技能提升，以及毕业生向更高价值和更高技能职业的过渡。

他强调，技术能力固然重要，但毕业生还需要具备较强的沟通能力、团队合作能力、解决问题的能力和适应能力，才能在不同的工作环境中取得成功。

他说：“我们必须记住，光有技能是不够的。雇主需要的是能够在实际工作中运用这些技能、有效沟通、团队合作、解决问题并能在环境变化时适应变化的人才。”

Syed Hussain表示，加强行业与教育机构之间的合作对于确保职业技术教育与培训课程与不断变化的劳动力需求保持一致至关重要。

他提出了一种更强大的“从行业到课堂再到工作场所”的模式，让雇主参与行业需求预测、课程设计、实践培训、能力评估、认证、招聘和持续技能提升。

他表示，这种做法有助于确保毕业生更好地为就业做好准备，同时也能让职业技术教育机构更快地应对技术和行业变化。

Syed Hussain 还表示，加强职业技术教育与培训的努力需要与为毕业生创造更多高技能就业机会相匹配。

他表示，培养出技能娴熟的毕业生却不创造足够的高价值就业岗位，可能会导致技能人才不足；而吸引高价值投资却不培养合适的人才，则可能导致技能人才短缺。

因此，他表示，教育、职业技术教育、产业和投资政策需要朝着同一个方向发展，才能为技能型毕业生创造足够的机会。

“如果我们希望职业技术教育专业的毕业生能找到好工作，我们就必须创造更多好工作。教育政策和投资政策必须齐头并进。”

“政府必须继续引进由技术、工程、自动化、数字化、先进制造、可再生能源、电动汽车、航空航天、半导体相关活动、物流、网络安全和其他高价值行业驱动的投资，”他说。

他表示，马来西亚教育基金会（MEF）将继续致力于与高等教育部、国家职业技术教育与培训理事会、理工学院及相关机构合作，加强产学研合作，构建以需求为导向、以行业为主导、面向未来的职业技术教育与培训生态系统。——马新社

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