Industry-Academia Collaboration to bridge the skills gap

According to a Malaysia Economic Monitor (MEM) 2014 report by the World Bank*, a main reason for low graduate employment is the mismatch of skills demand – what employers want may not be what our graduates have to offer. 65% of surveyed companies agree that fresh graduates lack necessary soft skills, including creativity, communication and critical thinking skills.

The business world is changing rapidly. University curriculum needs to be relevant to the industry not only for today but for the future."

Associate Professor Dr Chong Kuan Eng from Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM), understands this but admits that many lecturers are constantly challenged to impart the right balance of soft skills and technical know-how, while ensuring that fresh graduates are ready to enter the workforce.

To help bridge the gap between the real demands of the market place against the supply from universities, TalentCorp with the Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) is bringing leading employers from priority sectors to work with Malaysian universities under the Industry-Academic Collaboration (IAC) initiative. 

Through the initiative, participating employers and universities will partner on various short-term measures such as industry visits, structured internships, soft skills development; and long-term measures which include the upskilling of lecturers and updating of existing curriculum. 

The very first official IAC programme was launched in April 2015, in partnership with MoHE and the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA). Focusing on the Electrical & Electronics (E&E) sector, this IAC saw 14 leading employers collaborating with ten public universities to address skill gaps within seven key technology clusters in the E&E sector.

In 2016, a new IAC, in partnership with the Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) and focusing on the Global Business Services (GBS) sector, will be launched in September. 

In a separate interview with TalentCorp, Associate Professor Dr Arham Abdullah, Director of Industry Relations Division at the Ministry of Education, highlighted the importance for IAC. 

We need to move from academia operating in isolation to the quadruple helix of academia, industry, Government, and local communities, coming together in partnership for the incubation, development, and commercialisation of ideas."

Ultimately, “when all parts of the puzzle work together, the outcome is positive – Malaysia will have the best-skilled talent in the best jobs,” said Dr Abdullah.