MALAYSIA - MUCH has been said about the quality of university graduates today, whether local or overseas.
Local graduates, claim many top employers, are not proficient in English, lack social skills and are unable to create a positive impression during interviews.
Overseas graduates, on the other hand, speak well enough but many assume that the money spent or the scholarship earned on a degree from the United States, Britain or Australia will automatically guarantee them a managerial position with a specific salary, and benefits to boot.
As a former lecturer at a private institution of higher education, it was always amusing to hear the complaints from students who have completed their academic courses and were in the midst of internship prior to graduation.
Most of them had "idealistic" views of working life, and the complaints ranged from working late every day and doing mundane tasks at the office, to travelling and putting up with "evil managers".
I have lost count of the number of calls and complaints received from the parents of these students, often asking us to intervene on behalf of their children and to talk to the employers to "not work them so hard".
I believe that a certain part of the problem lies with the universities and private colleges themselves.
Many private institutions of education are essentially profit-based organisations. Students and parents are considered customers. Academics and counsellors are considered "service employees".
There is no emphasis on development in terms of civics, ethics and morals. Instead, management of these private institutions relies heavily on marketing top-class facilities, celebrity students or lecturers and excessive branding to attract even more students and profit.
Public universities, despite the excellent role that they play in providing subsidised education to the masses, face their own problems in terms of bulk, racial polarisation, a static environment, general apathy and campus politics.
Hence, there is an urgent need to get back to basics, to view our undergraduates as not just young people but future contributing members of society.
One way of doing so would be to re-construct our universities and private institutions as "working universities", and not just academic sources of learning.
Universities have to be seen as stake holders of society and bear the responsibilities that come with that nameplate.
Educational institutions need to place more emphasis on partnerships with industry, and not just for internship and marketing purposes.
"Meatier" partnerships that include research, industry experts as guest lecturers, regular study trips, collaborative projects and placements will instill the badly-needed acumen that our undergraduates need in order to succeed in the Information age of business, with its "glocalised" culture.
Constant interaction with the industry that they will be working in will also encourage students and academics to keep abreast of the latest developments.
This in turn will encourage regular revision of courses in order to meet future business trends.
This will also hone the much needed networking and business skills that many graduates lack when they first step out into the working world.
Aside from industry partnerships, I believe that social sciences such as philosophy, civics, psychology and sociology should be infused into the curriculum of every course. Social sciences, despite its lack of popularity in recent years, has received a boost in many educational circles.
This is due to the current dynamism of the global environment and the multi-skills and knowledge that employers expect graduates to have. changes in consumer needs, technology, the environment and society.
SASHA SURANDRAN
Via e-mail
This article was first published in The Star on July 27, 2008.
