In a session in the Dewan Rakyat on Monday (Nov 27), the Higher Education Minister, Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin, announced that the Higher Education Ministry will be providing loans to final-year students for professional certification programmes next year, with a budget of RM15 million allocated for this purpose.
The main aim of this initiative is to enhance the employability of graduates,” he stated while addressing the assembly regarding the Supply Bill 2024.
Referring to the Graduates Tracer Study data, the Minister revealed that 29,000 graduates were still without jobs six months after completing their studies in 2022; however, the unemployment rate of graduates decreased to 3.7% in 2022 compared to 4.1% in the previous year.
Mohamed Khaled also mentioned that the ministry has planned various strategies to evaluate the quality of local universities, apart from depending solely on international rankings. He highlighted that investments in continuous research are a part of these strategies.
The Dewan Rakyat approved the estimated operating and development expenditures totaling RM16,339,467,900 allocated to the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) in the 2024 Budget. – Bernama
