Malaysia: National Language Policy and Employability

Authors

  • Viswanathan Selvaratnam emeritus

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.6017/ihe.2019.96.10776

Keywords:

Graduate employment crisis, Malaysia higher education, Higher education policy, English in Malaysia

Abstract

Malaysia’s public–private sector university graduates are facing an employment crisis and their employability rates “remain poor and unimproved.” The low graduate employability is primarily due to their poor command of English, weak professional competency, lack of critical communication, interpersonal, and leadership skills, and a lacklustre work attitude. The mismatch between demand and supply of high-quality human capital from local universities is hampering the country’s aspiration to be a developed nation by 2020. Unemployable graduates are absorbed into the highly bloated public service, while private sector companies are recruiting almost exclusively among returnees of top overseas English-medium universities.  

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Published

2018-12-05

How to Cite

Selvaratnam, V. (2018). Malaysia: National Language Policy and Employability. International Higher Education, (96), 16–18. https://doi.org/10.6017/ihe.2019.96.10776

Issue

No. 96: Winter 2019

Section

Language Issues and the Role of English

License

Copyright (c) 2018 International Higher Education

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