Increased emphasis on improving human capital
We opine that this strategy will likely benefit education-related players such as: Prestariang Bhd due to the expected increase in demand for IT-related training to address the issue of low quality graduates and human capital.
KOTA KINABALU: The second half of the 11th Malaysia Plan (11MP) has an increased emphasis on improving the general state of the education system to further enhance Malaysia’s human capital, analysts observe following the mid-term review of the 11MP last week.
According to the research arm of MIDF Amanah Investment Bank Bhd (MIDF Research), this was due to its “limited success in producing students that are able to think critically, innovatively and creatively to contribute to the future development of the country”.
Issues and challenges revealed in the review included that lifelong learning initiatives lack coordination in terms of planning and implementation, exacerbated by the absence of an effective regulatory.
It was also highlighted that feedback from the industry highlighted graduates of higher education (HE) institution lacked problem solving and communication skills.
MIDF Research noted that the government thus emphasised on the need to increase the quality of graduates.
“We opine that this strategy will likely benefit education-related players such as: Prestariang Bhd due to the expected increase in demand for IT-related training to address the issue of low quality graduates and human capital.”
On the primary and secondary school level, MIDF Research pointed out that the emphasis on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education, English language proficiency, as well as; encouraging students from the B40 level to enrol in the education system remains.
“This emphasis in our opinion will benefit education-related players such as: Sasbadi Holdings Bhd due to the expected increase in both the enrolment of students as well as; the pick-up in orders for STEM and English language related books resulting from this strategy,” the research arm said.
“Another point to note is that, the government has also emphasised on making education more accessible to the B40 income earners in all primary, secondary
MIDF Research
and tertiary education levels; making them a priority in terms of placements in the education institutions.”
Other areas noted in the review were that the enrolment rate for preschool in 2017 was below the targeted national rate, mainly due to the lack of awareness on the importance of preschool education.
The state of dilapidated schools in rural areas especially in Sabah and Sarawak was also noted on in the review. Under strategy three of the education sector’s ‘New Priorities and Emphases (2018-2020)’, improving school infrastructure for better student learning was highlighted.