‘Unimas gains self-income from housing blocks’

Universiti Malaysia Sarawak ( Unimas) purchased 15 housing blocks costing RM52 million for the accommodation needs of 3,000 students while earning selfincome in the process.

Higher Education Deputy Minister Datuk Dr Mary Yap Kain Ching said the step taken by Unimas was evident that public higher learning institutions ( IPTA) were endeavouring to generate their own earnings.

This, she said, corresponded with the ministry’s hope for public universities to look for other income rather than depending on the 80 per cent funds provided by the government.

“Public higher learning institutions ( IPTA) generate selfincome through various sources including maximum use of assets, endowments, alumni networks, overseas education grants and commercialisation of products and ideas.”

Yap said this in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday, in response to Dr Azman Ismail ( PKR-Kuala Kedah) who asked about the efforts of IPTA in generating their own income and the list of those that succeeded in doing so.

The deputy minister also cited Universiti Teknologi Malaysia ( UTM) Kuala Lumpur which managed to build 500 accommodation units after securing a bank loan of RM180 million.

She said Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia ( UKM) received RM40 million from Yayasan Bukhari to build an auditorium.

Yap said the ministry also encouraged students and lecturers to involve themselves in entrepreneurship, in line with the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2015-2025 ( Higher Education) to produce holistic, balanced graduates.

As for funds received from endowments, she said Universiti Putra Malaysia led with RM7.5 million last year.

To a supplementary question from Datin Mastura Mohd Yazid ( BN- Kuala Kangsar) on the ministry’s efforts to promote innovations produced by universities, Yap said it made sure they were not confi ned to the universities concerned but also commercialised.

She cited the bionic hand and leg invented by University of Malaya in 2016 which had benefitted 60 individuals. — Bernama

The Human Resources Ministry is conducting a study to determine the starting salary for each employment sector, particularly those involving university graduates.

Its minister, Datuk Seri Richard Riot said the effort was done to improve the salary schemes in this country to keep pace with the current economic situation.

“The study includes job placement from the city to rural areas according to their respective districts. Hopefully, it can be completed in six months,” he said in reply to a supplementary question from Hee Loy Sian ( PKR- Petaling Jaya Selatan) on measures to improve the starting salary of university graduates in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had stated that all government-linked companies ( GLCs) must join the 1Malaysia Training Scheme (SL1M) to help reduce unemployment.

“Action including reduction of allocation, will be taken against GLCs which did not join or take in apprentices for training under SL1M,,” he said when replying to a supplementary question from Datuk Noraini Ahmad ( BN-Parit Sulong) on the measures that can be taken by companies in addressing it.

Riot said the government, with the cooperation of various ministries and agencies had offered many programmes to raise the employabality level of university graduates and youths.

They include SL1M by the Economic Planning Unit with the cooperation of JobsMalaysia, Graduates Enhancement Programme for Employability ( Generate) by Pembangunan Sumber Manusia Berhad and ‘Golongan Pekerja dan Future Workers’ programme organised by the Skills Development Fund Corporation.

“A report by the Statistics Department said the number of unemployed youths in 2015 was at 273,600 compared to 2014 in with 248,000 or a 1.2 percent rise.

“The high unemployment rate among graduates is a phenomenon faced by every developing and developed country. This group is in the transition process from school life to the job market and need to go through job hunting.”

He said to assist and facilitate youths to fi nd jobs, the ministry implemented initiatives such as creating a portal for employment, establishing employment centres at Urban Transformation Centres ( UTC) and establishing career information centres. — Bernama