KOTA BHARU, Jan 24 (Bernama) -- Universiti Malaysia Kelantan (UMK) is stepping up collaboration with industry players to enhance graduate employability through student industrial training placements with government-linked investment companies (GLICs), government-linked companies (GLCs) and firms listed on Bursa Malaysia.
Its vice-chancellor, Prof Datuk Dr Arham Abdullah, said the initiative aims not only to produce job-ready graduates, but also to nurture an entrepreneurial mindset so that students can become job creators.
“UMK is an entrepreneurship-based university, and we want our students to develop the mindset to build businesses and establish their own companies,” he told Bernama recently.
He added that industry collaboration has also been expanded nationwide, with major companies from the Klang Valley and across the country participating in student industrial training placements.
As an example, Arham cited a collaboration with a major property developer that operates a hotel, noting that students from UMK’s Faculty of Hospitality and Tourism received positive feedback from the company’s top management.
On international enrolment, Arham said UMK recorded 492 international students last year, comprising students from China, Indonesia, Thailand, other ASEAN countries and West Asia.
To attract more international students, he said UMK has introduced an “International Advisor” scheme by appointing alumni as regional representatives in their respective countries to assist with admissions, visa matters and information dissemination to prospective students.
He added that the representatives also conduct online briefings in local languages to help overseas students better understand the cost of living and campus life in Malaysia.
Regarding graduate employability, Arham said official figures for last year have yet to be released by the Ministry of Higher Education, but UMK previously recorded a graduate employability rate of 97.2 per cent in 2024.
-- BERNAMA
