Since Malaysia implemented different stages of Movement Control Order in March this year, I have been receiving internship applications from many local universities at Sultan Idris Education University (UPSI) and asked me to be their industrial supervisor. The applicants are all diploma and bachelor degree students, studying computing or creative multimedia programmes. In the past, the preferred location for such students was Klang Valley, and very few students were willing to go to a relatively town of Tanjong Malim for an internship. Perhaps, under the new normal, a sparsely populated environment can make people feel that they will have a lower chance of catching the Covid-19 virus and feel at ease. Of course, it is more likely that industrial training and internship opportunities have been affected and become scarce in today’s sluggish labor market.
Universities in Malaysia that offer diploma and bachelor
degree programmes in computing or creative multimedia must follow the standards of the Malaysian
Qualifications Agency (MQA) to prepare all students to complete a 2 to 6 months
industrial training or internship in order to gain preliminary work experience in
the industry and to improve the soft skills needed for future employment. For
interns, in addition to having the opportunity to demonstrate knowledge and
skills learned in the university, the monthly allowance provided by the
employer during the internship is their main concern. Taking UPSI students as an
example, the amount is solely determined by the employer, and the university
will not intervene or interfere with the decision.
To encourage employers in the private sector to offer
training for interns, the Ministry of Human Resource Malaysia has arranged an
Industrial Training Scheme (ITS) for all tax-paying employers to apply. Under
the new normal, a part from getting a set of personal protective equipment
(PPE), each hired intern can also afford his or her employer to receive a
monthly allowance of maximum RM500.
All these while, students who are undergoing internship at
UPSI, regardless of which university they come from, will not receive any
allowance from the university and all its subsidiaries. However, lecturers who
play the role of industry supervisors can subsidize the interns out of their
own pockets, or they can use their own research and development project funds
to pay students on a pay-for-work basis to help students coping with basic
living expenses during the internship.
Of course, there are still many students who receive no
allowance at all. In addition, from time to time, there were employers who broke
their promises, and did not pay allowance after the start of the internship,
resulting in students being unable to pay the rent for short-term accommodation
and being displaced. Students may also face the dilemma of company closing down
during the internship or being fired by the company before completing the
internship. Whenever an intern complains such matters to me, I will tell them
that this is the real life they have to face after graduation! When they were
still students, there were lecturers who helped them solving their problems,
and once they graduated, they have to reply on themselves. People should learn
to grow up by themselves.
In general, students either go to the industry for an internship after completing all courses, or they undergo the internship first, and then return to the university to complete the final year project (FYP) in the final semester. Both arrangements have their pros and cons. The former is the most preferred in the eyes of the industry because the internship program allows relevant employers to select suitable graduates directly as employees of the company. If students have to return to the university to complete their studies after completing the internship, it is difficulty to reserve half a year for the vacancy of the company. Even if the vacancy was really reserved for the interns, they may change their employment options after graduation. For the lecturers who are in charge of FYP, students who have accumulated internship experience will be more pragmatic and mature when doing the FYP, and the quality of project outcomes will be better—this is of great help to students when they are searching for job after graduation. Regardless of the arrangement, interns should accumulate practical experience in the industry as much as possible, paving the way for a career that is full of challenges and opportunities, so that they can walk out of their own growing path under the new normal.
Source in Chinese: https://www.sinchew.com.my/content/content_2336747.html
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