PETALING JAYA: More high-skilled jobs are needed if Malaysian students are to take up science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) courses, say academics.
Parents and students must be assured that there are well-paying jobs for such talents when they graduate, but this is currently not the case, said National STEM Association president and founder Emerita Prof Datuk Dr Noraini Idris.
According to a recent Khazanah Research Institute (KRI) report titled “Shifting Tides: Charting Career Progression of Malaysia’s Skilled Talents”, less than one-fifth of science, mathematics and computing graduates earned more than RM3,000 in 2021.
While this is almost a five-fold increase from 2010 (4.4%), these fields recorded one of the slowest increase rates in the share of working graduates – indicating a shortage in opportunities for people who received tertiary education in science, mathematics and computing.
Prof Datuk Dr Ahmad Ibrahim from the UCSI University Tan Sri Omar Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Policy said research and development (R&D), a key component of STEM, does not pay well.
With R&D not being a lucrative sector, he said the country risks losing its competitive edge globally as there will not be many talents entering the sector.
Prof Noraini said the government would need to review STEM education, job creation in the relevant fields as well as salaries.
She said the government needs to take STEM education seriously in order to produce more qualified engineers, medical practitioners and STI practitioners.
“To encourage students to take up STEM, we have to first increase the number of jobs available in these fields.
She said the government must woo investors in STEM to set up operations in the country.
“This would lead to more high-value jobs being created,” she said, adding that an increase in investments must then be met by a steady supply of STEM talents to fill the vacancies.
“Right now, Malaysia lacks students doing pure sciences in schools. STEM needs to be from cradle to career. It has to begin from preschool,” she said, adding that STEM education needs to be made more interesting through hands-on activities.
In October last year, Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek spoke of students, especially those in Form Six, who had voiced concern about their job prospects if they took up STEM courses.
As such, she said the ministry is intensifying efforts to promote STEM education and its future career prospects.
