Kuala lumpur: The Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) has developed the Code of Practice for Programme Accreditation (COPPA) as a benchmark and reference for designing quality academic programmes aligned with market demands. Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Mustapha Sakmud highlighted that one of the standards outlined in COPPA requires higher education institutions to conduct market needs and graduate employability analyses before any programme can be approved.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, for programmes governed by professional bodies, their introduction is also subject to the criteria set by the Joint Technical Committee to ensure compliance with the Malaysian Qualifications Framework. Once offered, programmes are subject to periodic reviews and evaluations to support continuous improvement, he stated during the oral question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat.

He was responding to a question from Jimmy Puah Wee Tse (PH-Tebrau) on measures to address the mismatch between courses offered by public universities and current job market demands, which has led graduates to take up jobs outside their field of study at lower wages.

Mustapha added that MoHE works in close collaboration with key ministries and agencies, such as the Human Resources Ministry, Social Security Organisation (PERKESO), Talent Corporation Malaysia Berhad, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation, and LinkedIn Malaysia to provide more support in addressing the country's workforce needs.

He said the ministry also implements various initiatives to bridge the gap between academic offerings and industry expectations, such as CEOFaculty, CEOPolyCC, Industry on Campus, Industry Education Centre, IndustryUniversity, the 2u2i programme, and the Structured Internship Programme.