MEF president Syed Hussain Syed Husman said there was no need to force employers to take in students as firms were already voluntarily providing placements for industrial training.

“If we make it mandatory for private companies to take in students for industrial training, in the long term, it would make Malaysia less attractive to investors.

“This can negatively affect the government’s efforts to attract more quality investments to Malaysia,” he told FMT.

Syed Hussain said the government should instead focus on preparing a template that employers could voluntarily use to ensure these students get the relevant industrial training.

He called for the higher education ministry to focus on improving the placement systems for students while enhancing collaboration between universities and employers.

While the government had allocated various incentives like tax exemptions for companies to train students, he said these initiatives have not been fully made use of as the process of applying for these incentives were too strict.

Universiti Malaysia Terengganu vice-chancellor Izani Zain had recently called for the government to make it mandatory for government agencies and private companies to take in students for industrial training.

Izani said about 40,000 students were struggling to get a placement for industrial training, which is a criteria they need to fulfil in order to graduate.

On Monday, Utusan Malaysia reported that the higher education ministry was studying this proposal.