In the past few days, I have been working on my presentation material for a resume writing talk that I will be giving to the students of a university in Labuan at the end of this month.
I had been busy researching material when it struck me that a perfectly good item to include in the talk is this chart showing the reasons for unemployment among fresh graduates in Malaysia.
I do not mind sharing it with you right here because this chart was prepared by me and released by JobStreet.com to the mass media in 2005.
We had taken a survey among the Managers and Senior Managers in multi-national companies and large local corporations and we had close to 4,000 respondents from across the country. That was a broad spectrum of replies we received.
In case the chart does not lend itself clearly, it says that 55.8% of the respondents cited a poor command of the English language as the top reason why fresh graduates remain unemployed.
It’s alarming, isn’t it? After 49 years of independence, the level of English has deteriorated so much! Blame lies squarely with the government of the day that chose to de-emphasise the importance of English.
Of course, it is easy in hindsight to blame the education system and – inter alia – the government but the damage has been done to generations of students and it is coming around to haunt us.
Despite efforts to reign back the damage by reintroducing the teaching of mathematics and science in English a few years ago, I fear that it is too little done too late.
I am saying this because we have to recognise that the world is not about science and mathematics alone. We are overlooking the undisputed position of the English language in international commerce and trade. To me, English is the essential tool to ensure that we are able to speak, converse, compete and negotiate on equal terms with anyone globally.
If there is any educationalist reading this, let me propose a simple solution: Allow the traditional elite schools of this country to teach not only mathematics and science in English but all other subjects as well.
Most importantly, please make darn sure that your teachers know how to converse and teach in English — not the Queen’s English but practical English that we use everyday.
As I see it, we will have to re-build the confidence among our future leaders, be they in government or the corporate sector, to use the English language in their daily lives. Introducing a so-called Speak English Week or a Speak English Day is just a superficial attempt at solving this issue. It is a sheer waste of time if the problem is recognised but there is no will to correct it.
In the national interest, it’s the time to be realistic about the mess that the education system has created. It’s no longer the time to score political points. Our country’s future competitiveness and role in this world may well depend on us succeeding to improve our command of English.
About the writer
Quah Seng Sun is Malaysia’s only Certified Professional Resume Writer and a member of the Professional Association of Resume Writers and Career Coaches (PARW/CC) which is based in the United States. His opinions do not necessarily reflect that of JobStreet.com