The Sun Daily
KPT plans to expand IIP to develop highly-skilled talent, graduate marketability
4 September 2023

Bernamapix

GEORGE TOWN: The Ministry of Higher Education (KPT) will expand the Industry-Infused Programme (IIP) to cover universities and other sectors to develop highly skilled talent to meet the demands of the industry and enhance the marketability of graduates.

Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin (pix) said the programme, involving three years of learning in university and one year of industrial training, would provide students with the opportunity to continue working with the industry with a premium salary of over RM4,000 upon graduation.

He said the IIP, pioneered by Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), currently emphasises talent development in the electrical and electronic (E&E) sector with the collaboration of Oppstar Bhd, which is a pioneer company in Malaysia, to start an integrated circuit design incubation programme in universities.

“The KPT wants to make the IIP a national platform that is provided by universities in collaboration with industries so that training programmes created in the last term of study match the needs of the industry before they enter the working world.

“We will also see to it that the IIP covers the participation of other universities and sectors, including biotechnology and medicine,” he told a media conference after visiting the Oppstar incubation laboratory at USM here today.

Mohamed Khaled said the KPT agreed to let USM head the industrial training platform in the field of E&E, which will involve about 4,000 students from all public and private universities in Malaysia annually.

He added that the E&E sector requires at least 6,500 skilled engineers to meet the growth of this sector of the industry for the next five years.

The programme has also attracted the interest of several other industry players like Skyechip, National Instruments, Advantest, Efinix, Infinecs, StarFive and Infineon to implement their IIP programmes.

“Students will be paid RM1,500-RM2,000 when conducting their final year projects (FYP) under this programme,” he said.

Meanwhile, USM vice-chancellor Prof Dr Abdul Rahman Mohamed said the USM School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering had launched the IIP in the 2022/2023 academic session, where 47 students (first cohort) were trained during their final year project, with the participation of five companies.

“For the second cohort of the 2023/2024 academic session, it is estimated that 200 students will be involved in the IIP, with the participation of 25 companies,” he said. -Bernama