I am giving the Education Ministry the benefit of the doubt by congratulating them on the higher overall enrolment of the bumiputra students in public universities based on the new meritocracy system of selection.

I used to wonder where all the good students from top bumi schools and colleges have gone to as the end results have not been encouraging. Every year, we read in the newspapers of a few all-bumi schools having 100 percent passes in SPM. Then we read about the low level of bumiputras graduating and/or graduates unable to get jobs. What went wrong?

I sincerely hope the Education Ministry will take further steps to ensure that those who are successful in getting into the universities willcontinue to work hard to graduate with honours and more importantly, able to get good jobs.

Paper qualifications is not the only criterion employers look for. It can be doubly disappointing if one is unable to get a job in spite of the extra years and costs incurred. More emphasis should be given on a good working knowledge of English and information technology to make graduates more employable.

With globalisation, we cannot avoid dealing with foreigners who mostly use English as a medium of communication. The Internet has opened a whole new world and a wealth of information on almost any subject. Some employers themselves may not be IT savvy but they expect their employees to be!