KUALA LUMPUR: While Malaysia aspires to be a high income nation driven by a knowledge economy by 2020, the country still faces a mismatch between the job market and the education system, particularly in the area involving technical and soft skills, a recent survey revealed.

“Our interviews with key stakeholders in the labour market suggest that the lack of quality skills-based and job-relevant training, outdated curricula, and poor soft skills especially declining English proficiency, are three main skills challenges in Malaysia,” said the authors of a report based on the survey jointly conducted by JPMorgan and Singapore Management University (SMU).

‘Mismatch between job market and education system’