The worst is JPA scholarship. Send overseas, but no job locally to service the bond, so end up working overseas without paying anything.

Oh wow, if it's as you say about the loan conversion, that sucks. I'm a JPA scholar myself, but since Malaysia couldn't provide employment for me, most of us got off scot-free. I do admit during my time as well I didn't pay much attention to it either because it was a full scholarship to attend public Uni in Malaysia, so in the off-chance I had to pay them back it's still within my means.

Though I guess I have a decent bit of awareness as I initially wanted to go to piloting school, but the program fee was quite high for my stomach back then (200k-ish). Eventhough my parents did say they're willing to partially fund it, I decided not to go through with it as I didn't want to put them on that spot. Tried to go for cadet pilot program under MAS, didn't pass on the 4th stage, so pursued other paths which is Mech. Engineering under JPA.

I believe the main problem today is the disconnect between what the industry wants vs what the education institutes can churn out. Because the grads produced are not according to market demands, it's harder to command a proportionate salary to the cost of getting the required degree. In a way Malaysia's academia kinda becomes a 'syok sendiri' place. Here's another piece of article on the market shifts in the US, where companies are now offering jobs with no degree requirements anymore:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/college-degree-job-requirement/
https://www.businessinsider.com/google-ibm-...nk-of-america-5
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/25/companies-e...ed-workers.html

Speaking from somebody who completed his professional degree, education is still very much important for me and I wouldn't change that even if given the chance.
However the market dictates what the market wants, and the payoff of a (non-professional) degree is looking to be lesser and lesser over time.
So if the choice is between a niche/less worthwhile degree & burdened by huge debt vs more general vocational license & less burdening debt, I say the choice can be quite clear.

p.s. Hard work, good ethics & common sense opens you more doors than any certs ever will, and that's free.

That's an interesting take on the skill underemployment in Malaysia, that we aren't producing what the market demanding and overproducing those irrelevant. This is why I am a bit frustrated on the fact I was unable to find any data on which education field exactly that is most affected by this underemployment. If we are overproducing a certain type of graduates, maybe we should disincetivize such actions and direct the resources to improving more necessities in the education.

Thanks for sharing this articles, I am checking them out. It would be great to see how this moves by the company can affect the application rates to universities, and what would be the moves by universities to survive this shift. It may range depending on education field though cause for some, universities role can be irreplaceable.

Btw, mind sharing more of your opinions in my survey please?