Anwar Urges Employers to Provide Adequate Allowance for Interns.
Picture source : FMT
By Subaashinee Kupusamy
KUALA LUMPUR, 21 June: According to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, companies have been asked to consider paying interns a suitable compensation to cover their daily necessities while on industrial training programmes.
While the government has not established clear criteria and standards for intern compensation, the Prime Minister has stated that enterprises must consider the wellbeing of trainees and new graduates.
“We understand that an internship is not a regular job but just an opportunity for early exposure to work,” he remarked on Monday, June 19, at the Securities Commission’s headquarters, where the Capital Market Graduate Programme was introduced.
“However, it would be appropriate to give them a daily travel allowance to cover meals costs and transportation costs” he added.
Anwar, who is also the Finance Minister, claimed that he brought up the issue after immediately discussing the plan with students and recent graduates.
“When I previously served as the leader of the opposition in the House of Representatives, I also employed interns for the office using the extra RM1,800 grant provided by the previous administration.
He said, “So, on behalf of the youth and the graduates, I am sharing their grouses so consideration can be given on some allowance and I hope this will be accepted by all of you,” to applause from the audience.
“I understand that 9,000 students will benefit from exposure to job opportunities in the capital market industry, with 600 people being guaranteed to get a job within three years,” he stated.
Anwar stated that he was also optimistic that by including more business leaders who work with universities, this could be even further improved.
According to The Star, it has been reported that the implementation of such programmes is in line with the objectives of Malaysia Madani. He has expressed his hope that this initiative will assist students from underprivileged backgrounds in order to ensure that they too have access to better employment prospects.
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