Employers are expecting to hire graduates who can function as employees who are equipped with various skills and excel in social skills and social values (SSSV). Industry has high expectations of the ability of graduates, and it is now paramount for graduates not only to be equipped with academic qualification but with SSSV as well to be more marketable in a job market that has become intensely competitive so as to land the most lucrative job industry has to offer. Employers now assume that those who lack SSSV are ill-prepared to enter the job market. The opinion is that training institutions are accountable for producing balanced and multi-talented graduates who are competent in both technical and non-technical skills. In this paper, we have used the focus group (FG) to distinguish the SSSV problems faced by the National Dual Training System (NDTS) apprenticeship based on the perspective of the trainers. This study is an expansion of the existing SSSV outlined in the handbook by the Malaysian Ministry of Human Resources. The respondents in this study were NDTS trainers of public and private skills training institutes that offer the NDTS programme. Four FGs were carried out. The data were analysed using the Atlas.ti software based on thematic analysis strategy, and a few themes were identified from the analysis. The majority of the trainers provided positive feedback on the technical skills of the apprentices. In addition, a few other issues were raised by the trainers regarding the SSSV of the NDTS apprentices. © 2017 Universiti Putra Malaysia Press.
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