Fatimah: SCORE manpower needs to be known soon

Posted on November 14, 2010, Sunday MIRI: The Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy’s (SCORE) manpower requirements will be known next month with the completion of a study by Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas).

CONGRATULATIONS: Fatimah presents a certificate to a graduate. Syed Mohamad Noor is at second left.

Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department Datin Fatimah Abdullah said the study looked into the detailed requirements of the 10 industries in SCORE.
“If there is a mismatch of supply and demand, then the next step is making recommendations to increase enrolment at training institutes or setting up more such institutes,” she explained.
Fatimah said this yesterday when representing Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud during the sixth convocation of Training Institutes for the Manpower Department (ILJTM) Eastern Region for ILP Miri, Labuan, Kota Kinabalu, Samarahan and Sandakan.
She said earlier projections for manpower requirements for SCORE was 1.6 million.
The timber-based industry accounted for 31.86 per cent, tourism — 21.72 per cent, oil-based industry – 20.27 per cent, aquaculture — 12.4 per cent, livestock — 4.34 per cent, aluminium – 3.13 per cent, steel – 2.09 per cent, palm oil – 1.8 per cent, marine engineering – 1.45 per cent and glass – 0.61 per cent.
“This is to show that there are abundant job opportunities to be made available in the eastern corridor particularly in Sarawak.
“Thus graduates should grab the opportunities by adopting life-long learning to equip themselves with skills needed by these industries,” she said.
The government on its part, she said, is committed to increasing the current 10 per cent average rate of enrolment in technical and vocational upper secondary schools to meet the nation’s industrial needs.
Fatimah pointed out that countries like Germany, which had a high rate of 60 to 70 per cent enrolment, had been successful in reducing the unemployment of graduates to a low three per cent, within one year upon graduating.
She said several other strategies would be used to realise this vision in line with the target of building Malaysia into a high income economy. Under the 10th Malaysia Plan (10MP), the government has allocated RM449.5 million to upgrade various training institutes and build new ones as well as purchase equipment.
Budget 2011 also gave great emphasis to development of human capital with several programmes such as the 1Malaysia Training programme to be implemented next year. Meanwhile, Manpower Department deputy director general Syed Mohamad Noor Syed Mat Ali said training institutes under the Ministry of Human Resources had achieved numerous successes.
Under the Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP), five new training institutes were set up in Taiping, Kemaman, Jerantut, Bintulu and Marang, increasing the capacity from 5,000 to 23,000 trainees.
The Manpower Department has established 27 training institutes until November 2009, offering a total of 27 certificate level courses, 15 technology diploma level courses, four electrical diploma level courses and eight advanced diploma courses. Syed Mohamad Noor said for the sixth convention for the Eastern Region, a total of 1,990 graduates of ILJTM Sarawak and Sabah received their certificates in various courses.
“It is projected that in the coming years, there will be an increased number of enrolments and graduates and also the introduction of new courses such as microelectric, and courses in high end products such as ceramics, composite and polymer,” he said. This year, the department received recognition from competitions such as Robocon 2010 (Best Idea Award at National Level), Itex (Gold medal – Project Wireless Car Air Conditioner With E-IAQ Function and Bronze Medal – Project Dual Computer System), and National Skills 2010 (Anugerah Tangan Emas Perdana Menteri 2010 – Automobile Technology) winning three gold, four silver and four bronze medals.