KUCHING, Oct 15: Sarawak Multimedia Authority’s (SMA) ‘Preparing Skilled Workforce for Digital Economy Transformation’ career talk saw the participation of 112 students from SMK Bario, recently.
SMA in a statement today said the career talk was organised in conjunction with SMA’s outreach programme in Bario with the objectives to ensure that the younger generation are aware of the digital skills and future opportunities and options required for Sarawak’s digitalisation transformation by 2030.
Speaking during the talk, SMA deputy chief scientist and deputy digital economy advisor Prof Al-Khalid Othman said this include the needs, and agenda of the Sarawak Post Covid-19 Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030.
“Besides that, the platform also acts to excite, inspire, motivate and attract students to choose their best career options and opportunities,” he said.
Prof Al-Khalid pointed out that in order for Sarawak to be developed state with a high income status by 2030, it requires at least 60 per cent skilled manpower.
According to him, the concern was that currently, Sarawak was still highly dependent on a low-skilled workforce.
Moreover, he added, there are high percentage of Sarawak labour force with lower education attainment.
“The State government is also providing a Lifelong Learning (LLL) support system or platform for talent development to fulfill individual interest in digital skills and knowledge,” he said.
Among the topics discussed during the session were issues and challenges in pursuing studies (higher education); introduction to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields to students; the future industry skills requirement and lastly, the need for the future generation to not forget their roots, traditions and culture.
Among the panelists for the talk are Ts Carolineson Nosin, Ts Arif Azhar Abdullah and Ts Ed Mustafa Abdul Hamid.
The career talk was officiated by Deputy Minister in the Premier’s Department (Labour, Immigration and Project Monitoring) Datuk Grawat Gala. — DayakDaily
