KUCHING, Oct 6: The Sarawak Dayak Graduates Association (SDGA) is allocating five slots for its life-members to enrol in a free Certificate in Safety and Health Officer (CiSHO) programme at the Sarawak Skills Development Centre (PPKS).
SDGA president Gary Ningkan said the association is offering the five slots to its members who are fresh graduates in diploma in technical fields, unemployed graduates, retrenched workers, or those who have opted for voluntary separation schemes (VSS).
He said the programme which is fully funded by the Future Workers Programme is now open for registration for PPKS’s October-November 2019 intake.
“It is a full time programme with a duration of six months — three months of theory and three months of industrial training. Examination will be conducted by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
“The tuition fee for this programme is fully funded under the Golongan Pekerja dan ‘Future Workers’ (GPFW) Scheme as it is conducted to address unemployment among the youths,” Gary disclosed in a statement.
He added that the registration fee for the programme would be RM250 and PPKS only allocated the course to 24 trainees only.
However, for SDGA life-members, SDGA will assist and provide convenience by absorbing the registration fee.
“This is the first of many future collaborations between SDGA and PPKS,” Gary added.
For further details and registration, he urged those interested to contact Emilia Iris Junas of PPKS by emailing emelia@ppks.edu.my or calling 011-1200 4034, while SDGA members may contact Rudy Ujang at sarawakdga@gmail.com or 016-882 1745.
On a side note, Gary said technical and vocational education and training (TVET) should not be seen as an afterthought at higher education level as the skills gained could also lead to entrepreneurial pathways and various other opportunities in the state.
Thus, SDGA acknowledged the important role PPKS has in producing highly skilled technical workers for Sarawak in various key industries.
“As Sarawak embarks on becoming a developed state in 2030, there is a need to develop more local skilled workers. In order for the state to fulfill its aspiration to become a key industrial player in the region, having highly skilled local workers can be a game changer,” he added.
Gary also revealed a finding in a 2018 report by the Statistics Department that the unemployment rate among youths in Malaysia was 10.9 per cent, which made up of almost 60 per cent of total unemployed in Malaysia.
He cited reports from the Ministry of Education stating 57,000 of 173,000 of graduates in 2018 remained jobless after looking for a job for six months.
“The Education, Science and Technological Research Minister Dato Sri Michael Manyin said between 10,000 and 15,000 of SPM school leavers in Sarawak do not undertake any further studies or training and directly enter the job market.
“Sarawak Skills (PPKS) and SDGA both share the same concerns in regard to issues on youth employment in Sarawak. Hence, Sarawak Skills held a first meeting with SDGA on August 28, 2019 to forge a partnership as both see each other as strategic partners in contributing to tackling the said issues in the state,” he revealed.
Gary explained that the main point of the discussion was how SDGA could add value to PPKS in promoting TVET as an attractive option for higher learning, particularly among young Dayaks in Sarawak.
“We in SDGA are honoured to have been earmarked as a strategic partner, in assisting PPKS to further educate Sarawakians on the importance of TVET as well as its significance in propelling Sarawak towards achieving developed state in 2030,” he added. — DayakDaily
