KUCHING, May 15: Sarawak Oil Palm Plantation Owners Association (Soppoa) and Sarawak Skills will collaborate on potential skill training programmes for school leavers.
Soppoa chief executive officer Dr Felix Moh Mee Ho, in a statement today, said the objective of this programme is similar to vocational education.
“However, the difference is that students will be placed at the participating companies and ‘work’ like normal employees while training is conducted.
“The advantage of this mode of training is that the students will receive allowances and other employment benefits from the participating company throughout the period of training,” he said.
Moh noted that students would be awarded certificates and have the opportunity to continue employment with the participating company upon completion.
For the time being, he added, Sarawak Skills is focusing on enrolling students for field operations such as fruit harvesting and collection and upkeep activities like manuring and weeding.
Meanwhile, Moh said, among others, that a potential collaboration between the two organisations is a plantation assistant programme.
He explained it is an employee development programme that will cover a broad range of functional areas, mainly focused on sharpening field operation management skills at the supervisor level.
The course would also incorporate business management roles, including work management, resource management, and many others, that aim to prepare participants for further career advancement when the chance arises.
“Overall learning experience will emphasise action-learning approaches to problem-solving whereby participants are required to apply the theory learned from classes on case studies that are being practised,” he said. — DayakDaily
