KUCHING, Aug 4: The Sarawak government has been assisting former children under the care of Welfare Department institutions with skills training and education since 2017, says Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah.
Fatimah, who is the Minister for Women, Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development, said in the beginning, some of them were sent for the skills training in the oil and gas industry, including scaffolding and many others.
“At the same time, we are continuing with our programme where we are providing assistance to the recipients who want to start a business.
“The available grant for them is RM5,000 to enable them to buy equipment to do business, and they are given training about business, marketing, and product branding so that they can eventually venture into business and increase their monthly income,” she said.
Fatimah was responding to Prime Minister Dato Sri Ismail Sabri Yakoob’s announcement that a special team with the participation of government agencies will be created to provide a special path for children who have ‘graduated’ from Department of Social Welfare (JKM) institutions to continue their education in skill-based or academic fields.
Apart from that, Fatimah said, as part of Key Result Area (KRA), the ministry has received a RM500,000 allocation from the Sarawak government to enable the children to further their studies in universities and private colleges.
She also said the allocation was focused on children in the institutions or for children whose parents receives monthly assistance from the department.
“We believed in education and skill training because it can change a person’s life,” she added.
Since 2017 to 2022, a total of 318 children have been sent for Skills and Career Training Program (PLKK) with 147 others employed after completing training and graduating from higher learning institutions. — DayakDaily
