KOTA KINABALU: Vocational or skills training graduates holding Malaysian Skills Certificate (SKM) or Malaysian Skills Diploma (DKM) are finding it easier to find jobs than those who possess Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) or diploma in academics, said Department of Skills Development (JPK) for Sabah and Labuan director Azmi Pelah.
“The reason is that marketability and employment opportunities for students in the vocational sector are higher and more aligned to industrial demand,” he said at the certificate presentation ceremony for 39 Culinary Arts graduates at Ascot Academy here yesterday.
The graduates underwent the programme with skills development loan from Skills Development Fund Corporation (PTPK).
Azmi said the government would always support any efforts to assist in the development of industrial and vocational skills training to create more skilled workers by 2020.
In fact, he said the government had allocated RM330 million in Budget 2013 to PTPK, in which quota was allotted to skills training institutions, particularly private skills training institutions to step up the effort to bring skills training to the mainstream.
“This shows that our government has recognized skills training to ensure our country has the human capital to cope with industrial demand, as well as to propel our industries to higher value chain.”
Azmi said this initiative was aligned with the Government Transformation Programme (GTP) and Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) that was based on high income, inclusiveness and sustainability.
Furthermore, he said this approach allowed more youths to pursue their studies in the skills sector that they were interested in.
Azmi said the Malaysian government aspired to achieve 50 per cent highly skilled workforce by 2020, as announced by the Prime Minister under the Skills Malaysia agenda of the ETP on January 11, 2011.
“To date, only 28 per cent or about 1.5 million of our workforce are skilled workers.”
On the other hand, he said Ascot Academy was one of the 44 accredited centres under JPK in Sabah, which was rated four out of five stars for its Culinary Arts programme in a rating process carried out by JPK last year.
“The rating is the highest for Culinary Arts programme among the accredited centres in Sabah.
“I appreciate the mission and objectives of Ascot Academy as they are focused to train their students into competent and competitive human capital to cope with the job market in Sabah, especially in the hospitality industry.”
To the graduates, Azmi said they should not only utilize their skills to earn a living, but also to elevate the living standard of their families.
Azmi urged the graduates to display high commitment, positive attitude and loyalty towards the hospitality industry wherever they work in the future.
For graduates who did not wish to work in the hospitality industry, he said they could venture into entrepreneurship by starting their own business.
Meanwhile, Ascot Academy chief executive officer Abdul Razak Egoh said Sabahrequired a huge amount of workforce to fill in the vacancies in the hospitality and tourism industries considering Sabah is the most well-known tourism destination in Malaysia.
“Culinary arts is vital as this field can promote our country by showcasing the uniqueness of local cuisines to tourists or to other states in Malaysia.
‘It is our hope that one day our graduates will be food ambassadors of Sabah.”
Abdul Razak added that Ascot Academy had been operating for four years since March 2010, and had produced 172 culinary arts graduates.
“Our aim is to train our students not only to become highly skilled individuals in their chosen fields, but also to fulfill the demand for creative and innovative human capital for the hospitality industry in Sabah.”
As a result of practical trainings in hotels and restaurants in Kota Kinabalu, such as the Sabah Oriental Hotel, the Sutera Harbour Resort, the Le Meridien, English Tea House and Vino Vino Bistro, 50 per cent of the total graduates since 2010 had secured jobs, he said.