Len (second right) watching Adenan sign the guestbook at one of the exhibition booths at SCaT. Also seen are Jabu (fifth right), Morshidi (third right) and Nansian (right). — Photos by Muhammad Rais Sanusi
(From left) Snowdan, Len, Adenan, Jabu and Masing taking a look at a custom Cafe Rider on display at SCaT.
KUCHING: Unemployment among graduates is substantial and of concern to the state.
Based on data from the Statistics Department and Jobs Malaysia there are about 15,000 to 20,000 unemployed graduates in the state, and the number of graduates applying for jobs in the State Civil Service is 40,834.
Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Office (Promotion and Technical Education) Datu Len Talif Salleh attributed this situation to the mismatch between industry requirements and qualification obtained by the graduates.
“The other factor is lack of job-seeking and self-marketing skills amongst graduates. At the same time, the graduates have poor soft-skills, poor command of English and lack of work experience,” he said at the Sarawak Career and Training (SCaT) Fair 2016 which was launched by Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem at Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) here yesterday.
He pointed out that due to concerns for unemployed graduates, the state government had launched a new programme called Graduate Enhancement Training Sarawak (GETS) to address the matter.
With this in mind, the organisers incorporated ‘Creative Skills’ such as fashion designing, makeup, photography, hair styling, busking, Sarawak Fashion Awards and Youth Got Skills as part of SCaTFAIR 2016 activities, he added.
“Our goal to introduce such activities is to provide a platform to enhance skills and promote fields such as fashion design, makeup artistry and fashion photography. With local ethnic cultural diversity, we hope to produce local designers with unique products in the creative industry. If they are not comparable with Bernard Chandran, Jimmy Choo, Zang Toi who are great in Paris, Milan and New York, I hope they can keep up with local fashion designers such as Tom Abang Saufi.”
The fair, themed ‘Enhancing Employability’, is participated by 67 educational institutions, 56 companies offering 2,600 jobs, six educational aid agencies and nine other agencies such as Recoda, JobsMalaysia, the Department of Education and the National Savings Bank.
Students and post-graduate students seeking a pathway to further their studies and employment can undergo Psychometric Test conducted by Tegas.
In addition, there will be various activities such as Mini Ramp Contest, Chain Drive Festival and Youth Got Skills.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Alfred Jabu, State Secretary Tan Sri Datuk Amar Mohamad Morshidi Abdul Ghani, Land Development Minister Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr James Masing, Assistant Minister of Industrial Estate Development Datuk Peter Nansian and Balai Ringin assemblyman Snowdan Lawan were present.