KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) has urged the Human Resources Ministry to step up efforts to get more workers certified based on their experience and competency level.
Its executive director Datuk Shamsudin Bardan said the ministry’s Recognition of Prior Experience and Learning (RPEL) scheme, which was introduced in 2009, was not making much of an impact as it had not benefitted many workers.
The scheme allows workers to get certification for their skills and competency based on their job experience.
They are eligible to apply for the Malaysia Skills Certificate (MSC), Malaysia Skills Diploma (MSD) or Malaysia Skills Advanced Diploma (MSAD), which is given to them in accordance with their experience and competency levels determined by the Department of Skills Development.
Pointing out to the lukewarm response to the scheme from employers and workers, Shamsudin said: “The problem is, it is not being implemented in a comprehensive manner and the scheme has yet to attain its objectives.”
He said if implemented properly, the scheme could help to increase Malaysia’s pool of skilled workers, thus making the nation more attractive to foreign investors.
“It’s not as if the RPEL scheme is too rigid (making it difficult for workers to get certification) … it’s just that many employers are not aware that such a scheme exists or are simply not responsive to it,” he told Bernama.
Shamsudin was commenting on recent reports which quoted Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Richard Riot Jaem as saying that at least 40 per cent of Malaysia’s workforce must consist of highly skilled workers in order for the country to become a high-income nation.
However, currently only 28 per cent of the workforce comprise highly skilled workers, he said.
Shamsudin said the authorities must make an effort to inform employers that their skilled workers are eligible for certification if they have the relevant experience, without them having to attend specific training or courses.
He said workers possessing MSC, MSD or MSAD qualifications have greater value in the job market.
“There are workers who have worked for 20 to 30 years or even more but they don’t have certificates that qualify them as skilled workers. A good example of such workers are the machine operators who don’t possess any certificates although they are skilled in carrying out their work,” he said.
He said Malaysia was in great need of highly skilled local manpower, more so in the coming years where a lot of changes were expected, with new and more advanced technologies replacing existing ones.
“In line with this, efforts must be taken to further consolidate technical and vocational education training … more training centres must be established to bring forth more skilled workers for our country’s development,” he said. — Bernama