KOTA KINABALU: The 1Malaysia Training Scheme (SL1M) has assisted 144,000 graduates since its inception in 2011, of which around 20 per cent are Sabahans.
Disclosing this delivering a briefing on SL1M to Borneo Highway PDP Sdn Bhd (BHP) consultants and work packages contractors here yesterday. SL1M Secretariat chief Hjh Norashikin Datuk Ismail said of the 144,000 SL1M graduates, 70 per cent were employed.
She said the remaining 30 per cent had been asked to rejoin other training programmes under the scheme.
Last year, Norashikin said 56,000 graduates nationwide were unemployed, most of them bumiputeras who had completed their tertiary education at public universities.
She attributed the unemployment among graduates to the education system of the country, stressing that the students lacked skills in thinking out of the box, problem-solving, critical and strategic thinking.
“These 56,000 unemployed graduates are from the rural poor, urban poor, underprivileged and marginalized groups of the society,” she said.
Norashikin said Sabahans were among the highest number of unemployed graduates because many of them were reluctant to migrant to Peninsular Malaysia where jobs were aplenty.
She said many of Sabahans who refused to migrate to the peninsula for work were from the rural areas.
She said these job seekers lacked the confidence as they spoke different dialect and could not adapt to the hectic lifestyle in Kuala Lumpur.
“They feel like Kuala Lumpur is a bit too hectic for them. Everyone honks at you, no one smiles at you.”
Hence, Norashikin hoped that big contractors like BHP could assist more Sabahans in terms of providing job opportunities.
She said there were over 400 companies in Malaysia participating in SL1M.
However, she said companies in Sabah were slow to pick up SL1M due to the lack of awareness.
Nonetheless, she said companies receiving or interested in joining government tender were already starting to ask questions about SL1M.
She said the SL1M programme was now more attractive as the allowance for the graduates have been increased from RM1,500 to RM2,000 effective March 1 this year, which offered a bigger talent pool for companies to choose from.
“You got more cherries in one basket. So pick the best that suits you.”
On another note, Norashikin said an open interview for SL1M programme would be held at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) on March 17 and 18, 7am to 5.30pm.
She said some 40 companies from peninsular and loyal players would be participating in the open interview, including UEM Group, Petronas, Maybank, CIMB and Boustead.
The event will offer 6,000 job vacancies and SL1M training opportunities.
“We are offering jobs for contract workers, part-timers and positions from non-executive to executive level, as well as SL1M training under big companies.”
Apart from SL1M which minimum requirement was a degree qualification, Norashikin said the rest of the jobs offered at the open interview this weekend started from Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) onwards.
She added that the event would be held in the form of family festival, coupled with auto show and stunt shows performed by a Sabahan lad, who is now an international motorcycle stuntman.
On top of that, Norashikin said there were attractive lucky prizes to be won by the visitors, namely the latest Macbook worth RM15,000 as the grand prize, iPad Pro worth RM5,000 as second prize, Samsung Note 8 as third prize, two motorcycles and electric goods.
Also present was Pan Borneo Highway Sabah project coordinator Mohd Roslee Ali Lee.