THE Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Research has embarked on a web-based online system, namely Sarawak Workforce Information System (SWIS), to capture current and projected workforce supply and demand in Sarawak.
Its minister Dato Sri Michael Manyin said this was part of their efforts to provide reliable and quality data workforce requirement to stakeholders for their manpower planning and decision-making.
The system would also act as a one-stop centre for labour market information for Sarawak, industry players and educational institutions, he said.
“The system developed by Sarawak Information Systems Sdn Bhd (SAINS) has gone live since Nov 1.
“Users can also access the system from Android mobile devices, anytime and anywhere.
“It is hoped that with this system, the collection of data can be done in a more systematic manner to enable us to provide reliable statistics and reports for the industries, educational institutions, and planners,” he said in his ministerial winding-up speech yesterday.
Manyin said the ministry would continue to collaborate with relevant partners to ensure availability of data on workforce supply and demand to meet the need of the various stakeholders.
Another initiative undertaken by the ministry to obtain reliable data on the workforce requirement of specific industries was through conducting workforce demand studies, he said.
“For next year, the ministry will conduct a study on ‘Human Resource and Skills Requirement in the Logistics Industry’.
“The study is needed with the emergence of e-commerce market to ensure Sarawak has good logistic services to support e-commerce.”
On another matter, Manyin said the government would continue with its effort to train a pool of competent workers and professionals who are equipped with the appropriate knowledge, skills and other qualities that meet the demands of the job market.
“To expand the existing capacity of state-owned technical vocational education training (TVET), RM112 million has been provided in the budget to implement various projects.
The projects include establishing Centre of Technical Excellence (CENTEX) branches in Dalat and Lawas as well as a Sarawak Skills Development Centre (PPKS) branch in Mukah.
“One of the ministry’s strategic thrust is to enhance TVET in Sarawak.
“Among initiatives to be undertaken by the ministry next year are TVET symposium in February, Sarawak Career and Training Fair (SCaT Fair) in March, World Skills Malaysia (Sarawak) Competition Final in October, and IBM-Watson Makers Space Workshop from January to April,” he said.
He also said the ministry would organise a conference for foreign marketing agents called ‘Making Sarawak as an Attractive Destination for Education for Foreign Students’, tentatively in February next year, to attract foreign students to study in local higher learning institutions.