KUCHING: Sarawak government is the only state government in the nation that provides capacity building programme for its unemployed graduates, said Deputy State Secretary Datu Abdul Ghafur Shariff yesterday.
CONGRATULATIONS: Ghafur (second left) presents a certificate to a graduate as Razali (third left) and Sabariah (left) look on.
He explained that the programme which started several months ago was part of the initiative of the state government to train unemployed diploma and degree holders to enhance their employability.
He pointed out that the programme had so far provided training to about 2,000 of the some 5,000 unemployed graduates in the state.
“We found out that there are about 5,000 unemployed graduates in the state, therefore, we have a two-year programme to train them so that they would be more employable in the job markets.
“So far we have trained about 2,000 and we will try our best to train all of them,” he told reporters after the certificate presentation ceremony for MSC Malaysia Job Camp (Business Process Outsourcing Studies) at a hotel here.
The job camp was held in collaboration with Centre for Modern Management (CMM) and Scicom (MSC) Bhd.
Some 49 graduates from throughout the state participated in the 40-day programme.
Ghafur, who is CMM chairman, explained that under the programme, participants would be attached to government departments, private sectors as well as non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to gain working experience.
Degree holders in the programme were entitled to a RM920 monthly allowance while diploma holders each get RM730 monthly from the state government, he said.
On the money that the state government had spent so far on the programme, Ghafur didn’t reveal the amount but said: “We will spend what we can afford. We can’t tell you the exact amount because otherwise people would say we are a very rich state”.
He said data on the unemployed graduates was gathered through the e-recruitment system of the state government.
On whether the 5,000 unemployed graduates could be considered a high figure, Ghafur replied: “It is an issue of concern. What the state government intends to do is we want to take care of these people. We want everybody to have jobs.”
Earlier in his speech, Ghafur said it was the responsibility of the state government to take care of the unemployed graduates.
“If we didn’t take care of you, who else would? This is the manifestation of a caring government,” he said.
He advised graduates in the job camp to continue upgrading themselves with various knowledge and skills.
Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) general manager (K-Workers Development) Muhammad Imran Kunalan also urged the graduates to further enhance their interpersonal communication skill as it was important and relevant in any organisation.
He pointed out that by mastering such skill, it would help to lay a strong pathway for one to gain success in their career.
“For the past three years, industry-relevant ICT skills offered by MSC Malaysia K-Workers Development Initiatives (KDI) have benefited over 22,000 job seekers.
“It has enhanced their employability and marketability. Our track record is 93 per cent of the 22,000 have been employed within the six months of completion of our programmes,” he said.
He said they would work closely with the state government in terms of human capital development.
Human Resource Development and Quality Unit (HRDQ) in the Chief Minister’s Department director Dr Razali Abon and CMM chief executive officer Dr Sabariah Putit were also present at the ceremony.