Datuk Seri Richard Riot Jaem
KUCHING: The Skills Development Fund Corporation (PTPK), a federal statutory body under the Human Resources Ministry, has agreed to allocate RM10 million more for Sarawak.
Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Richard Riot Jaem said the extra allocation would be enough for up to 1,030 more applicants who wished to apply for loans from PTPK to pursue skills training and certification at Technical and Vocational Education and Training (Tvet) institutions.
He said initially Sarawak was given RM20.1 million disbursed to various training providers for 2,079 trainees this year.
The amount was equivalent to 10 per cent of the RM200 million allocated to PTPK for distribution nationwide.
“However, due to high demand from youths in Sarawak to pursue careers based on TVET, we are pleased to inform that the Human Resources Ministry through PTPK will provide extra allocation of RM10 million this year to fund 1,030 more trainees,” he said in a statement issued yesterday.
The statement was in response to The Borneo Post’s front-page report on Wednesday on Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem expressing hope that the Ministry of Human Resources, the Ministry of Finance and PTPK would review and increase the allocation for Sarawak.
When launching the Graduate Enhancement Training Sarawak (GETS) programme at the Sarawak Career and Training Fair (SCaT) 2016 on Tuesday, Adenan said many Sarawakian youths who have secured places in TVET institutions had to decline the offer as they could not get loans from PTPK.
He said the allocation for PTPK had decreased last year, affecting loans received by the applicants.
Adenan had pointed out that lack of funding was one of the two critical constraints besieging Sarawak as the state strives to increase the capacity and range of technical and skills training programmes available locally.
On a related matter, Riot said Sarawak is also getting RM6.8 million or 13 per cent of the national funding allocated each year under the 11th Malaysian Plan to fund short- and medium-term courses including skills training for Malaysian Skills Certificate (SKM) Level 1 and SKM Level II. The funding comes under the B40 Skills Training Programme (PLKB40) in the form of training grants.
“The target group of the PLKB40 are the hardcore poor, poor and those in the low income group with monthly household incomes below the RM3,000 bracket,” he added.