Dr Annuar (second right) presents a certificate to one of the Skills Training At Risk Youth (STAR@U) trainees, as Andrew (right) and Yusnawannie look on.
MIRI (Sept 24): There should be no reason for youths to be left out in education soon after they completed their Form 5, even if they did not perform well in their academics.
Deputy Minister of Education and Innovation Dr Annuar Rapa’ee said this when officiating at the certificate presentation cum closing ceremony of Skills Training At Risk Youth (STAR@U) and Bootcamp – Offshore Catering Crew at Institut Latihan Belia Negara (IKBN) here yesterday.
He added there are plenty of government and private institutions where the youths can continue their education irrespective of their SPM results.
“There is a data that shows that many youths, after their Form 5, did not know what to do after that and did not pursue any kind of education or training.
“This is something we need to tackle,” the Nangka state assemblyman stressed.
He asserted that the issue of youths not pursuing tertiary education should not arise, with the fact that the state has been equipped with many education facilities such as IKBN, Politeknik, Kolej Komuniti, Sarawak Skills Institute, Centex, i-CATS and Giatmara as well as private institutions.
Both federal and state governments have set up facilities to enable youths to pursue higher education, be it academic or Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), he pointed out.
“No doubt that some of the institutions are ‘duplicates’ (offering similar courses), they all have the same objective which is to ensure that our youths are not left behind in education,” he said, adding that some form of outreach programmes are to be carried out to tackle this issue.
“So we really need to sit down and work on this. This is a very important issue that must be addressed to ensure our youths are not left behind in pursuing their education or training after Form 5,” said Annuar.
Meanwhile, Deputy Director of Training Management IKBN Miri Andrew Arih who spoke earlier said the Star@U programme was designed for high risk youths who have interest in entrepreneur programme or skill areas.
“A total of three courses have been held so far this year, namely Buns, Cookies as well as Preparation of Western Food,” he said, adding that the programme will enable the trainees obtain skills that will help them generate income.
For the Bootcamp – Offshore Catering Crew course, Andrew disclosed that it was one of the ten progammes carried out by Institusi Latihan Kementerian Belia Sukan (ILKBS) nationwide under its Kumpulan Wang Covid-19 (KWC-19) funding for the year 2022.
The programme in Miri involved 15 trainees and was implemented in collaboration with SOCC Offshore Sdn Bhd.
Also present were Political Secretary to Sarawak Premier, Sayed Azmee Wan Junaidi and SOCC Offshore Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Yusnawannie Osman.