IPOH (Dec 3): The launching of the SkillsMalaysia 2.0: SKILL4ALL Towards New Collar Jobs programme, which is the initiative of the Human Resources Ministry, is a wise and timely move, said the Sultan of Perak Sultan Nazrin Shah.

He hoped the move pioneered by the ministry could fortify the development of the best human capital in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in line with the challenges of technological changes, hike in global worker migration and world climatic changes.

“It is hoped that the effort can stabilise skills training to support industrial development and technological mastery and subsequently reduce national dependency on technology and skilled manpower from abroad,” he said in his speech at the launching of SkillsMalaysia 2.0: SKILL4ALL Towards New Collar Job at the Ipoh Industrial Training Institute here today.

He said current data proved that TVET graduates could more easily find jobs, when overall 92% of its graduates obtained employments, compared to 30,765 graduates or 59.9 graduates at the first degree level and upwards who had yet to find work a year after graduating.

He said this situation proved that there was a mismatch between the qualifications of the graduates produced by the Institutions of Higher Education with the skills needed by the industry and it must be rectified.

Realising this reality, Sultan Nazrin said the approach and training at TVET institutes should be engineered by introducing the best practices in management, drafting together and designing programmes and training deliveries.

He said focus must be given towards boosting the ability of independent learning with the approach depending on problem-based learning, project based learning and production based learning approaches.

“The learning of this new method will provide the exposure to the students on the real working world. The National Occupational Skills Standard which is the foundation of training curriculum development must be boosted in line with the development of digital technology,” he said.

In addition, Sultan Nazrin said TVET programmes must ensure that trainees were equipped with soft skills encompassing non-academic skills such as positive values, leadership, team work, communication and continuous learning.

He said the aspect of ethics and moral must mandatorily be made important components so that technocrats and skilled workers produced adhered to the principle of trustworthiness, integrity, sincerity, being anti-corruption and not abusing power.

Sultan Nazrin said the employment world would change significantly in the Fourth Industrial Revolution era including, among others, the automation technology minimising the involvement of humans in many job sectors.

He said a study by the World Bank together with agencies under the Human Resources Ministry, Talent Corp and the Institute of Labour Market Information and Analysis in 2018 revealed that 50% of jobs in Malaysia faced a high risk of being automated, while 25% more faced a moderate risk.

He said employers in the Fourth Industrial Revolution era would need workers who had holistic skills encompassing emotional intelligence, analytical thinking, active and wise in decision-making, able to think creatively and critically and had effective communication ability.

“Employments in the future require workers who have social interactive skills, artistic expression, collaborative attitude, empathy and intelligence,” said Sultan Nazrin.

On the term new collar jobs which was introduced by IBM chief executive officer Ginni Rometty at the end of 2016, Sultan Nazrin said it made effort to identify the new types of work that would exist a must.

“New types of technical jobs stress specifically on skills and no longer academic degrees which are general in nature to simultaneously show the tendency of demand for manpower by the industry currently will no longer depend on academic qualification but but more dependent on the skills possessed,” said Sultan Nazrin.

Source: https://www.theedgemarkets.com/