SHAH ALAM, June 20 — The RM20 million allocation under Phase 2 of the Selangor Resilience Enhancement Package (SREP) to sponsor Malaysian Skills Certificate (SKM) candidates would help B40 students improve their employability, said Bukit Lanjan assemblyman Pua Pei Ling.
She said the initiative is significant as education and technical training costs often present hurdles for B40 youth to pursue upskilling, adding that the allocation would also help address Selangor’s dropout rate.
“In my speech at the previous Selangor State Legislative Assembly sitting, I brought up concerns about the worrying job termination rate, where Selangor contributed 29.3 per cent of the overall job terminations in March.
“I welcome this RM20 million allocation for the (SKM) as a new initiative under (SREP) Phase 2,” she added during the debate on SREP Phase 2 at the special assembly sitting here yesterday.
Pua suggested the programme be based on Singapore’s SkillsFuture model, which ensures training benefits are enjoyed continuously and not just as a one-off aid.
She said the model successfully increased labour training participation in Singapore from 35 per cent in 2015 to 50 per cent in 2021.
“Among elements that can be (adopted) is the individual training credit concept, which is permanent and can be used throughout one’s career … and training allowance for employees who have to take unpaid leave to undergo full-time training,” she explained.
Yesterday, Menteri Besar Dato’ Seri Amirudin Shari announced the RM20 million under the Teraju IKTISASS initiative to strengthen technical and vocational education and training (TVET) programmes and increase Selangor’s number of professional workers in strategic industries.
He said the programme includes a Google AI certification programme for 500 teachers in Selangor to improve their skills in making use of the technology in education.
“Five hundred participants will be offered professional industry certification, while 1,000 more individuals will receive the (SKM),” Amirudin said when tabling SREP Phase 2 to the assembly yesterday.
