Sarawak needs more skill workers in electrical and electronic sectors

KUCHING: Sarawak faces a substantial shortage of skilled workers and technologists and in electrical sector alone, it is estimated that about 6, 250 professionals and skilled workers will be required by 2020. This was disclosed by Assistant Minister of Industrial Development (Investment & Promotion), Datuk Haji Julaihi Bin Haji Narawi while officiating at the opening of the third DACUM-TVET (Developing a Curriculum for Technical Education and Training – Technical and Vocational Education Training) workshop at the Pullman Hotel here yesterday. He added based on current capacity, Sarawak could only produce 3150 of them by 2020 so there was a need to increase the training capacity in this area as in other skilled and professional fields. Sarawak, he stressed, badly lacked skilled and professional workforce and that was why training and development to meet the needs was important and must be undertaken in a systematic and coordinated manner. “Equally important is to ensure that the curriculum that the students go through is capable of equipping them with the skills, knowledge and attitude that is needed by the industry. In this respect, the DACUM workshop in certainly most welcomed,” he pointed out. DACUM is a methodology developed in Canada and is now used globally to ensure that the curriculums used in training institutions to train skilled workforce and technologists is in line with the continuously changing needs of the industry. The workshop was organised jointly by Sarawak Foundation (Yayasan Sarawak) and Work Force Development Unit in the Chief Minister’s Department. Julaihi disclosed that the 3rd DACUM workshop focused on the Electrical and Electronic Sector which was very pertinent in line with the development of Sarawak Corridor Of Renewable Energy (SCORE) and Sarawak’s needs as the foundation of SCORE is the generation and distribution of electricity, the number of professionals and skilled workers required in the field would be large, he reiterated. “With respect to electronics, the state has developed SAMAJAYA as a dedicated industrial free trade zone to facilitate the development of the electronic industry and related services. “Several international players such as X-FAB, Toko Electronics, Toyo Yuden, OMG Electronics, and Hitachi Global Storage Technologies have set up their production facilities here. “Samajaya continues to attract global corporations. The latest to join are MEMC, a subsidiary of Sun Edison from USA and COMTEC (investment of about RM1.2 billion) from China. These companies will continue to need skilled workers especially in the electronics sector,” he stated. Pointing out there were more than 16 companies and 20 institutions participating in the workshop yesterday, he thanked everyone in their contributions to the development of youth in the state urging them to continue their supports in future. The official opening ceremony yesterday afternoon also saw Centre For Technical Excellence signing three Memorandums Of Understanding (MOUs), each with Cahaya Educational & Training Academy or CETA, Plus Sustain Sdn Bhd and Pro-Active Training Centre. Director of Centre For Technical Excellence Dr. Asleena Binti Haji Helmi who is also Yayasan Sarawak (Sarawak Foundation) Head of Technical Development & Policy Division, signed on behalf of the Centre while CETA was represented by its Chairman Sazali Abdul Rahman, Plus Sustain by its Managing Director Nobel Pang and Pro-Active Training Centre by its president, Datuk Seri Dr. Bernard HK Tan Abdullah. Also present were Yayasan Sarawak Director Datu Hj. Mohammad Abu Bakar Bin Marzuki, Director of Workforce Development Unit in the Chief Minister’s Department, Dr. Abdul Rahman Deen and other invited guests. (Taken from The New Sarawak Tribune)