Majority of country's labour force not qualified, skilled: Riot

KUCHING: The majority of the country's labour force is neither qualified nor skilled to contribute to a knowledge-based economy, says Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Richard Riot Jaem (pix).
Thus, he said, it was important to promote lifelong learning because learning, whether formal or informal, would lead to an upgrade of skills that would simultaneously increase the nation's productivity.
"We must continue to harness the full potential of our existing talent pool if we want to become more resilient.
"I cannot stress enough how important it is to invest in both education and the re-skilling, up-skilling and multi-skilling of the local talents as these are factors that are crucial to improving social mobility and the well-being of the rakyat as a whole," he said at the Recognition of Prior Experiential Learning (RPEL) convocation here today.
A total of 276 graduates from Sarawak were certified through the RPEL programme and 132 of them received their scrolls from Riot at a ceremony.
Those graduates comprised participants from Federation of JPK Accredited Centres Malaysia (FeMAC) and the Armed Forces Ex-Servicemen Affairs Corporation (Perhebat).
Later, Riot told reporters that the RPEL initiative which gave formal recognition and certification of technical and management skills, knowledge and experience gained from work, life or previous studies was seen as a stepping stone towards better mobility and job marketability among local workers.
He said the graduates were provided with a diploma under the Malaysia Skills certification banding which would open doors to opportunities that might not have been available previously, including the option to pursue further studies and access to better job prospects and higher salaries.
"The programme aims to help increase the number of skilled workers from the Bottom 40% (B40) income group and improve the health of the economy by reducing the country's unemployment rate which is currently 3.3%," he said, adding that the programme would continue with unlimited number of intakes but with careful selection of candidates. — Bernama