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Free Malaysia Today
5 days ago
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
Malaysia must pioneer cross-border TVET training, says Zahid
Deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi called for insightful discussions on skills mismatch, the rising demand for digital and green talent, and driving innovation. KUALA LUMPUR : Malaysia must be a pioneer in cross-border apprenticeship programmes within Asean to boost regional integration, says deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. He said this is one way the regional bloc will shape a workforce that is 'inclusive, future-ready and poised to lead the global technical and vocational education and training industry'. 'A student from the Philippines can train in Malaysia, an Indonesian in Vietnam, and a Thai graduate in Singapore, turning Asean integration into a living reality through the movement of skills and knowledge. 'And perhaps, from this very gathering, we can establish a new regional movement – the Asean Green and Digital Skills Task Force,' he said at the Asean TVET Conference here today. Zahid, who is also the chairman of the National TVET Council, said such a task force would unite Asean with 'concrete actions, measurable targets and mutual support' to cultivate the talent needed by the region. The two-day conference, jointly hosted by the Human Resource Development Corporation and Skills Development Fund Corporation, seeks to provide a dynamic platform to facilitate knowledge exchange, foster innovation, and build strategic partnerships in support of Asean's digital and green transformation. It is also one of the flagship platforms of the Asean Year of Skills 2025, an initiative under Malaysia's Asean chairmanship to accelerate skills development, promote regional mobility, and prepare the Asean workforce for emerging economic and technological shifts. Zahid also called for insightful discussions on skills mismatch, the rising demand for digital and green talent, and driving innovation. 'I have instructed my officers to capture these insights because I will not allow this to be mere dialogue. 'It must spark policies that meet market needs, open opportunities for all, make employers true partners, and fast-track cutting-edge learning,' he said. In June, Bernama reported Zahid as saying student enrolment in TVET institutions rose to 436,285 last year, with 53.5% of Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) holders opting for TVET pathways. Asean development of EV industry Speaking at the conference, human resources minister Steven Sim noted that OpenAI last week launched its GPT-5 artificial intelligence system, which he said can deliver information of a higher order and faster 'than a PhD expert'. 'This has confirmed our suspicion for the past few years. AI replaces conventional academically-trained personnel,' he said. Sim said AI can write code, produce high-level designs, solve complicated maths and generate speeches and other expert statements. However, he said, the world still needs those who can build, repair, operate, communicate, supervise and organise, making it necessary for Asean to have a more collaborative approach towards the 21st century economy. He said such collaboration may be seen in the electric vehicle industry, for example. 'We should leverage our core competencies to develop an Asean EV industry, rather than have a zero-sum competition to the bottom,' he said.
The Herald
04-06-2025
- Business
- The Herald
Need to develop skills for digitally driven future in Nelson Mandela Bay
It was estimated as far back as 2017 that 85% of the jobs that will exist in 2030 have not even been invented yet. The clock is ticking towards 2030 — are we prepared with the skills to fill new digitally driven jobs for which we don't even have job descriptions yet, in industries that don't exist yet? We already know that SA has a severe shortage of high-level technical skills, particularly in IT-related and engineering fields. The extent of the skills mismatch has been estimated at 50% — in other words, half of work-seekers don't have the skills needed in today's job market. The challenge of preparing for a job that doesn't yet exist is heightened by the rapid pace of digital disruption. The reality is that a student who entered a degree programme this year in engineering, for example, may not have the skills needed in industry when they graduate in four years' time. This is not to say that the tertiary qualification in which the graduate invested serves no purpose. They will be schooled in the science and principles of the discipline they plan to enter and will have been exposed to workplace learning experiences and industry experts. However, they may lack the hands-on technical skills required in a job that has developed faster than curriculum development in the education system can keep pace with. The report by the Institute for the Future and Dell Technologies referred to in the introduction forecasts that the rapid pace of change means employees of the future will be continuously exposed to skills training and retraining, not in the institutional sense as we know it, but real time, 'in the moment' learning driven by technologies such as virtual reality and tailored AI-assisted content. The ability to learn and acquire new knowledge will be more valuable than the knowledge itself, the report says. While a tertiary qualification provides an essential foundation, we see the future in industry-led skills development, where companies and industry bodies collaborate in developing the real time on-the-job training that develops the skills they need to keep pace with rapidly advancing production technology. It makes no sense that industry regularly reports struggling to fill vacancies for technically skilled positions, while we have an unemployment crisis and a particularly severe youth unemployment rate of over 50%. The Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator, our partner in the Business Chamber Skills Desk, points out that despite economic growth over the past 16 years, there are fewer young people employed now than there were in 2008. The availability of an appropriately skilled talent pool is a key factor for new investors, and we need to be attracting new investment to drive job creation. Beyond investment to drive economic growth, we need youth-specific interventions and demand-led skills development if we are to fill the gaps in critical skills shortages and the mismatch between qualifications and industry needs. It has thus been exciting to see the rollout over the past few weeks of one of the first initiatives of the Skills Development Desk to support industry-led skills development. The business chamber is managing the Eastern Cape Youth Empowerment Programme which is training 50 unemployed youth as digital process technicians — a job that did not exist a year ago. The initiative is supported by auto manufacturer Stellantis, which is developing a new assembly plant at Coega and will be establishing the very jobs that these new skills will be trained to fill in an increasingly digital and automated global manufacturing sector. Industrial automation specialists Jendamark are providing the training on their cutting-edge automation technology, and the participants are now in their fourth week of hands-on training in the year-long programme. The training in virtual systems maintenance is complemented by mentorship and the chamber's Entrepreneurship Desk is supporting the development of entrepreneurial skills, as well as the 'soft skills' that are essential in industry alongside technical skills — qualities such as adaptability, working collaboratively, leadership and emotional intelligence. The critical end goal is employment, and a number of local manufacturers have signed on to recruit the participants for workplace experience once they have completed their training. This is the kind of partnership we need to drive meaningful change and equip young people with in-demand skills and direct access to the job market. It's a first of its kind, and we plan for it to be the first of many as we upskill people to meet the investment potential of the Bay of Opportunity. Denise van Huyssteen is chief executive officer of the Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber The Herald
