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    10 July 2012| last updated at 10:06PM

    DPM: Skills competitions offer youth opportunity to show creativity

    By SEAN AUGUSTIN
    sean@nst.com.my

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    PUTRAJAYA: SKILLS competitions offer youth an opportunity to show off their creativity and talent as well as help them improve themselves and their careers.

     

    Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said it is for this reason the government organised such events in the country.
     
    "It is inline with the Productivity, Creativity and Innovation principle espoused by the Prime Minister recently .
     
    "I would like to encourage more private companies to support and sponsor such competitions to make it more competitive and effective," he said when launching the Premier Skilled Workers assembly, here, tonight. 
     
    Present were Human Resources minister Datuk Seri Dr S Subramaniam and his deputy Senator Datuk Maznah Mazlan. 
     
    Earlier in his speech, Muhyiddin, who is also the Education Minister,  said 75 per cent of manpower in the country possessed Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) or of lower qualifications and this presented a challenge to government in developing skills of workers.
     
    The remaining 25 per cent, he said, were highly skilled workers, a percentage which was relatively low compared to workers in Singapore, Taiwan and Korea.
     
    The government, he said was constantly finding ways to produce highly skilled workers, including by implementing a minimum wage policy as well as allocating RM1.8 billion to government agencies for technical education and vocational training of civil servants among others.
     
    Muhyiddin later handed out prizes to winners in several skill competitions.
     
    He also presented the Jalur Gemilang to the Malaysian contingent which will be competing in the ASEAN Skills Competiton  to be held in Jakarta in November.
     
    ASEAN Skills is part of the WorldSkills International which provides a platform for exchange and comparison of world-class competency standards in the industrial trades and service sectors of the global economy.

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