LETTER: Tackling unemployment is tough but the government, led by Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, is seen to be redoubling efforts in pushing for the marketability of our staggering 161,161 unemployed graduates for the last two years.
This jobless graduates will have an opportunity to seize, in participating for the 20,000 places, which 140 programmes planned involving 100 companies, under the government supported Penjana KPT-CAP (career advancement programme).
The initiative must be commendable at a time the Covid-19 pandemic has made it an absolute imperative for the survival of our jobless graduates now with changes taking place in the employment market job expectations, skill sets with great emphasis on job matching and placement, entrepreneurship skill and acquiring freelancing capability in a gig economy.
Potential, capable graduates will be absorbed by the participating companies and those in the entrepreneurship programme who has the business acumen and passion will be financially assisted by accredited agencies to set up their companies and gaining the relevant skills, competencies and knowledge through the programme.
Just as jobs of the future are going to be very different, our universities and colleges must make the relevant changes in curriculum design and development in skills, knowledge and competencies for the future that will enable our graduates to fit in their roles as required by the industry undergoing a sea of changes in the digital future of organisational learning.
With the government setting aside RM100 million for the Penjana KPT-CAP programme as part of the RM2 billion allocated for training and upskilling under the nation's economy recovery, i want to also proposed that other relevant programmes such as MyBrain15 programme must also be continued.
This is because the programmes are focusing on innovation, creativity, fashion design and artificial intelligence with new learning technologies such as Zoom learning culture a new phenomenon with virtual video conferencing platforms are changing employment landscape.
Overall, these developments has certainly be seen as a morale booster to unemployed graduates as they search for 'light at the end of the unemployment tunnel.'
C. SATHASIVAM SITHERAVELLU
Seremban
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times.