KUCHING: Sarawak Skills Development Centre (PPKS) needs to embrace Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR4.0) to remain relevant, said its chairman.
“To meet the challenges of IR4.0, PPKS must produce IR4.0 future-proof graduates by 2030 in line with the Sarawak government’s focus to becoming a developed state by 2030,” Tan Sri Datuk Amar Abdul Aziz Husain said during the PPKS and International College of Advanced Technology (i-CATS) 22nd convocation ceremony at Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) here yesterday.
He said Technical Education and Vocational Training (TVET) was an important area to the state as it needed to develop a workforce for the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE) and digital economy sector.
“To prepare our students with high-tech technical skills, we will ensure practical training for our students.
“This is because in this era of challenging global economies, today’s workforce needs to constantly improve their knowledge and skills to stay relevant,” he said.
Abdul Aziz said rapid technological advances require workers to be skilled and flexible to meet industry needs.
“Therefore, your (students) learning process does not end here (after graduation), but will continue throughout your life,” he pointed out.
Abdul Aziz also urged the students to be proficient in the English language as “it is a global language, especially when most of the reference materials are in English and it is English that is crucial in facing the digital economy era and IR4.0.”
In the meantime, Abdul Aziz said the Sarawak government has agreed to work with PPKS to set up the Automotive Advanced Training College (AATC).
“The chief minister suggested that the Automotive Hydrogen Engineering and Fuel Cells training courses will be one of the courses offered at AATC,” he said.
He said the state aspired to produce more skilled and expert Sarawakians in the field of hydrogen technology.
“With this approach, the state is able to achieve its target to becoming a hydrogen producer in the future,” he added.
Meanwhile, about 780 graduates comprising 284 Malaysian Skills Certificate recipients, 87 Malaysian Skills Diploma recipients, 14 Electrical and Electronics Engineering Certificate recipients, 357 iCats Diploma graduates of various fields, 33 Vocational Training Operations graduates and seven graduates of Bachelor in Software Engineering, received their scrolls.
