BARIO: Sarawak would have to have a skilled labour force of at least 60 per cent to achieve its goal of a high income status by 2030.
In stating this Sarawak Multimedia Authority (SMA) Deputy Chief Scientist and Deputy Adviser of Digital Economy, Professor Dr Al-Khalid Othman said the concern is presently the state is still highly dependent on a low-skilled workforce.
“There is also a high percentage on the Sarawak labour force with lower education attainment,” he said.
Given this scenario, Prof Al-Khalid requested all stakeholders to play their roles in enhancing the capacity and capability of skilled labour for the state in future.
“The state government is also to provide Lifelong Learning (LLL) support system or platform for talent development to fulfil individual interest in digital skills and knowledge,” he said.
He said this during a career talk on “Preparing Skilled Workforce for Digital Economy Transformation” organised by SMA at SMK Bario here, attended by 112 students recently.
Earlier, SMA in a statement said among the objectives were to ensure the young generation is aware about digital skills and future opportunities and options required for Sarawak’s digitalisation transformation by 2030.
The talk also discussed topics on issues and challenges in pursuing studies (higher education), introduction to the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) field to students, the future industry skills requirement and lastly, the need for the future generation to not forget their roots, traditions, culture and respect for elders.
The panelists consisted of Carolineson Nosin, Arif Azhar Abdullah and Ed Mustafa Abdul Hamid.
The career talk was organised in conjunction with SMA’s outreach programme in Bario which was officiated by Deputy Minister in the Premier’s Department (Labour, Immigration and Project Monitoring) Datuk Gerawat Gala.
