Malaysia Conducts Study On Manpower Needs With World Bank

KUALA LUMPUR, June 9 (Bernama) -- The government is conducting a two-year study on the country's manpower needs in collaboration with the World Bank, said Human Resource Minister Dr S. Subramaniam. He said a database on all sectors, including in which sectors foreign workers were needed, would be developed from the study which started early this year and expected to end at the end of next year. The study will help assist the government in planning the workforce requirement and the kind of training needed to prepare the people for the job market, he added. "It covers all aspects of the workforce supply and demand in major sectors and the qualifications and skills needed. "It will help the government plan the national education system at the school, vocational and university levels," he told reporters after opening the International Skills Conference 2012: Transforming the Workforce Skills Towards a Higher Income Economy here Monday. Subramaniam said the study would be in line with the Human Resource Ministry and the Education Ministry's plan to introduce vocational training in secondary schools by 2013 to entice more students to take up skills courses and to make vocational education a study of choice. "This programme will enable students to take up vocational education at a very young age and allow them to pursue it as a field of choice. "They will receive a vocational certificate along with the SPM (Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia) certificate," he said. The two-day conference organised by the National Association of Private Educational Institutions highlights the transformation of the Malaysian skills workforce, learning from international experience and innovation in skills development. -- BERNAMA