KESUMA DEVELOPS NEW TRAINING PLATFORM FOR WORKERS

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 22 (Bernama) -- The Ministry of Human Resources (KESUMA) is developing a ministry-wide programme to set up a new training platform that is approved by industry experts and accessible to all segments of society.

Its minister, Steven Sim Chee Keong said the programme will curate and syndicate the best of skills courses provided by both local and global training providers. 

“An education programme for our workers should have these components -- learning on the job, learning by practice and learning continuously. 

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“It must also be agile and flexible -- in other words, it must be able to adapt to the fast-paced changes in the industry and it must be able to do so quickly. 

“IR (Industrial Revolution) 4.0 should be a TVET revolution because IR 4.0 is about skills,” he said when delivering his opening remarks at the ASEAN Year of Skills (AYOS) 2025: Global Skills Forum (GSF) here today. 

The forum was officiated by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who represented Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. 

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Also present were International Labour Organisation (ILO) director-general Gilbert F. Houngbo and International Organisation of Employers (IOE) vice-president Matthias Thorns.

Sim said in Malaysia, the government has embedded upskilling and reskilling into the labour market through the HRD Corp system, under which employers contribute a one-per cent (pct) levy from their payroll, funds they can in turn use to train and upgrade their own workers.

“For the last three years, from 2023 till August of this year, out of the RM6.17 billion levy collected, a total of RM5.77 billion (almost 94 pct) has been spent on training about four million workers,” he said. 

He said that since 2023, the ministry has organised the National Training Week (NTW) that gives Malaysians one week of free access to skills courses ranging from artificial intelligence to indigenous arts, computer programming to public speaking, and digital skills to mental health.

“In its first year, NTW reached 130,000 Malaysians and the following year, participation grew to almost 400,000,"’ he also said.

“This year, NTW 2025 recorded nearly four million enrolments in just one week, supported by 1,556 training providers offering a total of 73,231 free courses.

“We are proud to share that Indonesia, Myanmar and Timor-Leste are adopting the NTW concept, recognising its potential to strengthen workforce development and skills training to be implemented in their respective countries,” he added.

-- BERNAMA