PENANG LEADS AGAIN : THE FIRST GERMAN DUAL VOCATIONAL EDUCATION OF LEARN AND WORK IN MALAYSIA
I am pleased to witness the signing ceremony of the German Dual Vocational Training Programme in Penang between the State Government and the Penang Skills and Development Centre PSDC today.
I would like to welcome in particular the State Financial Officer, Dato’ Hj. Mokhtar bin Mohd Jait, the CEO of PSDC, Mr Muhamed Ali Hajah Mydin, the Management Council Members of PSDC, the representatives of host companies of the new program (names), the programme coordinators as well as the first batch of 22 students participating in the German Dual Vocational Training in Penang. After their course of around 40 months, they are guaranteed work at the sponsor companies.
Of these 22 students, 20 are Malays whilst 2 are Indians. The state government hopes to have more Malaysians to join this programme because we are alike to sponsor more of such students.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
As you might be aware, the State Government has recently launched the Penang Future Foundation Scholarship scheme with RM 20 million, where talented Malaysians are given scholarships based on merit. The only condition is that these scholars serve their bond in Penang for a stated period either in the public or the private sector.
Not resting on our laurels, today, I am delighted that the German Dual Vocational Training Programme has finally been introduced in Penang. This represents a separate prong to increasing our talent pool in Penang. With this initiative, the State Government is happy to financially support this industry-driven programme for Penang-based companies with a sponsorship of more than RM2 million. The sponsorship is open to all companies located in Penang, whether multinational corporations (MNCs) and small and medium entities (SMEs), who send their Malaysian employees for the German Dual Vocational Training Programme.
Penang leads again: The first German Dual Vocational Education of learn and work in Malaysia. So far we have American and German companies participating and hope to see more.
The introduction of the German Dual Vocational Training Programme in Penang is a significant step. People throughout the world regard the words “Made in Germany” as a seal of quality for products. Indeed this is only possible by Germany’s highly skilled and creative workforce, which is formed by the tradition of work-based training as well as companies’ efforts for up skilling their workers and climbing up the value chain. It is now our aim to establish “Trained in Penang”- based on German Training Standards – as a new benchmark for high-quality training in Malaysia and the world.
The German dual vocational training system represents a win-win situation for all parties involved. Every year, around two thirds of the year’s youth begin dual training as the first step towards their vocational and personal career. In 2013/2014, approximately 522 thousand young people set out on this path in Germany. As a result, Germany has a constant stream of trained skilled force. I believe that Penang needs this stream of talent to reinforce our manufacturing prowess; and the State Government is proud to sponsor this.
The German Dual Vocational Training Programme is a valuable upskilling programme that is much sought after. An average of 23% of German trainees in the training occupations have university entrance qualifications. In some training occupations – such as bank clerk or IT specialist – the percentage of people with university entrance qualifications is even as high as 50 to 60%. In other words in Germany, you may need a university degree to qualify for training.
Ladies and Gentlemen
The very nature of the dual system of vocational training means that cooperation between the two learning venues – industry and vocational school – plays a key role in work-based training. The curricula for in-company and vocational school training are therefore developed jointly. We hope this will reinforce Penang’s contribution as an exporter of RM18 billion or 22% of Malaysia’s balance of trade in 2014.
By strictly following the German vocational training system and obtaining accreditation by the Malaysian-German Chamber of Commerce that may gain recognition in Germany, this programme will train more internationally certified professionals whilst at the same time getting qualifications that is recognized in the Malaysian educational system.
The State Government is aware that up skilling the local workforce will affect local businesses. Hence, it should not be concentrated in the multinational companies only. I am glad to hear that about 60% of PSDC’s members are Small and Medium Sized Entities (SMEs). With this financial sponsorship, I hope more SMEs will invest in upskilling their existing employees or in attracting talents. In the first stage, the GDVT program covers the courses for Diploma and Advanced Diploma in the field of Mechatronics.
Talent is universal but opportunity is not. The state government hopes this initiative will provide our talents with the opportunity.
I am very confident that PSDC and the host German and American companies will take on this responsibility with excellence and I wish the students all the best for their training and future careers. With this sponsorship of the German Dual Vocational Training Programme from the State Government, I am proud to announce that Penang again leads retraining our workforce to world-class standards.
Thank you.