Rep advocates free education for Sabahans

KOTA KINABALU: Kapayan assemblyman Dr Edwin Bosi yesterday congratulated Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan for urging Sabahan graduates and job seekers to seize the more than 6,000 vacancies and training opportunities offered at the 1Malaysia Training Scheme (SL1M) open interview.

Dr Bosi who is Parti Anak Negeri Penampang chief, said he had raised the issue of youth employment opportunity at the Sabah State Assembly in 2013. He also raised the issue of rural-urban youth migration and also Sabah-Kuala Lumpur migration.

He added that students who excelled in their studies and became professionals should not have problems with employment. They can easily find jobs or even become employers.

“I have urged the government to establish more vocation schools to create skilled labour. I am concerned that our youths who do not have the proper skill training will be exploited. There are so many negative reports concerning our youths in Kuala Lumpur. They are involved in drugs, become homeless, begging and into criminal activities,” said Dr Bosi.

“To this, the government has said that since 2011 the opportunity to enter vocational schools is wide open to school leavers in order to increase the skilled labour force, especially for sectors dominated by foreign workers.

“According to the government, the Department of Skill Development in the Ministry of Human Resource, the Department of Human Resource and Sabah Development Corridor are responsible for the development and training of skilled labour in Sabah. In fact, the Sabah Development Corridor is responsible to coordinate demand and supply of human resource for industry, academic institutions and skill training centres in line with the challenges of the present time,” he continued.

Dr Bosi asked if SL1M was actually duplicating the job of the Ministry of Human Resource and Sabah Development Corridor.

He said he would like to see the government providing free education to all Sabahans.

“Those who have the brains should be encouraged to complete their university studies sponsored fully by the government. There should be no limit to the scholarship. As long as the student is qualified, he or she should be allowed to pursue their studies. The others will be encouraged to undertake skill training courses, fully sponsored by the government,” he suggested.

Dr Bosi said this is the investment that he would like to see of any government.

“I have said in my campaign speeches that I will fight to provide free education for all Sabahans. I believe this is the way forward in seeing a prosperous Sabah in the future. The issue of economic development and others will be managed by them when they return home qualified and start to build the country,” he said.