Huawei receives Education Ministry award
KUALA LUMPUR: The Ministry of Higher Education and Huawei Malaysia certified 240 local graduates as skilled technicians in their Graduate Employability (GE) programme, announced at the programme’s closing ceremony last week.
To date, 94 per cent out of 163 ready-to-work participants have become employed or decided to pursue further studies.
As recognition to Huawei’s contribution to Malaysia’s ICT talent development, Ministry of Higher Education presented Huawei a Best Strategic Partner for Talent Development award.
The ceremony was attended by Deputy Minister of Higher Education Datuk Dr Mary Yap Kain Ching and Huawei Technologies Malaysia’s CEO Abraham Liu.
GE programme was one of the Ministry of Higher Education programmes intending to enhance the industry- academia collaboration.
As part of the programme, the graduates were awarded the Huawei Certified Entry Networking Technician ( HCENT), an internationally recognised entry level certification of fixed broadband network skills.
Over the course of five days with twelve training sessions, the programme equipped local graduates with industry-relevant practical knowledge and skills possessed primarily for the development and implementation of Fixed Broadband Backbone ( FBB).
This includes demonstration of knowledge and familiarity with FBB architecture, installation, maintenance, network design, deployment technology and operational skills.
These trainees also had the opportunity to participate in a soft- skill session which involved the role play of customer management.
Yap emphasised that the government’s steps in education need to be tandem with disruptive technologies and Malaysian youth need to learn and acquire technology skills in order to be valuable and relevant for workforce.
“Our training programme
Our training programme with Huawei, equips the youth with hands-on skills which are very relevant to the job scope requirements. The needs of the workforce are ever-changing and it is important that we see to it, that the youth are given the wisdom and tools to meet these demands.
with Huawei equips the youth with hands- on skills which are very relevant to the job scope requirements. The needs of the workforce are ever- changing and it is important that we see to it, that the youth are given the wisdom and tools to meet these demands.
“We close in on the gap between the mismatch of supply and demand in the workforce. We partner with ICT giants like Huawei because they are experts in the ICT industry and are committed to helping the nation boost our ICT economy working towards achieving a knowledgebased and innovation- driven economy,” she added.
According to a report from Point Topic, an international research agency, by the year 2020, at least 100 million people are estimated to sign up for gigabit-level fixed broadband access services and 70 per cent of this growth will come from the APAC region.
As a leading global ICT solutions provider, Liu said Huawei understands the urgent need to develop more optical engineers and skilled technicians to avoid shortage of skilled expertise in line with this increasing demand.
“Huawei deeply believes in the value of education and the opportunities that come with it. In Malaysia, it is our aim to help local talent to align the ICT education with the reallife requirements of the ICT industry. We understand what it takes to create and build a better connected Malaysia through the power of education. Through our training and certification program, we are helping to shape a strong talent ecosystem to drive local ICT industry development, creating benefits for all,” he shared.
Speaking on the programme, Nurul Hidayah Ishak, a 22-year old participant shared: “The training opened our minds to something we didn’t know was possible and it was an excellent training delivered by admirable trainers. They helped us at each and every step ensuring that we understand the topics and steps fully. It is something that students will never get to learn in the traditional classroom and I feel that this is the kind of training that will prepare students for the real work in the industry.
“This programme exposed me to hands on knowledge that I found really useful especially in my line of work today and it also prepared me for the challenges I might face in real work situations. I am also glad to say that I was immediately hired upon completion of the certification program by Huawei. I hope Huawei and the Ministry will continue their great work with the programme and expand it further so that many more graduates such as myself can benefit and contribute to the industry!” shared graduate student Muhammad Arif Izahar.
The training programme involved the participation of seven institutes of higher learning across the country which comprise Universiti Tun Hussein Onn, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Politeknik Ungku Omar, Politeknik Seberang Prai, Politeknik Sultan Idris Shah, Politeknik Merlimau Melaka and Politeknik Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin.
At the event, Yap and Liu also witnessed the signing of Memorandum of Understanding ( MoU) between Huawei and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia in an effort to promote collaboration in Health Technopolis, Digital Smart Campus and talent development.
Datuk Dr Mary Yap Kain Ching, Deputy Minister of Higher Education