Empower rights of women, says Yeoh
KUALA LUMPUR: The number of women taking up tertiary education courses is increasing but this is not reflected in higher level positions at the workplace, says Hannah Yeoh.
The Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister said some programmes had an enrolment of 60% to 70% of women while engineering courses also recorded an increase as well.
“There is a need to empower the rights of women and recognise the importance of their roles,” she said during the launch of the 2018 Asean Mechanical and Electrical Engineering Show here yesterday.
According to statistics by the Board of Engineers Malaysia, while 26% of graduate engineers in Malaysia are women, they make up less than 6% of professional engineers.
Yeoh urged the private sector to emulate the Government’s announcement to open up childcare centres in every office by next year.
“This is so that we can keep women in the workforce and market place. It is really challenging managing a home and a career,” said the former Selangor assembly Speaker.
In 2013, she created history when she was appointed the first woman Speaker in the country.
The seventh edition of the show featured five industrial and engineering events – Refrigeration, Ventilation and Air Conditioning, Power and Electrical Industry, Lift and Escalators Technology, green energy and solar energy.
With over 460 exhibiting companies from 30 countries, the event organised by UBM Malaysia is expected to attract more than 15,000 people.
The three-day event will also feature more than 40 conferences and technological symposiums.