PM LAUNCHES RM100M INITIATIVE FOR JOBLESS GRADS
Penjana KPT-CAP will help them attune to new job demands, says Muhyiddin
ST UDENT S who have graduated last year or are graduating this year and have yet to secure jobs have been urged to take full advantage of the government’s Career Advancement Programme (CAP), known as Penjana KPTCAP.
Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, in making the call, said the RM100 million Penjana KPT-CAP programmes would help graduates attune themselves to new demands in the job market brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I was told that starting today, graduates can send in their applications for relevant programmes under the Penjana KPT-CAP.
“Therefore, I would like to urge all graduates of last year and this year who have yet to find jobs to take advantage of the programmes as they could help increase your employability.
“Unlike other upskilling and reskilling programmes, the Penjana KPT-CAP is unique because we will ensure that every graduate gets a job as the courses are designed to cater to the demand of companies,” he said in his speech when launching the allocation for the Penjana KPTCAP.
Present were Higher Education Minister Datuk Dr Noraini Ahmad, Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz and Media Prima Bhd group chairman Datuk Syed Hussian
Syed Junid.
The Penjana KPT-CAP, which aims to reskill and upskill the participating graduates, consists of three sub-programmes, namely “Place and Train”, a competency training by industry players; “Entrepreneurship”, which will offer insights on the vital know-how of kick-starting a company; and “Gig Economy” programmes, which provide competency training.
Penjana KPT-CAP, to begin next month, will be conducted by academics, practitioners and industry players at selected higher education institutions nationwide. They are catered to graduates who did not manage to secure jobs last year as well as those who have graduated this year.
Muhyiddin said entrepreneurship should also be explored by fresh graduates as it could create more job opp or tunitie s for Malaysians.
“I was told that the Higher Education Ministry is ensuring the continuity of entrepreneurship programmes in public universities. I hope this plan will further em power our entrepreneurship agenda in universities ,” he said.
Meanwhile, the prime minister, at an earlier event, officiated the launch of the Malaysia Urban Forum 2020.
The three-day forum, themed “Sustainable Urban Nation 2030 — The Transformative Pathway and Actions to Deliver the Sustainable Agenda”, provides a platform for experts and participants to share and deliberate ideas, solutions and progress made towards the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals.
Muhyiddin, in his speech, said the urban population was expected to increase from 77 per cent to 80 per cent or 26 million people by 2030.
This, he noted, would require solutions to challenges, including waste management, traffic problems, air pollution, affordable housing, power supply and public transportation.
He said cities and urban environments in Malaysia must be age and gender-friendly in order to meet the demographic changes. Malaysia, he said, would become an ageing society by 2045, in which 14 per cent of the population would be 65 and above.
Muhyiddn also urged all ministries and agencies at all levels to strengthen their bottom-up feedback systems, which would then enable everyone to better coordinate action plans and effective implementation of government policies.
“With just 10 years to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, we should not only address the challenges and aspirations mentioned.
“We need to report and show our action plans, progress and efforts towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in view of the vision for Malaysia to be a sus
tainable urban nation.
“All these, undoubtedly, require concerted efforts by ministries and agencies at the national, state and local levels to work together to align our policies and strategies.
“This is to ensure that our future growth will take place in a more responsible, integrated and sustainable manner,” he said.
The prime minister also noted that despite the numerous policies and programmes implemented, poverty remains a growing concern.
He said with the recent revision of the National Poverty Line Income (PLI) from RM980 to RM2,208, more than 400,000 households or 5.6 per cent of Malaysians had fallen within this level.
“The revision now takes into consideration optimum food re
quirements as well as quality and healthy eating, unlike in the past where we used to only consider the concept of ‘minimum’.
“This is important as a strong nation builds upon a healthy nation. Hence, we must ensure our people have sufficient quality and nutritious food,” he said.
He said since the Covid-19 pandemic, the government had implemented several initiatives to assist the people and the business community from several sectors, including those in urban farming.
“I hope these relentless efforts will continue as we focus on ‘food to table’ to ensure no hunger and malnutrition among Malaysians and to help reduce the burden of poor households, especially those living in urban areas,” he said.