CIDB clubs promote career prospects in construction industry
KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Construction Industry Development Board’s endeavour to attract young Malaysians to the construction sector has resulted in the creation of CIDB Construction Clubs at 150 secondary schools nationwide.
The main objective of these clubs is to educate and expose students to construction-related knowledge and basic skills, as well as career opportunities offered by the industry.
The establishment of the clubs can also be seen as part of efforts by CIDB, an agency in the Works Ministry, to remove the 3D (dirty, difficult and dangerous) tag attached to construction-related jobs and make the industry more appealing to youths, thus reducing the nation’s dependence on foreign labour.
The school construction club initiative started in 2011 following a collaboration between CIDB and the Education Ministry.
Since then, the agency has been organising activities for the members of the various CIDB Construction Clubs to pique their interest in the construction sector and enhance their knowledge.
The latest programme, dubbed Explore Construction 2017, was held on Nov 8 at the CIDB Convention Centre at Jalan Chan Sow Lin, here.
Organised by the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur
This is also an indirect way for the students to view the construction industry as a career path (when they leave school eventually)
(FTKL) CIDB, the event attracted more than 300 students from eight schools, here, that are among the 13 secondary schools in the federal territory where CIDB Construction Clubs have been set up.
FTKL CIDB director Zainora Zainal said the Explore Construction 2017 programme was an opportunity for the young participants to get to know the construction industry better and acquire some knowledge on the latest building technologies, as well as expose them to its various specialised fields such as civil, mechanical and electrical engineering works; architecture; and surveying.
“This is also an indirect way for the students to view the construction industry as a career path (when they leave school eventually),” she said in her speech at the launch of the programme.
The programme also saw the participating students testing their skills by competing in events involving landscape construction, decorative painting and wiring installation.
“The competitions were aimed at enhancing their (the students’) innovation and creativity levels,” added Zainora.
The participants also took part in competitions that saw them building towers using only straws, adhesive tape and blocks of wood; designing and creating decorative lamps; and drawing murals depicting scenes of nature.
As part of the programme, the students also visited CIDB’s training arm, the Construction Academy of Malaysia’s Central Region campus and Industrialised Building System (IBS) Centre at Jalan Chan Sow Lin, here.
The IBS is a CIDB initiative that offers technology-intensive construction techniques where components are manufactured in a controlled environment, either on-site or off-site, and placed and assembled into the construction works.
The IBS Centre is a one-stop reference centre housing an IBS information and component gallery, as well as a show village and testing facilities.
Among the participants of Explore Construction 2017 were 48 students from Sek Men Agama Majlis Agama Islam Wilayah Persekutuan, a religious school in Kuala Lumpur.
The school counsellor Mohd Azni Abu Hassan, who accompanied the students, said participating in the programme was time well spent as the students picked up a lot of knowledge about the construction industry.
Besides helping them to improve their soft skills and learn to solve problems and work as a team, the programme also enabled the students to get more information on the possibility of pursuing their higher studies at CIDB’s Construction Academy of Malaysia, he said.
The academy has six campuses nationwide, including Sabah and Sarawak, offering various skills training courses in constructionrelated fields.
“Programmes like this (Explore Construction) are among the platforms that can be used to encourage students to explore opportunities in the construction industry which, undeniably, is one of the sectors that hold great promise for the future,” said Mohd Azni.
One of his students Muhammad Hariz Mohd Rizwan, 15, who participated in the programme, said he not only got the chance to explore career paths in the building industry but also apply some of the skills he had learnt in theory.
“The various competitions spurred us to work swiftly and efficiently. It was also mentally challenging as we also had to come up with some creations based on the given criteria,” he added. - Bernama
FTKL CIDB director Zainora Zainal