Upgrading the Workforce
ADB Review [ November 2004 ]
ADB has successfully completed a project that improved the quality of technical and vocational education of Malaysia’s future workforce
By Jet Damazo
Consultant Public Relations Writer
As Malaysia’s economy began to experience rapid industrialization
and technological development in the early 1990s, the need to strengthen
its pool of skilled workers and engineers to meet the growing demand
became evident.
The country’s growth was matched by an even faster rate of increase in employment, particularly in manufacturing and construction. With a relatively small labor supply base, labor shortages occurred in most sectors of the economy. An Asian Development Bank (ADB) study noted that shortages of high-level technical and other skills constituted the largest single threat to Malaysia’s export sustainability.
To address the tight employment situation, the Government allowed selective employment of foreign workers. In 1996, of a total workforce of 6.2 million, about 700,000 were legally employed as foreign workers. Around a million foreign workers, though, were estimated to be employed illegally.
“Employing foreign workers can only be a temporary measure pending training and deployment of an indigenous Malaysian workforce,” says Manju Senapaty, ADB project economist.
“There was a pressing need to upgrade the technical knowledge and skill level of the work force to support the country’s transition from an assembly-based manufacturing economy to a knowledge-based one.”
PRACTICAL APPLICATION Raising the output of Malaysia’s technical workers
As such, Malaysia’s Technical Education Department proposed a quantitative and qualitative expansion of the country’s secondary technical schools (STS) and secondary vocational schools (SVS) system.
In line with government efforts to address the shortage of skilled workers and engineers, ADB approved a $72 million Technical and Vocational Education Project in 1995, which was successfully completed in 2002.
“Secondary technical vocational schools are major stepping-stones in the education of both technically qualified workers and entrants to higher technical programs at polytechnics and universities,” says Ms. Senapaty.
The project established eight new STSs, which were handed over to the Ministry of Education before project completion, and upgraded nine existing STSs and 31 SVSs. It also provided buildings, equipment, and staff development for the Technical Teachers Training College, which is responsible for training technical and vocational teachers for secondary level programs.
Career guidance, industrial liaison, and placement units were set up under the project in 86 STS/SVSs. A counselor, who liaised with local employers, maintained a database on career and job opportunities and arranged industrial visits and in-plant training for staff.
“The main objectives of improving the quality of technical and vocational education and raising the output of professional, technical, and skilled workers were achieved,” says Ms. Senapaty. “Employers expressed satisfaction with the standards of knowledge and skills displayed by STS/SVS graduates.”
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