Sagah: S’wak eyes 30 pct high-skilled workforce by 2030

KUCHING (July 9): The Sarawak government aims to develop a workforce with 30 per cent high-skilled workers by 2030, said Minister of Education, Innovation and Talent Development Dato Sri Roland Sagah Wee Inn.

He said programmes such as the Advanced Sustainable Technology International Conference (Astech) 2024, slated for Aug 5-6 later this year, will help achieve this goal, which is in line with the Post Covid-19 Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030.

“We have approximately six years to reach the nation’s ideal target set in the PCDS 2030, which aims to produce a workforce with 60 per cent high-skilled workers. However, for Sarawak, we realistically aim to achieve 30-40 per cent,” he said during opening ceremony for the Sarawak English Language Education Symposium (Seles) 2024 here today.

Sagah added this includes individuals with Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) as well as those in pure sciences.

“Targetting individuals with complete backgrounds and expertise in pure sciences might be challenging, so we are introducing various programmes to attract these students,” he said.

Regarding Astech 2024, Sagah said it would foster a dynamic environment for research and innovation and encourage participants to explore cutting-edge technologies in engineering, technology, science, TVET and education.

“In line with the principles of Industrial Revolution 4.0, workforce future-proofing and socio-economic sustainability, Astech 2024 Is set to advance in these crucial areas.

“It will be inspiring to see 170 research paper presentations from seven countries — Malaysia (138 research paper presentations) with a breakdown of 46 from Sarawak, 2 from Sabah and 90 from West Malaysia; Indonesia (26), India (1), Nigeria (1), Philippines (1) and Portugal (1).

“The conference will also feature town hall sessions, which will be attended by nearly 600 students and teachers from polytechnics and high schools around Kuching as well as community colleges, vocational colleges and both local and private universities around Sarawak,” he said.

Also present were his deputy ministers Datuk Dr Annuar Rapaee and Datuk Francis Harden Hollis and Polytechnic Kuching Sarawak director Samsudin Mohd Saleh.