An academia industry training program to booststudents’ employability to fit the national digital economy agenda
Kuala Lumpur, 24thMay: The Ministry of Higher Education and Huawei Malaysia certify 240 local graduates as skilled technicians in their Graduate Employability(GE) program,announced at the program’s closing ceremony today. Todate, 94% out of 163 ready-to-work participants have become employed ordecided to pursue their further study. As recognition to Huawei’s contribution tothe Malaysia’s ICT talent development, Ministry of Higher Education presented Huawei a Best Strategic Partner for Talent Development award.
Huawei receiving Best Strategic Partner for Talent Development award from MoHE
The ceremony today was attended by Datuk Dr. Mary Yap Kain Ching, Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Huawei Technologies Malaysia’s CEO, Abraham Liu. GE program is one of the Ministry of Higher Education programs intending to enhance the industry-academia collaboration. Aspart of the program, the graduates were awarded the Huawei Certified Entry Networking Technician (HCENT), an internationally recognised entry level certification of fixed broadband network skills.
Over the course of 5 days with twelve training sessions, the program equipped local graduates with industry-relevant practical knowledge and skills possessed primarily for the development and implementation of Fixed Broadband Backbone (FBB).This includes demonstration of knowledge and familiarity with FBB architecture, installation, maintenance, network design, deployment technology and operational skills. These trainees also had the opportunity to participatein a soft-skill session which involved the role play of customer management.
Deputy Minister of Higher Education Datuk Dr. Mary Yap Kain Ching delivering her speech
“Our steps in education need to be tandem with disruptive technologies. Our Malaysian youth need to learn and acquire technology skills in order to be valuable and relevant for workforce. Our training program with Huawei, equips the youth with hands-on skills which are very relevant to the job scope requirements. The needs of the workforce are ever-changing and it is important that we see to it, that the youth are given the wisdom and tools to meet these demands. We close in on the gap between the mismatch of supply and demand in the workforce. We partner with ICT giants like Huawei because they are experts in the ICT industry and are committed to helping the nation boost our ICT economy working towards achieving a knowledge-based and innovation-driven economy,” said Datuk Dr. Mary Yap Kain Ching, Deputy Minister of Higher Education.
According to a report from Point Topic, an international research agency, by the year 2020, at least 100 million people are estimated to sign up for gigabit-level fixed broadband access services and 70% of this growth will come from the APAC region. As a leading global ICT solutions provider, Huawei understands the urgent need to develop more optical engineers and skilled technicians to avoid shortage of skilled expertise in line with this increasing demand.
Huawei Technologies Malaysia’s CEO Abraham Liu delivering his speech
“Huawei deeply believes in the value of education and the opportunities that come with it. In Malaysia, it is our aim to help local talent to align the ICT education with the real-life requirements of the ICT industry. We understand what it takes to create and build a better connected Malaysia through the power of education. Through our training and certification program, we are helping to shape a strong talent ecosystem to drive local ICT industry development, creating benefits for all,” shared Abraham Liu, Huawei Technologies Malaysia’s CEO.
Speaking on the program, Nurul Hidayah Binti Ishak, a 22 year old participant shared,“The training opened our minds to something we didn’t know was possible and it was an excellent training delivered by admirable trainers. They helped us at each and every step ensuring that we understand the topics and steps fully. It is something that students will never get to learn in the traditional classroom and I feel that this is the kind of training that will prepare students for the real work in the industry.”
“This program exposed me to hands on knowledge that I found really useful especially in my line of work today and it also prepared me for the challenges I might face in real work situations. I am also glad to say that I was immediately hired upon completion of the certification program by Huawei. I hope Huawei and the Ministry will continue their great work with the programand expand it further so that many more graduates such as myself can benefitand contribute to the industry!” shared, graduate student Muhammad Arif binIzahar, 22 year old.
Deputy Minister of Higher Education Datuk Dr. Mary Yap Kain Ching with the participants
The training program involved the participation of seven institutes of higher learning across the country which includes Universiti Tun Hussein Onn, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Politeknik Ungku Omar, Politeknik Seberang Prai, Politeknik Sultan Idris Shah, Politeknik Merlimau Melaka and PoliteknikTuanku Syed Sirajuddin.
At the event, witnessed by the Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Huawei Malaysia’s CEO, Huawei and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in an effort to promote collaborationin Health Technopolis, Digital Smart Campus and talent development between the two parties.
Huawei and UKM exchanging MoU