Crucial for women to attend reskilling and upskilling courses
Published on: Wednesday, May 24, 2023
By: Anthea Peter
Tarsiah (seated, middle), Hazrullizam (seated, right) and the participants during the talk.
Kota Kinabalu: It is crucial for women to go for reskilling and upskilling courses and take on lifelong learning in order to close the gender gap, said Sabah Women Advisory Council (MPWS) Chairperson Datuk Dr Tarsiah Tz Taman.
With up-to-date skills and knowledge, she said women will increase their chances to involve themselves in decision-making levels.
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She added that in turn, this would help achieve the goal of having 30 per cent female representation in decision-making roles across the board.
As such, she encouraged women to commit to lifelong learning and take advantage of free training providers, such as the Human Resource Development Corporation’s (HRD Corp) “e-Latih” platform.
“Especially young women, please use these services at HRDC or any training providers to learn and increase one’s skill set,”
She told reporters after the “Inspirasi Wanita Madani” Lifelong Learning Inspirational Talk in conjunction with National Training Week at Hilton Hotel, here, Monday.
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The talk was jointly organised by MPWS and the Sabah Women Affairs Department (Jhewa), which was attended by 125 selected participants.
Three speakers were invited to share their life stories during the talk, namely Former High Court Judge Datuk Nurchaya Arshad, Sabah Health Department Senior Assistant Director (Primary Sector) Dr Fatimah Sabrina Moahmmad and Malaysia Institute of Architects Sabah Chapter member Ar Sharon Magdalene Amin.
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Tarsiah said the talk was aimed at inspiring the women participants to live to their fullest potential.
“I want the speakers to be a source of inspiration to all women out there, so that they may take the initiative to learn more and take on the latest skills.
“We do not want any hindrances in achieving the 30 per cent target. We want women to be given opportunities and the platform to fill up vacancies,” she said.
Meanwhile, HRD Corp Vice President Hazrullizam Idris, who was also present, said there was a need to shift the mentality on training programmes among employees in Sabah, as many perceive it to be a form of punishment.
He said this was different compared to other countries like Korea, where training programmes are welcomed by employees with a lot of enthusiasm.
He added it was targeted that RM65 million of Human Resources Development levies collected from employers would be used up by employers to send their employees for training, but only RM20 million was used up so far.
“It is underutilised and it is a pity,” he said, adding that 80 per cent of Human Resource personnel in Sabah, especially managers, are women.
“But the women are not utilising their power to send women for training. There is just the mentality that in Sabah, training is like a punishment, it means there’s something wrong with you.
“But HR women, please utilise your positions to promote your women. Because women are always doing the job but the men are going for the upskilling. At HRD Corp, we do not discriminate,” he said.
He added that the HRD Corp will soon introduce an e-Wallet aid programme, where RM200 will be credited to wallets of those in the B40 group and listed under e-Kasih for the use of enrolling themselves in upskilling programmes at their own pace.
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