Friday February 18, 2011
PUTRAJAYA: The Government has allocated RM40mil for training under the 1Malaysia Skills Development Programme, said Human Resource Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam.
The money would be given to skills training institutes nationwide to organise courses and training to benefit employees.
Dr Subramaniam said the allocation would be used to subsidise courses to be held on weekends or at night to make it easier for those working to attend.
Dr Subramaniam said the Government had also decided to contribute another RM40mil to a skills training fund under the Human Resource Development Corporation.
Money for the fund is collected from the retraining levy imposed on employers in selected industries.
Dr Subramaniam said the fund served as an incentive for companies to provide training or skills upgrade to the staff.
“Companies can organise their own courses where we will reimburse them, or they can send their employees to the institutes and we will pay the latter,” he said.
Asked if employers were keen to send employees for training or retraining, Dr Subramaniam said he expected most to be receptive as it was a necessary component in attracting investors.
“A highly-skilled workforce and a high level of productivity are the two things investors always ask for,” he said.