Creating IT Jobs in Malaysia

Human capital will be the key driver of growth in the knowledge-based
economy and will determine the competitive position of the nation. The successful
development of the knowledge-based economy will, therefore, largely depend
on the quality of the education and training system. The institutional framework
to ensure an adequate supply of appropriately qualified and skilled manpower
and to continuously retrain them, will be put in place.

The education system from pre-school to tertiary level will be reviewed
to enable it to meet the manpower requirements of the knowledge-based economy.
The key areas that will be reviewed include the curriculum, teaching methods,
enrolment at the tertiary level and the quality of the teaching profession. The
curriculum will emphasize the teaching of core competencies and will be in line
with changing manpower requirements. Vocational and technical education and
training will be given greater prominence and will be refocused to produce the
skills required by the knowledge-based economy. In addition, teaching methods
will be transformed to promote creativity, originality, innovation as well as
thinking and analytical skills. The use of IT as a tool for teaching and learning
will be made more pervasive.

Concerted efforts will be taken to increase enrolment at the tertiary level,particularly for science and technical courses. Public and private tertiary institutionswill need to become more market-driven and proactive by moving beyond traditional
areas to new fields of education required by a maturing knowledge-based economy.
They will be required to enhance the standard of education and produce highly
employable manpower. The quality of the teaching profession will also be improved
by attracting better qualified people into the teaching profession, undertaking a
programme of continuous training, and reviewing their scheme of service in
terms of remuneration and promotion opportunities.

A system of life-long learning will be promoted to ensure that workers
can continuously upgrade their skills and knowledge in order to remain relevant
in the environment of rapidly changing technology and work processes as well
as to nurture a learning society. Both the public and private sectors will be
encouraged to set up the necessary infrastructure to facilitate life-long learning.
In this regard, educational institutions will be required to introduce flexible
learning approaches in terms of duration of course, entry requirements and mode
of teaching as well as ensure affordability. Community colleges and resource
centres will be set up to increase accessibility to acquire and disseminate knowledge.
Firms and industries will be encouraged to provide incentives to their employees
to relearn and continuously upgrade their skills. Towards this end, financial
institutions will be encouraged to provide low interest loans to those interested
in upgrading their skills.

To meet the immediate manpower needs of the knowledge-based economy,
the Government will review on-going initiatives and undertake a coordinated
brain-gain programme to attract qualified Malaysians working abroad as well as
highly skilled foreigners. Among others, the programme will seek outstanding
Malaysian students, quality Malaysian technopreneurs and highly skilled personnel
from abroad as well as liberalize conditions for their recruitment. Appropriate
steps will also be taken to ensure that those who set up their operations in
Malaysia prior to this programme are not disadvantaged