HRD Corp now central agency for human capital development programmes

 

The Human Resource Development Corporation (HRD Corp) will function as the central agency for all human capital development programmes, said Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

This is in line with the rebranding of the agency under the Human Resource Ministry, he added.

The prime minister said the government will also place all upskilling and reskilling training programmes under the ministry, to be managed by HRD Corp to avoid duplication.

“This effort will be realised through an integrated platform or ‘single window’ for Malaysians to search and apply for skills development programmes offered by the government.

"This integrated platform will be accessed by more than one million Malaysians next year,” he said when launching the new branding of HRD Corp and the Upskill Malaysia one-stop in Kuala Lumpur.

Ismail Sabri (above) said 5,000 courses will be offered by various ministries and government agencies with government financing for the benefit of 220,000 participants expected to sign up.

The prime minister is confident that HRD Corp, previously known as the Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF), can help Malaysia become a high-income nation based on the digital economy, through the development of the Malaysian Family.

“This is in line with the aspiration of the government as enshrined in the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP), based on the Shared Prosperity Vision 2030,” he added.

Ismail Sabri said the two main components of 12MP, namely Economic Empowerment and Social Engineering, require initiatives that create job opportunities and skills training for all strata of society.

He hoped HRD Corp can bring great benefits to the country for the long term, consistent with the agency’s mission to enhance the standard of living of Malaysians through life-long learning and to fulfil future job requirements.

“It is my hope that HRD Corp will continue to support human capital development efforts through more skills training, upskilling, and reskilling programmes which will bring benefit to Keluarga Malaysia,” he added.

Ismail Sabri said since its establishment in 1993, HRD Corp played a significant role in developing highly skilled workers through various training schemes and boosting productivity in the country’s industrial sector.

He said the agency’s role had become more important in the past 18 months when it introduced various programmes to protect existing jobs and create new opportunities for Malaysians.

“These include skills training and income-generating programme Penjana HRDF which was introduced in June 2020 and has helped almost 100,000 participants through five main schemes: Place & Train, B40 Development, Gerak Insan Gemilang (GIG), Industrial Revolution 4.0, and SME Development,” he added.

HRD Corp also introduced a free online training hub e-LATiH, which now has 154,000 registered students and an enrolment of 400,000 in more than 400 training courses.

Ismail Sabri said HRD Corp continued to strengthen its main function of collecting levies and distributing funds for skills training programmes by registered employers.

He said almost RM420 million was distributed last year for skills training programmes involving more than 416,000 workers.

He said levy collection this year was expected to hit RM680 million, and part of it had been used to train 500,000 workers, in line with the extension of the PSMB Act 2001 which resulted in employers registered with the agency increasing from 33,000 to 65,400.

HRD Corp Board of Directors chairperson Jamil Salleh

“This number shows an increase of more than 96 percent involving almost four million workers in a period of one year,” he said.

The prime minister is confident that HRD Corp can make training management more systematic and focus on the current needs of industry players.

Also present at the launch event were Human Resource Minister M Saravanan and HRD Corp Board of Directors chairperson Jamil Salleh.

In his speech, Saravanan said the government targets to train 220,000 Malaysians by 2022 through the portal which now offers more than 200 programmes in 35 fields of expertise.

He said HRD Corp will continue to implement initiatives throughout the recovery phase of the national economy to enhance the capability of Malaysia’s human capital.

"These include online shopping platform Jana'Preneur and the skills training programme for placement of former convicts, Second Chances and Opportunities for People to Excel (Scope), and the introduction of reforms to the National Human Resource Centre (NHRC), which will play an important role as a 'think tank' at the national level.

"This rebranding also sees the expansion of the act, which now covers 18 main sectors and 238 industries, to increase training opportunities to more than 6.1 million workers in a few years’ time,” he added.

Saravanan said the rebranding showed the commitment and new direction of the agency as the primary custodian of skills and human capital development for Malaysians.

- Bernama