Dropping of 52 staff from a federal course will be probed, says PM

The government will look into the case of 52 government servants who were dropped from a course to become Administrative and Diplomatic Officers (PTD), Dr Mahathir Mohamad said.

The prime minister told reporters today that Putrajaya does not want anyone to fall victim from its efforts to cut the country's administration budget.

"We will look into this. We do not want anyone to be victimised in our efforts to cut down on our administration costs," Mahathir said in Shah Alam after launching the Pos Malaysia Uniformed Staff Union's (Upus) 21st congress this morning.

He was commenting on the case of 52 government servants who were unexpectedly dropped from a special postgraduate diploma course in Public Management (Special DPA) which was organised by the National Institute of Public Administration (Intan).

On Saturday, Malaysiakini in an exclusive report published the plight of the course participants who were dismissed by Intan and the Public Services Department (PSD) after the programme's passing grades were raised unexpectedly as the course was nearing its completion.

Those dropped included four contract officers who were said to have automatically lost their jobs with the decision.

In his speech, Mahathir also touched on the need for workforce unions to go beyond their traditional functions to ensure workers stayed relevant in the age of automation.

"The participation of workers in unions was always driven by three main factors namely for the economy, protection of their rights and putting their hopes on their unions to ensure that their welfare is not neglected.

"But in today's context, surely the functions of unions surpasses their traditional roles. This is because of the rapid changes in technology, automation, robotics and such which if not addressed will cause the workers to be left behind and be no longer relevant.

"Workforce unions must be capable of understanding the changes that are happening and play their role to ensure that workers are not left behind by technology and rapid development," he said.

Mahathir later elaborated to reporters that workers must increase their capabilities by learning how to manage and operate modern technology.

"This can be learnt and I am confident that if they can master the new working requirements so they can also increase their income," he said. -Mkini