SHAH ALAM: The Higher Education Ministry will allocate RM15mil to train 4,000 students in information and communication technology (ICT) this year.
Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed said there was a shortage of skilled workers in ICT, making it difficult to expand this sector.
"The sector is an area that is heavily emphasised by the Government as there is a very big gap between the demand and supply of these workers," he said after the 3P (Program Pentauliahan Profesional) certificate presentation ceremony at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) yesterday.
The ministry's first industry-based professional certification programme, 3P was set up in partnership with Prestariang Systems Sdn Bhd last year. It offers a wide range of IT professional certifications with multinationals such as Microsoft, Cisco Systems and Macromedia.
Yesterday, Mustapa presented certificates to the 15 top students out of the 1,000 trained last year under the programme. They are from UiTM, Universiti Malaya, International Islamic University Malaysia, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak and Universiti Sains Malaysia.
The minister added that his priority was to establish closer ties between universities and industries.
Microsoft Malaysia managing director Yasmin Mahmood said the students who had obtained certification from Microsoft had achieved a passing rate higher than the world average.
This showed, she added, that there was strong correlation between what Malaysian universities were providing and the industry.
"The basics are already there, so this programme can be seen as a form of 'finishing school', that last mile connecting them to industry," she said.
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