| Danial Norjidi |
OVER 7,000 job vacancies currently exist in the country for Bruneians to take up, Pehin Datu Singamanteri Colonel (Rtd) Dato Seri Setia (Dr) Awang Haji Mohammad Yasmin bin Haji Umar, Minister of Energy and Industry at the Prime Minister’s Office revealed yesterday.
“These are jobs that we think Bruneians can do. These are skilled jobs, and jobs that you can do after three months or six months of training…. Then, you will be competent to the required industry standards to do jobs out there,” Pehin Datu Singamanteri Colonel (Rtd) Dato Seri Setia (Dr) Awang Haji Mohammad Yasmin said in an interview with the Bulletin on the sidelines of the launching of the five-day Market Day organised by the Centre for Capacity Building under the Energy and Industry Department at the Prime Minister’s Office (EIDPMO).
“There are a lot of job vacancies out there, and a lot of Bruneians do not know that they exist. So what we intend to do with the Market Day is to market those jobs to Bruneians,” the minister explained.
“Even now, if you look at it, there are over 7,000 job vacancies. That’s after subtracting the vacancies for hard labour; we have not included hard labour.”
These skilled jobs, the minister said, only require three to six months of training. “While doing these (training) courses, they will have a pre-conditional offer of employment and they will have allowances,” he added.
The Market Day opened to the public yesterday, inviting interested locals to attend and learn about various training programmes and associated job vacancies.
The Centre for Capacity Building is located at the former Pengiran Anak Puteri Hajah Masna Secondary School building at Jalan 10, RPN Lambak Kanan BC2315.
The Market Day being held at the auditorium of the building, will take place every day until July 30, 2017, from 9am to 5pm, except Friday when it will be closed from noon to 2pm for Friday prayers.
The main objective of the Centre for Capacity Building is to ensure local jobseekers are more employable by offering training programmes that are driven by industry demand and certified by industry standards.
The centre’s programmes also include reskilling and upskilling courses so that trainees can obtain the competencies required by the industry and improve their employability for various jobs in the private sector.
Yesterday’s event was also attended by Pehin Orang Kaya Laila Setia Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Abdul Rahman bin Haji Ibrahim, Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of Finance II; Pengiran Dato Seri Paduka Haji Bahrom bin Pengiran Haji Bahar, Acting Minister of Education; Dato Seri Paduka Awang Haji Mohamad Roselan bin Haji Mohamad Daud, Deputy Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office; and Dato Seri Paduka Awang Haji Hisham bin Haji Mohd Hanifah, Deputy Minister of Finance, as well as permanent secretaries and deputy permanent secretaries from different ministries, who also toured the exhibition.
They also watched the live demonstrations of the 13 programmes available and spoke to role models and locals who are already working in the industry.
During the Market Day, locals can learn about various training programmes offered by the Centre for Capacity Building, including through live job demonstrations and interactions with qualified industry personnel to gain insights into various job positions.
Visitors are given the opportunity to learn about the 13 programmes for the positions: welder; scaffolder; rigger; heavy vehicle driver; blaster painter; instrument mechanic; steel worker; electrical mechanic; mechanical fitter; wood worker; mason/plasterer; insulator; and marker fitter/riveter.
In the auditorium, booths have been set up highlighting each programme and position.
At each booth, information is provided on the respective position, the recruitment criteria for the respective programme, training duration as well as the career pathway. Equipment and apparatus relevant to each position are also on display at the booths.
Qualified industry personnel are stationed at the booths to speak with visitors and answer questions.
Those interested may register into the programme(s) of choice while they are at the Market Day event.
Upon successful admission, trainees will be given a Conditional Offer of Employment (COE) with companies in the private sector and depending on the programme, they will undergo training for three to six months.
The first intake for the Centre’s programme is expected to start in September 2017, with the following courses on offer from September 2017: scaffolder; rigger; heavy vehicle driver; blaster painter; steel worker; wood worker; mason/plasterer; insulator; and marker fitter/riveter. The remaining courses are expected to start from December 2017.
In the interview, the Minister of Energy and Industry at the Prime Minister’s Office shared that the target for the first year is for 1,488 people to enrol for courses at the Centre for Capacity Building. For the following year, the target is for 2,840 enrolments.
The minister also highlighted that the industry and private sector is very much involved, noting that the framework is driven by the private sector, and that all the registered training organisations (RTOs) are from the industry, from the private sector.
Asked if he had a message for jobseekers and potential visitors, he said, “There are a lot of jobs and there are a lot of opportunities. It’s up to you now. We are here to give you skills in order to do all these jobs, so you must take this opportunity.
“This is what I want you to remember, and this is what I want our youths to remember. We give you the opportunity, and we train you for that opportunity,” he said. “It will be a loss if you don’t take it.”
The response from the public during the first day of the Market Day was positive, with large numbers seen visiting the event, speaking with industry personnel to learn more about the various positions and programmes as well as registering to participate in the programmes.
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