| Danial Norjidi |
THE Minister of Energy and Industry, YB Dato Paduka Dr Awang Haji Mat Suny bin Haji Mohd Hussein responded to questions regarding unemployment yesterday at the Legislative Council (LegCo) Meeting.
In his response, the minister said that major initiatives undertaken by the Energy and Industry Department with relevant agencies to address the current issue of unemployment include: the carrying out of JobCentre Brunei, programmes that focus on non-graduates such as the Capacity Building Centre and the Industry Competency Framework, as well as programmes that focus on the graduate level and above such as the i-Ready Apprenticeship Programme.
He noted that the impact will be clearer and more accurate with unemployment rate information from the Labour Force Survey for the year 2017 which is currently being implemented by the Department of Economic Planning and Development (JPKE).
“Insya Allah, it will be released this year. However, the Energy and Industry Department is currently monitoring the number of local jobseekers registered at JobCentre Brunei.”
The minister shared some trends that have been seen, noting that under the i-Ready Apprenticeship Programme, since April 2017 the number of local jobseekers with a Bachelor’s Degree registered in JobCentre Brunei has dropped from 2,329 in April 2017 to 1,700 people as of February 15, 2018 – a reduction of 27 per cent within that time period.
“As of 22 February 2018, there are 1,263 graduates who are actively involved in the programme. A total of 146 apprentices have been successful in obtaining permanent jobs in the government, private sector, and statutory boards.”
Responding to a question about the number of i-Ready apprentices in the field of agriculture, he shared that there are 18 graduates working with five agricultural companies, namely: four people at Madgrow Tech; eight people at Golden Corporation; two people at Golden Abbatoirs; two people at RZ Prisma; and two people at QAF Farm.
He shared that five graduates with agricultural qualifications are now participating in the i-Ready programme. One holds a position outside of agriculture and is currently undergoing upskilling through on-the-job training, while four graduates work in agriculture.
At present, there are seven vacancies under the i-Ready programme in agriculture, of which three are related to agricultural work.
“The number of local jobseekers with qualifications of lower secondary and below registered at JobCentre Brunei decreased from 5,298 in April 2017 to 4,813 in December 2017, a decrease of nine per cent.”
The minister noted that, among the factors contributing to this decrease are the entry of local jobseekers to participate in the Industry Competency Framework (ICF) programme, a collaborative effort programme between the Energy and Industry Department and the Ministry of Education (MoE) in consultation with the industry to produce skilled workers according to industry requirements.
As for local jobseekers with Technical and Vocational Education and Training(TVET) qualifications, he said that the number of local jobseekers with TVET qualifications registered at JobCentre Brunei has also dropped from 3,665 in April 2017 to 2,996 in December 2017 – a decrease of 18 per cent.
“Among the causes of this decrease is the establishment of the Centre for Capacity Building (PPK) in September 2017 aimed at reskilling and upskilling of local jobseekers in accordance with industry requirements and recognised by industries in various occupations in the private sector, including foreign direct investment companies.”
He said that, to date, 619 trainees have completed courses at the PPK and 616 of them have begun employment at Pulau Muara Besar since January 2018.
Responding to a question about other ongoing and planned strategies to tackle unemployment, the minister said the Energy and Industry Department is focussing on three areas together with government agencies related to human capacity development.
“First, job creation and job vacancies at the level of PMETs (Professionals, Managerial, Executives and Technical) by local workers. In 2017, a total of 2,285 posts at the PMETs level were filled, representing 45 per cent of the total of 5,110 PMETs postings advertised through JobCentre Brunei,” he said,
“The steps to be taken to implement this initiative include the planning of replacement of foreign workers for positions at PMETs levels through the process of foreign workers licence screening (LPA) and building talent profiles at the PMETs level.”
In addition, he said that the Energy and Industry Department will continue to work with the MoE through the Higher Education Institutions Action Group to create matching of demand and supplies among graduates and researching re-education curriculum so that it is according to industry needs.
Second is to develop the spirit of entrepreneurship, as entrepreneurship plays an important role to generate employment opportunities for the public and to further inculcate the spirit of self-reliance and not depending on the government.
The minister highlighted that this entrepreneurial spirit needs to be nurtured at various levels by involving several agencies including DARe (Darussalam Enterprise), educational institutions and the private sector.
Third is the mindset and endurance particularly among youths looking for employment. “The perceptions among some companies towards local jobseekers is that they have a lack of preparedness and endurance, with issues such as quitting without notice, absenteeism and other disciplinary problems,” he said.
“This results in a high dependency on foreign workers especially in sectors such as construction; hospitality and wholesale and retail trade; as well as repair of vehicles and motorcycles.
“The efforts associated with cultivating these necessary values and spirit involve research and collaboration among all stakeholders and the public in order to increase their effectiveness in addressing the issue of unemployment in this country,” he added.