PETALING JAYA, Sept 23- Youth associations should be more active in identifying skills possessed by youths, said Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports, Datuk M Saravanan.
The responsibility to develop the potential of youths should not be left solely to government agencies but shouldered by all quarters, including non-governmental organisations (NGO).
Citing the the Malaysian Skills Certificate (SKM) as example, he said youth associations should inform youths about the benefits of attaining SKM certificates.
“Despite overwhelming response, we still need help from the Registrar of Youth Associations to identify youths with potential,” he said after presenting SKM certificates to 100 participants of 1Malaysia Skilled Youth Programme (PBM1M) via the Recognition of Prior Achievement (APA) here Sunday.
PBM1M is a ministry effort towards mainstreaming youth skills via a single certification to achieve 33 percent skilled manpower by 2020 compared to 28 percent presently.
Since its inception in 2010, the ministry had received 5,900 applications and 3,158 youths had attained SKM certificates in automotive, hospitality, spa and beauty.
-BERNAMA
