KUCHING: Sarawak is still assessing industry demand to determine the future talent needed as part of its free tertiary education initiatives.
Education, Innovation and Talent Development Minister Datuk Seri Roland Sagah Wee Inn said the state had yet to finalise exact numbers of human capital required for future projects.
He said projections were based on ongoing developments, particularly in Bintulu, where government-related gas and hydrogen projects were still under construction.
“The full picture is not available yet, which is why we are conducting a human resource survey to identify the talents needed.
“It is not easy, as some industries do not disclose what they want or the manpower required over the next few years.
“For now, we can only work with projections. The industry is still being built, the factory is still under construction. It is only a projection, not in production yet. Those are the areas we are looking at.”
Sagah said this at a press conference after representing Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg to officiate the opening of the Green Mobility Innovation Summit at Imperial Hotel here today.
He said the state had identified about 64 science-related courses to be covered under the free tuition scheme, but no exact number of graduates had been determined.
He explained the output of graduates would depend on the intake capacity of each university rather than on targets set by the government.
“We still need to gather data from universities on enrolments.
“These are very technical courses, so we cannot arbitrarily say 500 or 1,000 students; it depends entirely on the universities’ capacity.”
