THE Penang Youth Development Corporation (PYDC) today exchanged the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with five different educational institutions to further strengthen, promote and sharpen soft as well as technical skills among the youths.
The five institutions are the Penang Skills Development Centre (PSDC), UOW Malaysia KDU Penang University College, Tunku Abdul Rahman University College (TARUC PG), Han Chiang University College of Communication and SEGi College Penang.
State Youth and Sports Committee chairman Soon Lip Chee said the partnership with the five institutions is expected to further educate the younger generation on the importance to excel and sharpen soft and technical skills – two areas that are increasingly becoming important in today’s era.
“The state government, through PYDC, has always been committed to assisting the young people to achieve the collective vision of shaping the state as a developed and progressive society.
“It is such a wonderful event to witness on a Sunday morning, and my sincere thanks to all the five institutions for coming forward and making this initiative a reality.
“In order to position Penang’s youth competitively in the global map, we will continue to work together with more educational institutions in the state to continuously provide quality education and opportunities for our younger generation,” Soon said during the MoU signing ceremony at PSDC in Bayan Lepas today.
Soon also added that Universiti Sains Malaysia officially became the first institution to enter an MoU with PYDC last year, with a similar goal to the ones exchanged today with the five institutions.
“In order to make great impacts on the lives of young people, one way is to reach out through institutions. Hence, through this three-year partnership exchanged today, we hope that all the institutions will show their support,” he added.
UOW Malaysia KDU Penang University College vice-chancellor Prof Dr Chong Beng Keok said the partnership of such nature is crucial in shaping the youths in the society to flourish in this era of digitalisation.
“Challenges in various forms, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic made its entry over a year ago, have crippled many sectors across the globe, and the young people have greatly suffered nothing less than the other groups of people.
“I am glad and truly excited for this collaboration that will see many initiatives flow in from PYDC and other participating institutions for the benefit of the students,” Chong said during her speech after signing the MoU.
Meanwhile SEGi College principal Cheah Teong Keat, who was present on behalf of the college to witness the ceremony, expressed the dire need for students to move in line with the developments that the world is experiencing in the area of digitalisation.
“We are living in an era where technology has become a tool to enable employment. Skill sets are what employers want.
“We can no longer equip our students with just academic knowledge, but it can instead be used as a foundation to climb for greater success,” he added.
Story and pix by Kevin Vimal