SUNGAI PETANI, 30 July – Recognising the crucial importance of engaging and nurturing young talents from an early stage, Talent Corporation Malaysia Berhad (TalentCorp) has reaffirmed its commitment to advancing the nation's talent development and sustainability strategies through the YES! Rock the School initiative. This pioneering cross-ministerial collaboration with the Ministry of Human Resources and Ministry of Education aims to benefit school children by empowering them with early career awareness and workplace knowledge.
At the launch ceremony of YES! Rock the School Mega Kedah 2023, YB Tuan V. Sivakumar, the Minister of Human Resources commended TalentCorp for its dedication and efforts to help school children make an informed decision about their future education and career choices.
"The importance of early awareness regarding jobs, career pathways, and the workplace cannot be overstated. Through proactive engagement with students in schools, we have a unique opportunity to build a solid foundation for their future success. Moreover, on a broader scale, we can effectively address future job mismatch and skills gap issues within the country's labour market," he said.
The YES! Rock the School initiative by TalentCorp piloted in end 2021. Since then, with the blessings of the Ministry of Education, TalentCorp has taken YES! Rock the School to 15 schools in 7 regions, with participation from over 2,000 students, teachers, and counsellors.
The inaugural Mega Edition of YES! Rock the School, organised in collaboration with the Kedah State Education Department, witnessed enthusiastic participation from 600 students representing 20 schools in the central and southern regions of the state.
In her address, YB Puan Fadhlina binti Sidek, the Minister of Education, highlighted the importance of introducing programmes such as TalentCorp’s YES! Rock the across all Malaysian schools, as they play a crucial role in instilling core values and fostering students' enthusiasm to pursue higher education beyond high school.
“Education, comprising formal education as well as insights and experience derived from real-world experiences and knowledge, empowers a person with ways to change their lives, to overcome difficulties, and contribute meaningfully to the progress of our country.
Collaborations such as these will provide our students the tools and wisdom to make important decisions when they are ready to leave school,” she said.
The whole-day programme for YES! Rock the School Mega Kedah 2023 includes sessions to introduce TalentCorp’s mynext Profiling Assessment to guide students on their individual preferences and employability factors, and Critical Occupations List to share about jobs in demand by employers. TalentCorp’s strategic partners including Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), Empathy for Youth and Monsters Among Us took the stage to share about Unplugged Computer Science, Developing Positive Self-Esteem, and Children’s Digital Safety and Protection.
TalentCorp’s Group CEO, Thomas Mathew said that the YES! Rock the School is one of the agency’s cross-ministerial collaborations in its mission to attract, nurture, and retain the best and the right talent to support Malaysia’s economic progress.
“We hope to expand YES! Rock the School to more schools throughout Malaysia. Intervention programmes like this should commence at an early stage, and with the backing of the government and our industry partners, we can effect positive change at the pivotal juncture of our young talents' development,” he said.
This content is provided by TalentCorp
