Science, technology and innovation ministry secretary-general Siti Hamisah Tapsir said education and training must be tailored to suit future needs to achieve the policy goals of 4IR.
“When we look at the current model of talent development, we need to move towards high-skilled workers,” she said at a forum following the launch of the National Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) Policy today.
“That will require us to look at the skills we need and find a balance between ‘hands-on’ skills and fundamental knowledge.
“Yes, we need to look at hands-on skills, but the other area is RSE (researchers, scientists, engineers),” she said, noting that with 70% of high-skilled workers in the ‘hands-on’ category, Malaysia lacks the balance seen in developed countries like the UK and South Korea.
“We cannot have all workers in one basket. For example, we cannot only have hands-on skilled workers, we need thought leaders too,” she said.
Overall, Siti Hamisah said, the skill distribution in the Malaysian workforce is still too heavily geared towards semi-skilled workers, who make up 58%, with high-skilled workers making up only 30%.
“I think as a nation we should hit at least 45%. Some may not agree with me on that, but we need to aim high, even if we get to 40% by 2030 at least we are coming close to becoming a developed nation.”
This would be aided by graduate retention initiatives, she said, to ensure the country’s best talents do not move overseas to work.
“I look at (graduates moving overseas) as a positive indication, it means our talent is in high demand. Our challenge now is to retain them and make them stay and contribute to the nation,” she said, noting that some countries waived income tax payments for graduates in certain industries for the first five years of their career as an incentive to work locally.
Valluvan Veloo, manufacturing industry science and technology director of the Economic Planning Unit in the Prime Minister’s Department, said the 4IR Policy framework was to ensure that Malaysia is not left behind in the world economy.
He used examples such as Nokia and Kodak to illustrate the dangers of failure to adapt efficiently.
However, he said, adoption of technological principles also comes with potential issues like job losses, widening of the digital divide and trust issues with the public, which had been accounted for in the government’s blueprint.
“This policy will drive policy coherence and support the delivery of national interest, and provide guidelines to address risks from 4IR technology while preserving values and culture,” he said.