There will be a shortage of graduates with Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) and Higher National Diploma qualifications if Brunei Darussalam is successful with planned foreign direct investment, said Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of Finance and Economy II Yang Berhormat Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Mohd Amin Liew bin Abdullah during the 20th session of the Legislative Council (LegCo) meeting yesterday.
The minister was responding to LegCo member Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Laila Setia Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Abdul Rahman bin Haji Ibrahim’s query on whether or not the local workforce has adequate numbers to meet the demands of future industries.
The minister said there is a lack of graduates with appropriate qualifications based on their statistics and planned economic development, including foreign direct investment.
“At the same time, there are some 1,800 school dropouts. We can increase their chances of getting jobs through skills acquisition in TVET. If we are successful in luring FDI in five years, we will be able to reduce unemployment,” the minister said.
Meanwhile, LegCo member Yang Berhormat Zainol bin Haji Mohamed noted that an unemployment rate of 5.2 per cent is quite high for a population of nearly half a million.
He also queried if the number also took into account underemployment and low-paying jobs.
The minister replied that the recent long-term unemployment rate is showing a decreasing trend, with 4.3 per cent in 2019 and 2.4 per cent in 2022.
Yang Berhormat Zainol also inquired about government strategies involving i-Ready workers once they have completed their programme.
The minister said the Manpower Planning and Employment Council is taking steps to ensure individuals do not go back to being unemployed after their I-Ready contracts finish. This includes tightening the selection of companies as well as ensuring apprentices have conditional offers of employment.
The minister said to date, 70 per cent of apprentices in the private sector have been offered employment by companies. – Azlan Othman
