As soon as they pass the SPM exam, the school leavers feel at ease working and generating their own income through side jobs.
The fact that there are more job opportunities in the gig economy, which is currently a trend, also contributes to SPM graduates’ propensity to remain in the employment world.
However, the school leavers also need to be prepared with academic qualifications either from the professional certification level, diploma, and degree.
Therefore, there needs to be a balance in the development of the younger generation in furthering their education as well as engaging in the workforce or entrepreneurship.
Sistem Pesanan Kerjaya (SPEAK) was established by the Ministry of Education, Innovation and Talent Development (MEITD) Sarawak with the intention of reducing the incidence of school dropouts who miss the opportunities to further their education and skills training, as well as job opportunities, as a result of not or tardily receiving information.
SPEAK has been developed as a platform to disseminate information to school leavers concerned:
i) Job opportunities offered
ii) Institutions of higher learning and skill training provide opportunities for educationand skill training for further studies.
iii) Lists of agencies that offer educational financial assistance.
SPEAK is accessible to the public, targeting users among school leavers (Form 5 and Form 6) as well as Guru Bimbingan dan Kaunseling (GBK). The SPEAK system registration date is five years from the date they graduated from high school.
With the availability of mobile phones and computers with an internet connection, the target group can easily access this system for registration and further matters.
SPEAK utilizes the short message service (SMS) and e-mail for its information dissemination in order to avoid incidents of school leavers or graduates missing out on obtaining information regarding opportunities for further education opportunities and skills training.
Among the initiatives implemented by the MEITD to help target groups who are unaware of the existence of SPEAK is implementing a SPEAK Awareness Briefing session for secondary school students through roadshow programs/educational activities conducted by the ministry.
The GBK also helps in promoting the SPEAK system in the registration of students under their supervision by filling in information into Microsoft Excel (for areas without internet) and then uploading the information into the SPEAK system.
According to MEITD, the development of SPEAK is the efforts of the Sarawak State Government through MEITD in conjunction with SAINS and the Sarawak Civil Service Digitalisation Unit (SCSDU) and the system’s implementation cost RM 200,000.00.
Given that the difficulties that young people in Sarawak will confront in the future will be increasingly formidable and sophisticated, the MEITD’s SPEAK system is an active step in enhancing their capacities.
