Mohamed Khaled (centre) handing over the appointment certificate to Zaiton during a ceremony in Johor Baru.
THE Higher Education Ministry has appointed advisory committee chairmen for all community colleges in Johor in an effort to advance the government’s lifelong learning agenda.
Its minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said out of 105 community colleges in the country, 13 are in Johor.
“Community colleges provide the general public access to lifelong learning based on their needs.
“The 13 advisory committee chairmen will help find out the types of education that the communities living around their colleges need,” he said in his speech at the appointment ceremony in a Johor Baru hotel.
The ministry is also working with Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) to provide training to community college lecturers so that they can share their knowledge with the public.
“We are looking at the possibility of introducing reskilling and upskilling programmes which will benefit the public.
“All community colleges will also be given a one-off RM20,000 allocation to conduct teaching and learning programmes for the public.
Noor Azleen hopes to introduce courses for small businesses at Kolej Komuniti Pasir Gudang.
“It can vary from makeup, hairstyling, marketing and promotional skills or even mushroom farming so that more people from the B40 group can supplement their income,” he said.
Johor Society of the Deaf patron Zaiton Ismail, who has been appointed advisory committee chairman of Kolej Komuniti Muar, hoped to get more deaf and hearing impaired persons enrolled in courses there.
“Many are struggling every day to make ends meet, so I hope that with the certification and skills, they can increase their income,” she said.
Kolej Komuniti Pasir Gudang advisory committee chairman Noor Azleen Ambros said that he planned to introduce more branding, marketing and online promotion courses for small business owners in his area.
“Pasir Gudang is a city, so the needs of the community are more towards digitalisation and how they can expand their business online,” he said.
