Turkiye-bound: Sky Global apprenticeship programme selected students (from left) Eric Chuah Chung Lin, Lee Kah Chun, Khisho Nathan, Nur Amirah Mokhzani Aris, Nadhratul Naim Sohpian, Muhammad Wazir Shahul Hameed and Yoon sharing a light moment after receiving their offer letters. — IZZRAFIQ ALIAS/The Star
FOR students to gain a global perspective, it is crucial that we prepare them to tackle broader industry challenges, says Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir.
“Global apprenticeship programmes are effective in broadening our students’ horizons and in exposing them to a more comprehensive, international view of the industry they are interested in.
“While students can learn a lot about their specific field through academic study, they often spend too much time on campus when practical learning happens out in the real world,” he said during the handover ceremony of the Sky Global apprenticeship programme offer letters in Cyberjaya on July 16.
The programme in Ankara, Turkiye, is a high-impact initiative undertaken through collaboration between the Consortium of Malaysian Universities (CMU), the Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT), and Turkish Aerospace Malaysia (Tusas), to help develop Malaysian students’ engineering skills through international work experience, thus enhancing their employability in the aerospace industry.
The five- to six-week programme is designed to provide participants with professional training in various disciplines of aerospace engineering while also offering practical experience in rapidly growing sectors such as avionics, electronic design, programming, aircraft structural design and aircraft system assembly.
Tusas chief executive officer Mohd Shahiman Sulaiman said this year’s programme saw seven participating countries with 70 spots offered, 30 of which were reserved for Malaysians.
“This is a substantial allocation. Twenty Malaysians from 10 public universities have been selected to participate in this programme. We will be selecting the rest soon,” he said, adding that the first batch of students began their training last month and the second batch will start in September.
Student Faith Yoon Zheng Qian, 23, said she was “thrilled” to be selected for the apprenticeship programme.
“I look forward to gaining invaluable experience while exploring a new culture. I was initially unsure that I would even be considered but my hard work has paid off,” she said, adding that only students who obtained a minimum cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of 3.00 and above were eligible to apply.
The final-year mechatronic engineering student from Universiti Malaysia Perlis said she was relieved when the minister announced that students selected for the programme would not have to pay for the flight fare.
Sharing similar sentiments, Khisho Nathan Pathma Nathan, 21, said he was prepared to use his savings to cover the flight costs so that he could be a part of the programme, “which offers practical skills and technical expertise that are important in the engineering industry”.
“Thanks to the minister, our universities will cover our costs,” said the second-year aerospace engineering student from Universiti Putra Malaysia.
Adding on, Zambry said the ministry is working on more initiatives that will allow students to gain knowledge and experience both on and off campus.
Citing 2u2i as an example, he said the academic programme launched in 2016 involves two years of campus learning followed by two years in the industry.
“This programme is important as it gives our students real-world experiences through closer collaboration with industry players and mutual exchanges with other countries.
“I have also discussed how we can provide more opportunities, such as the Sky Global apprenticeship programme, for students nationwide to gain similar exposure across various industries,” he added.
