A total of 5,000 participants are undergoing training under the Professional Training and Education for Growing Entrepreneurs (Protege) -Ready To Work (RTW) to help increase the marketability of unemployed graduates.

Minister of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said through the RTW program, graduates were given training places between eight to 12 months at participating companies.

The companies include government-linked companies (GLCs), government procurement companies under the direction of the Government Procurement Treasury Circular (PP/ PK1.2) and private companies, he said.

According to him, Protege is a program that has been rebranded from the original program, namely the 1Malaysia Training Scheme (SL1M) program in September 2019.

"The original structure of the SL1M program is still maintained and improved with the introduction of training modules related to the basics of entrepreneurship," he said in a statement today.

Wan Junaidi said the implementation of the RTW program is now expanded through the collaboration of Bank Negara Malaysia and the Financial Industry Collective Outreach (FINCO) through the Graduate Program 2000.

"This initiative targets as many as 2,000 graduates a year to undergo placement training at 120 financial institutions from July 2020," he said.

The ministry welcomed the participation of more GLCs, state governments, private companies and others to achieve the government's agenda of reducing the unemployment rate, especially among graduates.

Apart from the RTW program, the ministry has also implemented the New Gen Entrepreneur Online Bootcamp (N-GENE) program in collaboration with CEDAR SME Bank this year.

"The N-GENE program aims to increase the marketability (of graduates) and develop online entrepreneurial skills and business guidance for nine months," he said.

He said other programs organised were Graduate Capacity and Employability Enhancement Program (GRACE), Agri-Coaching and Industry Development Program (ACID) and Reach Out, Awareness and Developmental Program (ROAD) which is a government initiative to increase marketability and entrepreneurship among graduates.

--BERNAMA