A total 4,530 trainees from Sabah and 7,997 trainees from Sarawak, have been accepted to undergo the Human Resources Ministry’s reskilling and upskilling training programmes, in an effort to equip local employees with skills and knowledge that are relevant to industrial needs, the Dewan Negara was told today.

Its minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan said they were among the 250,337 trainees nationwide who had undergone the programme through the Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF), which acted as the 'single window' to manage the implementation of the programme, involving eight ministries and agencies.

Out of the total trainees who went for the training Sabah and Sarawak, he said 7,045 of them were from the service sector, while the others were from the manufacturing sector (5,321 trainees) and mining sector (161 trainees).

As for training providers, he said there were 260 with 90 of them from Sabah and 105 in Sarawak.

Saravanan was responding to a question from Senator Datuk Paul Igai on the programme and whether it is also implemented in Sabah and Sarawak.

For the programme under the National Economic Recovery Plan (PENJANA), HRDF, as of Aug 31 this year, has approved 36,138 trainee quota, with 410 for Sabah and 900 in Sarawak,

-- BERNAMA