Category: Literacy

— Malaysia has yet to decide to go ahead with COVID-19 vaccination exercise for children below 12 years old, says Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

“There has been no approval for paediatric vaccination yet in Malaysia or anywhere else. It’s still under review by regulatory agencies, whether it be Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or the National Health Control Authority (NHRA).

“Once there is enough data to support that it is safe to give out to children, then we will take that to the vaccination committee for consideration and for us to decide,” he told a news conference providing COVID-19 updates here today.

According to him, vaccine manufacturer Pfizer-BioNTech was in the midst of producing a COVID-19 vaccine for children, and it would have a different dosage from adults.

Khairy said with no approved vaccination for those 12 years old and below, vaccinating the adult population at school would be the best way to keep it safe for children who had not been vaccinated.

Khairy said the Heath Ministry was also considering making COVID-19 vaccination mandatory in order to address the issue among anti-vaxxers.

For the time being, however, he said the Government maintained its stance it was not going to legally mandate vaccines as mandatory.

“I’ve not come to the stage where I would recommend to the Cabinet a federal mandate but I’m not far from it either,” he said.

He added that a new policy on testing for COVID-19 would soon be implemented for those who refused to get vaccinated for non-medical reasons.

Under this policy, a person would need to test themselves with a COVID-19 test kit regularly to ensure they were free from the virus.

“Once we go into an endemic phase, whether you have been vaccinated or not, you need to test yourself quite regularly.

“Those who refused to get vaccinated will have a certain schedule or regime of testing that they would have to adhere to.

“Whether it is rapid test kits and if that (result) is positive, will be confirmed through a PCR test,” he said.

In line with this, Khairy said the government in today’s Cabinet meeting had agreed to set a ceiling price for the COVID-19 self-test kits.

He said the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi would make an announcement on the matter soon.

There are currently 11 brands of COVID-19 self-test kits that have been granted conditional approval by the Health Ministry for public use.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

— The findings from studies carried out by the Institute of Youth Research Malaysia (IYRES) 2020 and the Youth Data Hub, play a role in ensuring that the direction of the country’s youth is on the right track, said Deputy Youth and Sports Minister, Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal.

He said that these five findings are the Malaysian Youth Landscape; Malaysian Youth Index Perspective; Malaysian Sports Culture Trends during the COVID-19 Pandemic; the Inability of Youth to Compete in the Economic Sector; Upskilling and Reskilling Study for Better Employment Opportunities among Youth and National Youth Aspirations.

“Through these findings, Malaysia can formulate and plan the best formula in producing a future generation who are capable of governing the country with a strong identity, thus making Malaysia a developed and prosperous country in the future,” he said in a statement.

The findings were presented in a public dialogue session ‘Town Hall IYRES 2021’ online via Zoom webinar and Facebook Live @IYRESKBS today.

Themed “National Youth Landscape and Aspirations’, this second edition was organised by IYRES and Ministry of Youth and Sports (KBS), to serve as a platform for disseminating findings from studies conducted by Youth Data Hub and IYRES to stakeholders under youth development, to be used as input to design programmes or activities to meet current youth needs.

In addition, IYRES and KBS have also developed the Youth Data Hub to facilitate access to information among youth development stakeholders through a focused platform.

This data hub is the main information gateway that contains four systems, namely Statistics Hub (Ydata@IYRES system), Youth Profile Hub (National Youth Profile System), Monitoring Hub (e-MYInd system) and Analytics Hub (data science and data analytics system).

The public dialogue webinar session today, which boasted almost 400 participants, was also attended by IYRES chief executive officer, Dr P. Vellapandian; KBS deputy secretary-general (Strategy), Ramona Mohd Razali and KBS deputy secretary-general (Management), Abdullah Hasan.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

Being a volunteer at a vaccination centre (PPV) is likened to killing two birds with one stone for Siti Nurhikmah Razlan, because apart from helping to boost her confidence in front of strangers, the social service job gives her self-satisfaction.

Siti Nurhikmah, 23, is a person with disability (PwD). Visually impaired in one eye since birth, she said that the desire to serve in this COVID-19 pandemic situation caused her to always look out for opportunities at any PPV, before being informed that the PPV Dewan Jubli Perak Sultan Ahmad Shah, here, was looking for volunteers.

The eldest of two siblings, she is grateful to her father, Razlan Ramli, 46, and mother Diana Hussin, 44, for their support by allowing her the use of their car to get to the PPV, which is located about 20 kilometres from their house in Balok Perdana, here.

“Since childhood, my father has kept reminding me not to feel inferior to others. In fact, he often took me to welfare or community programmes related to his work in the navy, which may have served as training grounds for me to be more self-confident.

“Interest in volunteer work may also have arisen because I used to follow my father around a lot (on his work-related matters), making me realise that my lack (disability) is not an obstacle to anything you are passionate about,” she told Bernama when met on her first day of duty at the PPV, today.

Siti Nurhikmah, a Bachelor of Office System Management student at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) in Puncak Alam, Selangor, said that there are some people who have the habit of staring into her eyes. Uncomfortable as it may be, she dismisses their actions as just curiosity.

Talking more about her job as a volunteer, Siti Nurhikmah said she will work until September before undergoing industrial training to complete her study requirements. Among her roles at the PPV is to manage the registration of vaccine recipients and give out instructions (about the process).

According to her, meeting with various sections of the community at the PPV helps her to improve her communication skills, one of the main requirements when she enters the working world in her field later.

“Now I don’t have to attend lectures online because it’s almost the end of the semester but I just have to complete the assignments given by the lecturers, which I do in the evening as my daytime is spent at the PPV,” she added.

Siti Nurhikmah also hopes that more young people will become volunteers as a sign of participation in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) today conveyed its condolences to the families of two students, at the Kedah and Pahang branches, who died recently.

Nurul Natasya Ezreen Azemi, 22, was pursuing a diploma in Office Management and Technology, Faculty of Management and Business at UiTM Kedah branch, and Muhammad Adham Hazim Mohd Rizaini, 21, was pursuing a diploma in Civil Engineering, Faculty of Civil Engineering at Pahang branch.

UiTM Corporate Communications Department’s Public Relations, Media and Protocol, in a statement today, prayed that the families of the two students will be given strength and patience in facing this difficult time.

“May Allah shower blessings on their souls,” it said.

In the meantime, it also said that the university has always been involved in ensuring the students’ welfare and convenience would be met under the ODL (open distance learning) sessions.

“Students who require internet facilities and devices will be assisted and welcomed to stay at the college or rented accommodation near the campus,” it said.

For the aspect of assessment and evaluation, UiTM, through the Academic Affairs Division, and the lecturers involved, have given early notification regarding important dates of assignments to students at the beginning of the semester, under the study plan of each course.

Meanwhile, the UiTM’s Academic Affairs, under its ‘prihatin’ initiative, has already extended assessment and evaluation activities during the final evaluation week, until August.

“It is implemented through academic circular 11/2021, which has been issued and communicated to all students and lecturers on June 18, 2021,” it said.

At the same time, the Student Affairs Division and Counselling Unit, always caring and ready to assist students in providing advice and any assistance needed while undergoing ODL during the pandemic.

“Students are encouraged to discuss with the lecturers, academic advisors or the head of the programme to resolve any issues related to assessment and evaluation schedules,” the statement read.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

— A study needs to be done to identify and assess the benefits enjoyed by the people of Sabah, especially the communities living around the Crocker Range Biosphere Reserve (CRBR), said Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment Dr Jamili Nais.

CRBR is a conservation area listed in the Man and The Biosphere Programme (MAB) network of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) on June 12, 2014.

Jamili said the study was necessary to ensure that RBBC truly benefits the community in line with the goals and objectives of its recognition through the programme.

“If the benefits are less significant (to the community), it would be good for us to work together to formulate new action plans.

“This is to ensure that the benefits can also be enjoyed by the people in or around this biosphere reserve,” he said when launching a webinar in conjunction with the 7th Anniversary Programme of the Declaration of CRBR as a UNESCO MAB site here today.

The MAB is an inter-governmental scientific programme launched by UNESCO in 1971, and to date, there are 714 biosphere reserves in 129 countries including two in Malaysia, namely RBBC and Tasik Chini Biosphere Reserve in Pahang.

Also present was Sabah Parks (TTS) director Dr Maklarin Lakim.

Meanwhile, Maklarin, in his speech said TTS has been entrusted by the Sabah government as the guiding agency in the preservation and conservation of the 350,584-hectare CRBR, which covers nine district administrative areas, namely Kota Kinabalu, Penampang, Papar, Beaufort, Tuaran, Keningau, Tambunan, Ranau and Tenom.

“Sustainable management will promote conservation and development without negatively impacting the conservation of biodiversity and natural ecosystem services, especially to various biodiversity resources and clean water supply,” he said.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

— The Graduate Management Admission Council™ (GMAC™), a global association of leading graduate business schools, has released its annual 2021 Corporate Recruiters Survey.

The report found that corporate recruiters project a robust demand for business school graduates, with nine in 10 of them expecting it to increase or remain stable in the next five years, according to a statement.

In addition, a higher proportion of recruiters in 2021 (37 per cent) expect the demand to increase than that in the previous year (30 per cent), with more than half of the European recruiters (54 per cent) sharing such a view compared to their Asian (32 per cent) and American (34 per cent) counterparts.

Among the key findings, MBA salary and hiring are expected to return to pre-pandemic levels; technology sector embraces MBA graduates for hiring and promotion; and, perceptions of online programmes are mixed depending on region, sector.

In 2020, the projected MBA median salary reached an all-time high of US$115,000 before COVID-19 severely disrupted the global economy and caused it to drop down to $105,000, three months into the pandemic. (US$1 = RM4.155)

According to survey respondents, demand for MBA graduates by the technology industry is anticipated to increase by 10 percentage points in 2021 compared to pre-pandemic 2020. In fact, with 96 per cent of tech recruiters projecting to hire MBA graduates in 2021, the demand for MBA talents tops the previous three years.

In addition, online programmes have been gaining traction in recent years. According to GMAC data, 50 more online MBA programmes accepted GMAT scores in the testing year (TY) 2020 as compared to five years earlier in TY 2016.

GMAC has been conducting the Corporate Recruiter Survey on behalf of the graduate management education community since 2001.

This year’s survey was administered in partnership with the Association of MBAs (AMBA), the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD), MBA Career Services & Employer Alliance (MBA CSEA), and career services offices at participating graduate business schools worldwide.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency