SHAH ALAM, Sept 1 – The Selangor government is to make available a skills training programme for youths in urban fringes and rural areas to enable them secure jobs with salaries to match their qualifications.

Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim said the programme would be fully funded by the state government.

Among the courses to be offered were nursing, hairstyling and sewing, the details of which would be announced after the Aidilfitri, he said in a statement.

He said members of the village development and security committees and youth motivators would act as the agents to identify the youths for the training.

The youths would undergo short-term training at centres owned by the state government, such as the INPENS International College and the Selangor International Islamic University College.

“Most of the lower-rung technical jobs are taken up by foreigners who don’t mind the lower pay. Therefore, we need to give local youths an added advantage by improving their skills so that they are more highly skilled than the foreign workers,” he said. – Bernama