Malaysia’s Human Resources Ministry and the Human Resource Development Corporation today announced two key initiatives aimed at expanding and strengthening access to training and development of the Malaysian workforce and talents. The Memorandum of Understanding with 13 local and international learning and development partners will add access to more courses through e-LATiH and enhancements to the ALAT levy scheme that will enable employers to increase their claims for upgrading their training facilities.
The 13 participating partners are Microsoft, LinkedIn, Skillsoft, Harvard Business School Publishing, Go1, Asia e University, Udacity, FutureLearn, Alibaba Cloud, Google Cloud Partner, Accenture, Rosen, and the AirAsia Academy. The ceremony was witnessed by Human Resources Minister Steven Sim.
Sim, at the same event, also announced an enhancement to HRD Corp’s Alat scheme, which will increase the allowable financial assistance to a maximum of 50 per cent of the levy balance as of Jan 1 in the year the application is submitted. “Alat is a scheme that allows employers to utilise their levy to fund the purchase of training aids or setting up, renovating and enhancing training rooms which aimed at encouraging employers to carry out their own in-house training and skills development programmes. “Previously, the allowable financial assistance was only up to 30 per cent. With the change, employers will also be able to place equipment or renovate training rooms in industry training locations.”
The first-of-its-kind collaboration will enable HRD Corp to add access to 160,000 new courses through its online learning platform e-LATiH. Currently, the platform offers close to 2,000 free courses and premium courses covering a wide range of skills areas that include leadership and management, critical thinking, digital marketing, manufacturing and automation, engineering, financial services and technologies, among others. Beyond the numbers, the collaboration will also enable HRD Corp to offer in-demand courses in critical areas such as leadership and management courses developed by the and certification courses such as Google Data Analytics, Microsoft Cybersecurity Analyst, Meta Database Engineer, and IBM Data Science. e-LATiH will also offer highly niche and specialised technical certification courses in oil and gas covering pipeline integrity, operations, inspection and risks. Apart from bringing world-class digital learning content to the Malaysian industry, the MoU also paves the way for broader collaborative efforts between HRD Corp and the 13 partners. Since its launch in February 2021, e-LATiH has grown into one of Malaysia’s most preferred e-learning platforms. Today, the platform boasts over 401,000 registered users, and 1.22 million enrolments.
