THE Penang Youth Development Corporation (PYDC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with six higher learning institutions in Penang today to empower youths in the state and nation at large.
The six institutions were Peninsula College, DISTED College, Advanced Tertiary College, INTI College, IPK College, and MSU College Penang.
State Youth and Sports Committee chairman Soon Lip Chee, who witnessed the exchange of MoU, said the state government has always given emphasis on youth development.
“Since 2012, PYDC has been standing side-by-side with our young people to nurture them in various aspects, such as community engagement, youth employment, knowledge transfer and other related youth development initiatives.
“The Penang government, through PYDC, is committed to assisting our young people to achieve the collective vision of shaping the state of Penang as a developed and progressive society,’’ said Soon, who is also the PYDC chairman.
Soon said today’s youth must possess the hunger for knowledge and devotion for lifelong learning.
He added that pursuing a tertiary education does not mean that the individual is confined to acquiring knowledge in a particular field.
“It should be where you get the chance to learn and improve your soft skills. You get to be innovative, think creatively, work with a team and figure out the best solution to solve a problem.
“All those things require sophisticated thinking which will be helpful in your future employment. There is no end to education as the journey to learn and accumulate knowledge is borderless.
“In order to position Penang’s youth competitively in the global map, we look forward to working together with more education institutions in Penang to continuously provide quality education and opportunities for our young generation,’’ he said.
Soon also added that the collaboration would be instrumental in helping the youth to obtain internship opportunities as well as provide them with employment opportunities.
Meanwhile, PYDC general manager Dr Gwee Sai Ling said the PYDC shares the same mission and vision with all the six higher learning institutions that is to enhance youth’s compatibility, competency as well as their employability.
“We hope that we can add value to students’ learning experience as well as work together in shaping and developing our youth in terms of community engagement, outreach, volunteerism, education, youth employment, knowledge and skills transfer, student exchange, Penang Youth Programmes and other related advice, talk, or seminars,’’ she said.
The main signees for the respective higher learning institutions were Hemalatha Murugiah (INTI College Penang chief executive officer), Prof Dr Vikneswaran Nair (DISTED College president), Choo Chuan Sin (IPK College principal) Linda Christabel Felix (Advance Tertiary College chief executive officer ), Prof Dr Ian Pashby (Peninsula College group president), Prof Dr Abdul Jalil Ghazali (MSU College Industrial Linkages & Entrepreneurship vice-president).
Story by Tanushalini Moroter
Pix by Noor Siti Nabilah Noorazis