Mukah, Malaysia, Rural folks in the state are beginning to reap the benefit of the government's higher education policy, Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud said on Thursday. He said institutions of higher learning were now available even in backward areas. Parents should therefore encourage their children to go for higher education as opportunities and financial assistance were readily available, he said at the maiden convocation ceremony of Mukah Polytechnic, which was set up in May 2005. Taib, accompanied by polytechnic director Mordin Mohammad, later presented certificates to 331 graduates who had completed their certificate courses in civil engineering, information technology, business studies and mechanical engineering.
Abdul Taib said the employment trend had changed much over the decades, with the nature of most jobs now requiring people to have either technical, management, accounting, scientific or other professional qualifications. 'Gone are the days when muscle and brawn are preferred over the brain,' he said. Meanwhile Taib said the Mukah Polytechnic would play a very useful role in producing semi-professional manpower to meet the human resource needs of the Sarawak Corridor Of Renewal Energy(SCORE).
