Najib launches key initiatives to enable PSD scholars to build careers
PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak today launched two key initiatives to enable scholars sponsored by the Public Service Department (PSD) to play a key role in driving the nation's transformation.
The two initatives -- Talent Acceleration in Public Service (TAPS) and Scholarship Talent Attraction and Retention (STAR) -- were developed to provide scholars with attractive opportunities to build their careers in priority areas of the Government Transformation Programme (GTP) and Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) upon their graduation.
Najib said the TAPS was an innovation by PSD as part of a larger effort to transform the civil service into a career of choice, and that under this programme, top PSD scholars would be selected to work on high priority public policy issues and projects.
"I am sure that some of you here admire positions in the civil service and this is the right platform. This will allow them to actively take part in the policy-making process right platform. This will allow them to actively take part in the policy-making process of this country," he said in his speech at the launch of TAPS and STAR here.
Also present were Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan.
TAPS is a collaborative initiative led by the PSD with the Razak School of Government(RSOG) and Talent Corporation Malaysia Berhad (TalentCorp) to attract and nurture the best and brightest from among PSD scholars into the civil service.
Najib explained that under TAPS, top PSD scholars would be assigned to senior civi servants who will act as their mentors. The first batch of this programme would involve 40 top scholars and commence in October this year.
"It (TAPS) will be rolled out in stages to subsequently include PSD graduates from other institutions of higher learning in Malaysia and abroad," he said.
Other scholars not selected for the public sector, Najib said, would participate in the STAR programme -- an initiative between the PSD and TalentCorp to serve their bonds by working in leading companies to drive the ETP.
Through this initiative, he said the scholars would be given the opportunity to build careers in key sectors of the economy and at the same time, be a part of Malaysia's economic transformation.
"In this way, the nation optimises on scholarship talent by ensuring they are retained and nurtured to contribute to the priority areas of the Malaysian economy," he said.
To date, STAR has attracted more than 50 participating organisations including Bank Negara Malaysia, Khazanah Nasional, Intel, Shell Malaysia, Maxis, PwC, CIMB Bank Negara Malaysia, Khazanah Nasional, Intel, Shell Malaysia, Maxis, PwC, CIMB Bank and Teach for Malaysia.
"With the launch of this programme, TalentCorp will facilitate the engagement between the PSD scholars and employers.
"To the scholars present here, by working with the government and companies in the National Key Economic Areas, you are in effect advancing the GTP and the ETP," he added. -- BERNAMA
