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November 07, 2009 13:02 PM
FSTEP Confident Of Securing More Sponsors
By Nurul Jannah Kamaruddin
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 7 (Bernama) -- The Financial Sector Talent Enrichment Programme (FSTEP) is confident of securing more sponsors from financial institutions for its Pre-Selected Scheme, implemented for the first time for the recruitment of its fourth intake of participants, who started the programme in July this year.
Its head, Lee Khee Joo, said the establishment of the scheme was in line with the needs of the financial services industry, as it enabled them to be involved in identifying candidates to participate in the training programme.
Lee said the financial institutions also provide on-the-job training for the selected participants who would later be employed by them.
He said since the establishment of the scheme, FSTEP had successfully secured 21 sponsors from the financial services industry for 43 of the 80 participants from the fourth intake.
"Banks, including Al-Rajhi Bank and Kuwait Finance House, sponsored 37 of them and insurance firms six.
"This is a good sign as more than 50 per cent of them got sponsorship," he told Bernama in an interview.
He said that FSTEP are confident the other 37 participants, who are currently sponsored by FSTEP through the Staff Training Fund will get their sponsorships soon.
Selected participants for the training programme receive a RM2,200 monthly allowance.
Lee said as the sponsorship from insurance companies was still low, the FSTEP recently met the players to discuss the needs of the industry.
"The FSTEP has updated and reviewed its syllabus constantly to ensure that the training meets the needs of the industry," he said.
He said FSTEP would also meet bankers soon to discuss their needs.
Lee said the programme has trained some 700 participants in four batches.
"For the first batch, 35 per cent of the graduates were absorbed by the financial institutions and the rest by non-financial firms.
"For the second intake, 41 per cent of them secured jobs with the financial institutions," he said.
He said FSTEP planned to register 120 participants for the fifth intake, which starts on Feb 19, 2010.
"Financial institutions are expected to sponsor 80 participants," he said.
FSTEP, he said, was now more selective because it wanted to produce the best graduates to meet the needs of the financial industry.
The FSTEP, the brainchild of Bank Negara Malaysia governor, Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz, was launched in September 2007 to overcome the shortage of skilled talent in the financial services industry.
-- BERNAMA
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