"I was crushed when I received the letter from the Computer Service Department informing me that my Malaysia Skill Diploma in Information Technology Level 4 is not recognised.
"Three years of burning the midnight oil just to get my hands on the diploma, only to be told that this piece of paper cannot be used to secure a job with the Government.
"It never crossed my mind that this would happen because the college is supported by the Government, run by a GLC, Yayasan Sabah," said 24-year old Barbra Walter, who graduated with about a hundred others, recently.
The cost of studying in the college up to diploma level ran up to RM23,000 and Barbra herself secured her study loan of RM22,000 from the Sabah Foundation.
The amount, however, does not include other costs of living such as transportation, food, house rent and reference books.
When queried about the issue, Barbra was told by the coordinator in the college that they would take up the matter with the Skills Development Department (JPK) to find a solution.
Barbra's father Michael Walter who accompanied her said he was saddened by this turn of events and was disappointed that the college failed to inform students about it earlier.
"This college is supposed to help our underprivileged youth. I know many parents who sent their children to study there with the hope that their children will get good jobs once they graduated.
"Some even mortgaged their properties, lands, to secure study loans for their children. Instead, when they got out, their diplomas are only good for low-end jobs with minimum wage as had happened to many former students," he said.
Michael said he also found out that some former students could not even enrol in the newly established Universiti Kolej Yayasan Sabah to further their studies because their diplomas are not recognised by the university's administration.
"Even they themselves do not recognise the diploma. What is the meaning of this? The diplomas, they said, are only good to get jobs. If they knew about this, why offer the course in the first place?
"According to the letter from the government department, only Malaysia Skill Certificate Level 2 and Level 3 are recognised. Not Level 4," he said.
He demanded that the college rectify the situation soon as possible especially since almost all the students have study loans to repay.
"I hope the Chief Minister will intervene in this matter because he was there during the graduation. My daughter and others received their diplomas from him. If she can't pay her study loan, she will be blacklisted or worse," he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment