The third edition of the Micro-Credentials Education Summit (MCES) which began here today saw the participation of over 300 local and international delegates comprising representatives from federal ministries, government agencies, and industry players along with 110 institutes of higher learning. The summit, officiated by the Deputy Minister of Communications, Teo Nie Ching, was held in conjunction with the Creative Cloud Community’s (CCC) Adobe Certified Professional (ACP) and Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) Malaysia National Championship 2024 grand finale.
Under the dynamic theme, ‘Preparing for Tomorrow’s Workforce’, MCES 2024 stands as the pinnacle global gathering for the education and training industry. This summit serves as a critical platform designed to foster collaboration, inspire innovation, and drive change. It facilitates an engaging dialogue that bridges the education and industry sectors, ensuring that future talent fits seamlessly into tomorrow’s workforce.
Teo Nie Ching, deputy minister of communications, officiating the Micro-Credentials Education Summit 2024.
Highlighting the importance of digital skills in the creative industries, Teo said, “The creative industry, particularly in creating visual and video contents, recognises a compelling need for the production team to have validated skills such as video editing in post-production.”
“To this end, FINAS actively implements a wide array of human capital development programs, ranging from workshops and masterclasses to film appreciation programs, seminars, community initiatives, and beyond with 3,700 participants over the last year.”
Teo also emphasized on the government’s commitment to grow the creative industry under the 12th Malaysia Plan, “We are aiming for a GDP contribution of RM 31.9 billion by 2025. To support this, the Ministry of Communications, through MyCreative Ventures, launched the MyCreative Matching Fund Scheme in March 2024.”
Noor Azam, giving the keynote speech on behalf of the chairman of FINAS, Dato’ Kamil Othman.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the National Film Development Corporation, Dato’ Kamil Othman remarked, “At FINAS, we are committed to integrating craftsmanship with cutting-edge technology, optimizing this methodology to produce world-class content.”
“Today’s event reflects that aspiration and the Malaysia National Championship 2024 showcases the importance of certification and hands-on training, especially in tools that are indispensable in our industry like Adobe Photoshop.”
One of the summit’s highlights is the live dialogue between educational institutions and industry representatives, focused on aligning educational outcomes with industry needs to ensure graduates are workforce-ready. The summit also explores new trends in micro-credentials, showcasing how local institutions develop modern programs to equip students with the specific skills demanded by today’s job market. These efforts aim to bridge the gap between academic learning and practical application, fostering a more adaptable and competitive workforce.
In addition to these discussions, the summit presents case studies on schools successfully developing upskilling programs and integrating AI into curricula, highlighting benefits for student employability. It also features a segment on Vietnam’s approach to enhancing digital skills, offering insights into their top-down and bottom-up strategies. These examples aim to inspire institutions to adopt similar methods for workforce development and digital transformation.
Sit giving Teo a tour of the artworks done by the top 30 finalists for the CCC’s Adobe Certified Professional Malaysia National Championship 2024.
“Micro-Credentials and AI will be the future of our national education and talent acquisition ecosystem. Acestar Group welcome all partners to collaborate in turning this vision into a reality as we are aiming for 3 million Malaysians to be upskilled and certified in the upcoming few years,” said Natalie Sit, Acestar’s managing director.
The summit also saw the announcement of winners for the CCC’s Adobe Certified Professional and Microsoft Office Specialist Malaysia Championship 2024. Open to youths aged 13 to 22 years old in both categories through official registration by educational institutions at the secondary and tertiary levels, the ACP this year was the 9th iteration where participants’ skills in creating creative content are tested through 6 stages using Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and Adobe InDesign based on themes set by the organizer in collaboration with NGO Program Strategic Partner. Meanwhile, the 4th MOS championship had the participants’ abilities in using Microsoft Office Word, PowerPoint and Excel were tested through three qualifying stages, with each software having its own criteria and evaluation. This year, EcoKnights was selected as the NGO Partner-Beneficiary Body for the ACP, with the winning designs being designated as the official posters for the 16th International Kuala Lumpur Eco Film Fest organized by EcoKnights.
The 16th International Kuala Lumpur Eco Film Fest (KLEFF), Southeast Asia’s longest-running ecofilm festival, is collaborating with CCC’s ACP Malaysia National Championship 2024 and ‘Kempen Air Kita’, supported by the National Water Services Commission (SPAN), to creatively educate on sustainable water management.
“Malaysians’ daily water consumption per person averages 237L versus World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommended 165L, thus KLEFF’s theme, ‘Water: Sustainably Yours’ highlights the importance of internally-motivated behaviors in water consumption based on informed decision-making process,” explained Amlir Ayat, KLEFF Honorary Advisor, on this year’s championship theme.
The top 10 scorers of the Train To Certify Workshop: Top 30 Finalist CCC’s ACP Malaysia National Championship 2024,
in a group photo with Sit, Teo and Azam.
Out of this year’s 2,000 participating students from secondary and tertiary institutions, 9 winners were announced in the MOS category while the ACP saw 4 top participants took home the prizes, with the ACP 2024 champion winning a sponsored trip by Acestar to the United States of America to represent Malaysia in the world championship which will be held in Anaheim, California from 28 to 31 July 2024. Acestar is also hoping for more corporate bodies to come forward as sponsors for the second and third-placed ACP winners as well as the 9 MOS winners to compete for Malaysia at the world championship.
“This platform will be an amazing playground for digital talents to showcase their skills and literacy. Creative Cloud Community and Acestar Group welcome more industry leaders to come forward and support our winners for both categories financially so that they can represent our country in the Certiport World Championship 2024 in the USA,” expressed Sit.
Muhammad Salman bin Jun Azmi (center) from ILP Arumugam Pillai Penang was announced as the as the grand champion for the CCC’s Adobe Certified Professional Malaysia National Championship 2024, witnessed by (from left) Lewis, Saeful Fadhly Moktar, member of the board at FINAS, lecturer representative of ILP Arumugam Pillai, and Sit.
Muhammad Salman bin Jun Azmi, a student from the Institut Latihan Perindustrian Arumugan Pillai, Nibong Tebal, Penang was announced as the grand champion and will represent Malaysia at the world championship this July. To date, Malaysian youths have brought honor to the country by clinching the World Champion title in 2020, World Runner-Up (2016), 5th Place in the World (2021), and 7th Place in the World (2023) for the Adobe Certified Professional World Championship category.
For more information on the Malaysia National Championship 2024, please visit https://www.championshipmy.com/.
