By ET 
Our current education system only prepares our youth in one way. It’s not wrong. Not everyone who needs a job needs a degree. Not everyone is academically inclined.
This is especially true for youth with software interest.
But to judge a person’s intelligence only one way is like assessing the capability of a fish by its ability to climb trees.
There is another way.
Before universities, there was apprenticeship. Otherwise known as ‘learning the trade’. Skills focused. Experienced based.
Leonardo de Vinci was apprenticed to renowned sculptor and painter Andrea del Verrocchio at the age of 15. His own curiosity drove him into subjects like anatomy, physics, engineering and botany.
All children have similar curiosity and potential.
The scope today is even greater as all knowledge is readily available on our smartphone.
Children can learn coding and programming as early as 7 or 8 years old.
For those who have this early start, where do they go after 5 years?
This is where Penang’s Forward College of Technology & Future Skills comes in.
Founded by Howie Chang in 2020 as Forward School inside Penang’s UNESCO recognised heritage zone, it caters for young adults directly from school who wish to upgrade their digital skills as a maker or creator in software engineering. Students spend most of their time in class learning to code through hands-on projects developing real-world experience and practicalities involved.
He later renamed it Forward College to present a more tertiary feel.
For school leavers, the 24 month Applied Software Engineering program provides them with ‘full stack’ experience inclusive of mobile development and data science exposure.
Graduates will be awarded with Forward School’s own NitroDegree and Diploma from JPK.
More than 32 companies have lined up to hire these graduates, offering a guaranteed minimum salary of RM 3,000 pm – top of the range for this level of experience in Penang.
Software is even more important now in the rapidly evolving world of automation and robotics. All businesses, factories and organisations will need them.
Short courses like Data Analytics, Data Science and Deep Learning are also offered to upskill corporate workforce for the rapidly emerging world of AI.
As word spreads, and employers recognise that being able to make things work is more important than just knowing how things work, places like Forward College will become more sought after.
Like all pioneers, others will want to follow. There is nothing like it anywhere else.
Already representatives from the Ministry of Education, and experts from the Academy of Science Malaysia, have approached Forward College to study more about how this model can be scaled up.
That will be good for Penang, where the demand for software expertise is exploding and companies swarming here.
Alex