KUALA LUMPUR: Cabinet ministers who serve as mentors in the Perdana Fellows Programme 2021 must ensure that participants are equipped with knowledge in various aspects from ministerial administration.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said his cabinet ministers should not leave the participants to their own devices as the programme aims to develop new skills to allow them to succeed in their future careers in private and public sectors.
"The objective of the fellowship is to enable youths from public and private higher learning institutions to understand, learn and experience the workings of a ministry, how the office is run and see their mentors' involvement in politics.
"Previous ministers had also taken their fellows to their respective constituencies, getting them involved in politics and taking them to the Parliament to see the debates.
"I ask that ministers (who are mentors) give full guidance to the fellows. There have been cases in the past where some (ministers) left the fellows to do their own thing, not getting them involved in office administration, not taking them back to the constituencies or to the Parliament. Some (fellows) had complained that they were left on their own.
"If the necessary real life exposure, education and knowledge are not taught during these three months, the fellows will not benefit much. This defeats the purpose of the programme.
"I know some fellows who ventured into politics after completing the programme. Some rose to be ministers and others become successful in various sectors," he said today.
Ismail Sabri said this in his speech during the Perdana Fellows Programme 2021 before presenting the Perdana Fellows to the respective ministers at Bangunan Perdana Putra in Putrajaya.
Also present was Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu and Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Zuki Ali.
Ismail Sabri also congratulated and praised the Perdana Fellows as only 40 applicants were chosen out of many applicants.
The prime minister will mentor four Perdana Fellows namely Ainul Ashikin Helmy, Yap Sin Yee, Pavidra Roganathan and Gan Wee Shen.
Meanwhile, Ahmad Faizal said the high-level leadership programme would provide a platform for youth to realise their full potential.
"Fellows will be assigned to ministers' office and work at ministry divisions on a rotation basis. This is to give them the exposure and understanding of the respective ministries and their policies.
"The placement this year will be for three months instead of the maximum six, in the previous years.
"However, if there are mentors who wish to extend the services of their fellows, they can do so although this will no longer be under the programme," he said.
He said there were 82 applicants this year but many had pulled out following the programme's postponement.
There are also those who are unable to attend the programme as they had already secured jobs and continued with their studies.
