KUALA LUMPUR: Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) president Datuk Soh Thian Lai urges the government to expedite the set up of the special commission to address fragmentation of TVET implementation, which currently cuts across seven ministries.
In a recent statement, Soh said many in the industry including FMM has been asking the government, for many years, to set up a single enforcement body to coordinate the implement Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in the country.
The TVET Empowerment Committee’s recommendation to set up a TVET Commission is a long awaited decision and has received positive feedback from stakeholders in the series of Town Hall sessions held nationwide.
With this TVET Commission, Soh said the National Blueprint for TVET can be implemented effectively to support industrial transformation of Malaysia's economy towards a developed nation.
If the proposed TVET Commission has joint oversight by the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Human Resources, Soh said it would facilitate seamless transition of support programmes and policies from schools to working adults.
There is an urgent need to standardise training and qualifications, quality assurance, qualification portability, recognition of prior learning, and greater cost effectiveness in the use of resources.
“The funding of TVET institutions must be based on performance and aligned to market demand to mandate collaboration with the industry,” added the FMM president, who is also TVET Empowerment Committee chairman.
More than 60 per cent of jobs that will be created during the 11th Malaysia Plan (2016 to 2020) and the incoming 12th Malaysia Plan (2021 to 2025) is projected to require more TVET-related skills.
Therefore, it is necessary to upskill and reskill the current workforce, and reinforce lifelong learning to continually acquire new and emerging skills required by new technologies such as the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Soh stressed TVET success requires strengthening of public-private partnership between the skills training institutes and industry, at every step of the value chain, to ensure employability of the TVET graduates.
Back in December 2018, Permatang Pauh MP Nurul Izzah Anwar announced she will table a private member's bill to establish a commission that will streamline and oversee all TVET institutes nationwide.