KUALA LUMPUR: “It does not matter where you start, it is where you end that is more important.”
Shuhaila Shahalim, 33, lived by these words in her strive for success. Born and bred in Kangar, Perlis, she comes from a family of seven siblings. Her father Shahalim Hassan is a plumber while her mother Noraidah Ahmad has a small business selling food.
Shuhaila spent her early years at SK Bintong and later attended secondary school at SMK Derma.
“I was sidelined at school most of the time because I was very quiet but quite active in sports and clubs. I did pretty well in the UPSR and PMR but did not fare so well in SPM. I was devastated and thought that was the end of my studies.”
She, however, continued her studies at a private college and managed to get good results. But she stopped her studies to look after her sick mother while doing odd jobs such as a dishwasher at her uncle’s shop. She also worked as a sales assistant at a mobile phone shop.
With an interest in skills training, she enrolled in a Certificate in Fashion and Clothing Design course at a community college in Arau.
“I was 24 years old at that time and married. My decision to pursue Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) is the best I made in my life. It boosted my confidence.
“After gaining the qualification two years later, I tried my hand at starting a small business. I took orders to sew from friends and villagers.
“My former lecturers and friends from the community college have always encouraged me to improve my abilities,” she said.
Generating her income from a home business with only two sewing machines, it took her four years to acquire eight more machines.
“At the age of 30, I expanded my business to include my headscarf brand Aarella and opened a boutique.
“TVET is a quality education pathway, with opportunity in the field of entrepreneurship.”
Shuhaila now earns RM80,000 per month and her achievements include winning the Best Entrepreneurship Mentor (Industry) prize at the MOHE Entrepreneurial Awards 2015. She also sponsors Astro Awani newsreaders’ shawls.
She advises youth to “stay humble”. “There is no limit to gaining knowledge and love what you do”.
Mohd Nuur Ismail Kamarudin, a technical-vocational student from the National Youth Skills Training Institute, may not have been a top student at school but that did not stop him from striving hard and being named the best trainee after a stint with Mercedes-Benz Malaysia.
The 24-year-old, who was among 11 trainees taking part in a training programme run by the company, could not control his emotions and cried as he gave his speech at a recent graduation ceremony.
“All this while, I read and speak Bahasa Malaysia only. But the programme stressed the importance of English as most reference materials are in the language.
“I can speak English now,” said Mohd Nuur Ismail, taking care over his pronunciation. He worked with a catering company for a year after sitting Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia. He later joined the National Youth Skills Training Institute in Chembong, Negri Sembilan to pursue the
Automotive After-Sales Executive Skill Diploma.
Mohd Nuur Ismail and the other 10 trainees were awarded a certificate of completion each following the Fuso Specific Training at the Mercedes-Benz Apprentice Training Centre in Shah Alam.
The graduates, aged between 19 and 25, were part of a pilot programme in a partnership between the National Youth Skills Training Institute and Mercedes-Benz Malaysia.
The trainees underwent a three-month intensive product and systems training, which included both theory and practical aspects.
“People usually associate National Youth Skills Training Institute graduates with workshop mechanics.
“But they can also excel with help from a luxury brand name like Mercedes-Benz,” added Mohd Nuur Ismail.
In its continuing efforts to develop the nation’s youth, Mercedes-Benz Malaysia, through its Apprentice Training Centre, is in discussions with the National Youth Skills Training Institute to explore further opportunities of enhancing the programme.
Established more than 30 years ago, Mercedes-Benz Malaysia Apprentice Training Centre has, to date, trained more than 700 apprentices, all of whom have been absorbed into the luxury marque’s nationwide dealership network.
TVET LANDSCAPE IN the country
TVET is one of the game changers in the 11th Malaysia Plan to meet industry demand and contribute towards economic growth in view of globalisation, the knowledge economy, technological advances and global labour mobility.
It will address the need for skilled workers in the TVET sector and work towards a high income nation.
Under the Economic Transformation Programme for a high income nation, the country needs an additional 1.3 million workers from the TVET sector such as technicians and associate professionals (who have at least a diploma) by the year 2020.
For this to happen, the government and the private sectors have been and will be creating many jobs with reasonable pay that increases with work experiences in the TVET sector in many fields of occupation.
The Higher Education Ministry’s Department of Polytechnic Education TVET special project head Dr Mohammad Naim Yaakub said TVET refers to those aspects of the educational process involving the study of technologies and related sciences, and the acquisition of practical skills, attitudes, understanding and knowledge relating to occupations in various sectors of economic and social life.
It refers to a range of experiences in a variety of learning contexts, including educational institutions and workplaces.
TVET in the country encompasses secondary and post-secondary education provided by polytechnics, community and vocational colleges, and Skills Training Institutes.
There are 813 private institutions registered with the Department of Skills Development and 12 state skills development centres conduct TVET programmes.
The Malaysian Technical University Network (comprising four public universities, namely Universiti Malaysia Perlis, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Universiti Teknikal Melaka and Universiti Tun Hussein Onn) offers degree qualification for TVET, alongside Universiti Kuala Lumpur and German-Malaysia Institute.
There are 525 public training institutions under eight ministries, namely the Ministry of Human Resource, Ministry of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Youth and Sports, Ministry of Regional and Rural Development, Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry, Ministry of Works and Ministry of Defence.
However, the provision of public TVET in eight ministries had led to fragmentation.
Mohammad Naim said: “For example, multiple applications to training centres and duplication of offers are among the issues. The ministry has created a coordinated mechanism that has led to a better distribution of intake to public TVET institutions and reduced overlapping offers among institutions of the same cohort of students.
“A fragmented delivery has given rise to multiple provision of TVET with lack of specialisation and no unified rating system for performance.”
He added: “There is a lack of recognition for technologists as professionals that causes reduced wages and limited access to higher education. Competency gaps exist among instructors that arise from minimal industry exposure, resulting in skills deficiencies. There is a need to establish a centralised database of instructors’ profiles.”
To address these issues, a number of measures will be undertaken under the 11th Malaysia Plan.
The three vertical pathways (academic, TVET and skills) under the Malaysian Qualifications Framework will be reduced to two (academic and TVET). Inefficiencies, overlaps and deficiencies will be addressed by eliminating low impact and overlapping programmes of different TVET providers.
“The creation of the Malaysian Board of Technologists will give due recognition and regulate the practice of technologists.”
Other measures include standardisation of TVET accreditation, a single rating system and the creation of an Industry Skills Committee (industry-led body to ascertain requirements in the workplace).
Mohammad Naim, who is also former director general of the Colombo Plan Staff College for Technical Education, said there is a necessity to re-route the pathways for school-leavers to get more participation in TVET and skills training.
During the 10th Malaysia Plan, mainstreaming and broadening access to quality TVET were undertaken to address industry needs for skilled workers.
The emphasis placed on TVET and skills development in recent years has resulted in an increase in the number — from 113,000 in 2010 to 164,000 in 2013 — of school-leavers pursuing TVET after SPM.
“We need to change public perception of TVET students — that they are not bright.
“We have to make TVET an alternative, not the last option but the choice of young people who are not academically-inclined.”
But what is the reality of TVET in the country?
Mohammad Naim said the Higher Education and Education Ministries aim to transform the TVET delivery system and increase its attractiveness as an alternative education pathway.
“We promote TVET under the Karnival Pendidikan series where we visit the states to highlight the advantages of pursuing studies at polytechnic or community colleges especially.
“At the carnival, the public can visit booths set up by TVET institutions, and talk to alumni members and counsellors to get in-depth view on TVET. We want the public to know that TVET is ‘minds- and hands-on’ learning.
“Those who study TVET no longer solely work ‘with their hands’. They have considerable cognitive skills due to rapid technological change and advanced work processes in the last decades.”
Industrial training such as Latihan Industri Semester Akhir, Skim Latihan Dual Negara and Work-based Learning as well as collaboration with industry partners for TVET students to undergo attachment also help to boost skills.
“We want TVET students to become entrepreneurs. They have the skills. Why waste it? They may as well make money out of it.”