PUTRAJAYA: The Education Ministry will strive towards making TVET as students’ first choice of education in the next five years.
Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik said this is because TVET empowers every level of society towards equitable development, poverty reduction and economic prosperity.
“This is a promise I make. In the five years, our aim is to make TVET certificate holders proud of their specialisation and skills, which are constantly in demand.
“TVET skills are no longer viewed as a second-class specialisation.
“Let us continue working together to enhance TVET, especially through the sharing of best practices and mutual collaborations,” he said in his speech in conjunction with the closing ceremony Asia TVET Experts Forum 2018 (ATEF2018) Grand Dinner here earlier.
The two-day forum is organised by Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM).
He also added the reformation of TVET, by enabling industry-led approach, is crucial to produce highly skilled human capital, especially those who can meet the industry’s demand and support the migration of all economic sectors towards knowledge-intensive activities.
“The development of highly-skilled human capital is very essential in helping Malaysia make the leap towards higher‐value and knowledge-intensive activities, which are the hallmarks of an advanced nation,” he added.
However, Mazlee added that there are several issues that must be addressed, among them are strengthening the governance of TVET for better management, harmonising various rating systems across both private and public TVET institutions, and enhancing the quality and delivery of TVET programmes to improve graduates’ employability.
“If all these issues can be properly addressed, TVET will be able to emerge as a programme of choice for many,” he added.
Mazlee added that partnerships between private entities and higher education institutions such as UTHM as one of the Malaysian technical universities will help boost the quality of TVET graduates.
“In fact, UTHM has proven that TVET does not only apply for lower level education with their PhD programme through National Dual Training System Model collaboration with Bremen University Germany,” he added.
At the event, Mazlee also witnessed the signing of 12 memoranda of understanding (MOU) on TVET between local and foreign industry players.