KUALA LUMPUR: The Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) field holds bright job prospects, especially so as it is able to fill manpower needs of the Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR4.0) era.
Deputy Human Resources Minister Datuk Mahfuz Omar said as such, parents should show more support and give greater encouragement to their children who are taking TVET, rather than perceive it negatively.
“The government sees it (TVET) as a necessity. Those who hold diplomas in TVET-related skills are eligible to continue their education at the degree level through the Malaysian Technical University Network.
“The move will add more confidence to students of TVET,” he said, in reply to a supplementary question by Datuk Seri Ismail Abd Muttalib (BN-Maran) at the Dewan Rakyat today, on the low intake of TVET students compared to developed countries such as Germany, Holland and Australia, as well as steps taken towards empowering the field.
Mahfuz said the ministry would also focus on TVET tahfiz programme as the first step to extend skills training to young tahfiz students through a plan under the National Skills Development Council that comprise six ministries.
At the same time, he said the government, through the newly set up TVET Empowerment Committee was formulating a new policy to ensure that university programmes were more relevant to industrial needs.
“The committee, chaired by the Education Minister, will ensure that job opportunities offered by employers are matched by the institutes of higher learning, especially through TVET (courses),” he said, in reply to a supplementary question by Datuk Seri Ikmal Hisham Abd Aziz (PH-PPBM-Tanah Merah).
Mahfuz said some 41,090 graduates had successfully secured employment in various sectors as of October this year.
He said the ministry’s employment gateway JobsMalaysia recorded a total of 290,898 active job seekers, of whom 210,868 were university graduates.
“The applicants included those who wished to switch jobs, as well as those who registered for the first-time after graduating.
“Through our observation, those who had registered with the portal had successfully secured a job within six months,” he said, in reply to a question by Ikmal, on the number of unemployed graduates over the past two years and reasons behind it.