KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 15 — The Malaysian Prisons Department intends to empower convicts with Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in the fields of industry, plantation and agriculture through the RM10 million allocation it received under Budget 2024.

The department said the allocation and initiatives provided were in recognition of its continuous efforts to provide employment opportunities to prisoners, who have served their sentences, by collaborating directly with the Social Security Organisation (Perkeso) and industries.

"The Prisons Department hopes to raise the rate of productivity among convicts more effectively. Employers and industries can help by paving a wider pathway for employment opportunities for prisoners and ex-convicts.

"This collaboration between the Prisons Department, employers and industries aims to help ex-convicts overcome social barriers and return them to society as more positive and competitive individuals,” it said in a statement today.

The department added that it is trying to meet the requirement of 6,000 job opportunities in a month and, to realise this goal, the Prisons Correctional Foundation will be activated to provide appropriate assistance to rehabilitate the convicts holistically.

"The success of this programme (will see) the process of reintegration and resettlement into the community be improved, the rate of recidivism be reduced as well as help them to increase household income,” it added.

The statement also said that the programme was a proactive move to help prisoners and ex-convicts become productive members of society, in addition to providing them with employment opportunities and the support they need to succeed.

This, it added, would help them build a better life.

The government allocated RM10 million for PEKA (Your Second Chance) TVET programmes through initiatives announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim during the tabling of Budget 2024, themed ‘Reformasi Ekonomi, Memperkasa Rakyat’ (Economic Reform, Empowering People), on Friday (October 13). — Bernama