KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 16 — The Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) will reform polytechnics (applied skills training) under the ministry to ensure that Technical and Vocational Education (TVET) graduates earn a premium salary of RM4,000 and above per month.

Minister of Higher Education Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said for that purpose, MoHE will, among others, establish a more active cooperation with the industry and provide new programmes that meet the needs and requirements of the country and the TVET industry.

He said so far, for graduates of the Malaysian Technical University Network (MTUN) or Public Universities (UA) who have already received the premium salary, it is within 10 per cent of all TVET graduates under the MoHE.

"However, UA graduates with a salary of RM2,500 and above number as many as 38 per cent, that is those with a degree. For polytechnic graduates, those who receive a premium salary (RM4,000 and above), although (having) a diploma is 0.9 per cent, but that of RM2,500 and above is 6.1 per cent.

"For MoHE, our target now is not only the marketability of graduates, but our target is (for high-end TVET graduates to secure) a premium salary,” he said during a question-and-answer session at the Dewan Rakyat here today.

He was replying to an additional question from Datuk Muslimin Yahaya (PN-Sungai Besar) who asked about MoHE’s collaborative efforts in dignifying TVET graduates in terms of wages and salaries since they are seen to be lowly rated, thus graduates in such field face a daunting task when looking for job opportunities.

Touching on the number of TVET graduates for the period from 2018 until now, Mohamed Khaled said MoHE has produced 256,901 graduates, which includes 71,825 UA or MTUN graduates, 139,579 polytechnic graduates and 45,497 community college graduates. — Bernama