KUALA LUMPUR, March 6 — The Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) has lauded the government for funding technical and vocational education and training (TVET) programmes in Budget 2023, saying such lines of work should be accorded greater respect.
Parents should stop looking down on TVET programmes and only push their children towards degree programmes they consider prestigious, MEF executive director Datuk Shamsuddin Bardan told Malay Mail in an interview last week.
“I think many people don’t realise that TVET leads to a good career path,” he said.
According to MEF vice-president Nik Mustapha Nik Mohamed who was also present at the interview, vocational pathways were very well-regarded in countries such as Germany and Korea
TVET programmes should be seen as parallel to academic pursuits, he added.
As for the collaboration between 50 companies, especially government-linked companies (GLCs), with TVET institutions, Shamsuddin said this was encouraging as it would make the transition from TVET to the workplace seamless.
“Many of the Malaysian public don’t know that of all the planes flying around the world, 20 per cent of parts are manufactured in Malaysia,” he said.
Usually, workplaces would have to spend around eight to ten months to train those fresh out of the programmes especially for niche jobs, he said.
Last month, Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli said that his ministry in collaboration with other related ministries will be opening a TVET academy.
He said that this is to address the gap between the skills required for jobs and the training provided.
