PUTRAJAYA, June 27 — Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi today said that the government plans to recognise the Malaysian Skills Certificate (SKM) as equivalent to the Malaysian Certificate of Education (SPM).
He said that a policy paper on this matter will be presented at an upcoming Cabinet meeting.
“Because we have a certificate to be issued for either SKM level 1 to level 4 and the policy paper will be brought to the Cabinet to determine that this certificate will also be recognised as a certificate of the same level or even higher than the SPM certificate.
“Within two weeks from now we will bring a policy paper to be discussed in the Cabinet,” he told reporters after attending the launch of the Technical and Vocational Training (TVET) portal and signing ceremony here, today.
When asked about the government’s plans for students without the SPM, Zahid, who is also the National TVET Council Committee chairman, said the government will offer places to these students to participate in TVET.
“Finally, they will be able to enter the market whether it’s private or government based on the certificate that will be issued,” he said.
He added that several changes are being planned by the government that will affect the national education policy and the higher education policy to empower the TVET sector in this country.
“It is important to coordinate certain areas so that all parties no longer think in silos but rather coordinate better.
He also said that this programme aims to reduce the country’s dependence on foreign labour and better utilise local workers by ensuring better skills matching.
“It will not only reduce unemployment, but we will be able to close the gap of invisible unemployment and also the ‘mismatch’ problem of the job field and the courses they follow,” he said.
Zahid said the government is committed to providing fields suitable for the age of workers in the sector, commenting on the establishment of the Malaysian Gig Economy Commission.
“We know that this gig industry grows 23 per cent every year and this involves RM52.4 billion in 2021, of course, the Ministry of Human Resources and other ministries are very concerned about their fate, and we will prepare Cabinet papers to establish the commission.
“However, I have already held an informal discussion with the prime minister on this matter, basically a review of the paper should be done,” he said.
In June, the Ministry of Education confirmed that nearly 30,000 registered candidates did not sit for the SPM 2022 examination including private candidates who were registered to take only one or two subjects.
Deputy Education Minister Lim Hui Ying said the number according to the ministry’s record is actually 29,663 out of a total of 407,637 registered candidates.
