KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 31 — The proposed new National Service Training Programme dubbed PLKN 3.0 will not involve Form Five students who will sit for their Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examinations, the Defence Ministry said.
In a Parliamentary written reply yesterday, the minister said that they will however be accepted into phase two of the training programme at military training camps.
“Under the National Service Training Act (NSA) 2003, only those aged 16 to 35 will be involved. Form Four students will go through the existing syllabus under the Education Ministry such as police, fire department and scouts which will be implemented through phase one (of the PLKN 3.0).
“This implementation will not involve Form Five students to give way for their preparations of SPM,” the ministry said.
It said phase two of the programme will not take up as much time as before at only 45 days, while 90 per cent of the content is related to military training in order to build a stronger youth identity.
On October 9, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan announced that PLKN 3.0 will be conducted in three phases.
Mohamad reportedly said for the first phase of the programme, youths will be identified when they are in Form Three and Form Four and training will be adapted into their syllabus, unlike in the past when participants were taken directly after their SPM.
In phase three, the youths will be accepted by the agencies including the fire department, civil defence, police force or military force, and will be eligible for a permanent position.
A total of 13 training centres and the Malaysian Police Training Centre at Jalan Padang Tembak will accommodate over 4,000 trainees and through this, the government will be able to save on government expenditure and at the same time able to have a conducive training environment.
