BANTING, June 8 — The additional RM200 million allocation approved by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today will be distributed to Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions next month, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said.
The Deputy Prime Minister said the allocation will be distributed based on the courses offered, aligning with the first intake of TVET students for this year.
Ahmad Zahid, who also chairs the National TVET Committee, said the additional funding will focus on areas such as electric vehicles, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, advanced materials, electronic technology, farm mechanisation, agricultural automation and livestock farming.
“We hope that with this allocation, technical training in industries such as palm oil can commence next month, as the necessary infrastructure is already in place,” he told newsmen after the opening ceremony of the National TVET Day 2024 celebration at the Kuala Langat Industrial Training Institute (ILP) here today.
Earlier, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, when officiating the event, announced the government’s approval of an immediate RM200 million allocation to strengthen and boost youth participation in TVET fields.
Anwar said the additional allocation, to be channelled through the Skills Development Fund Corporation (PTPK), aims to encourage TVET institutions to develop and empower training programmes in line with the current needs of industries.
Meanwhile, Ahmad Zahid also said that various international companies are prepared to offer higher starting salaries to TVET graduates, recognising the industry’s demand for skilled workers provided by these institutions.
“In discussions with several international companies, they have indicated a willingness to pay a minimum salary of over RM4,000 (US$1,000), and MoUs have been signed with these firms.
“Training will be tailored to the specific needs of these companies and factories to prevent job mismatches and redundancies,” he said.
He was responding to the Malaysian Employers Federation’s (MEF) Salary Survey for Executives 2023, involving 262 private companies, which revealed that only 39.6 per cent of employers hire TVET graduates.
The report indicates that there is still low awareness and acceptance of TVET graduates among the majority of private employers, who are not significantly involved in recruiting graduates from TVET institutions. — Bernama
