Perak’s elderly care technical and vocational education and training (TVET) is projected to generate RM1.75mil income for practitioners, driven by growing demand for such care services.
State women, family, social welfare, entrepreneur and cooperatives development committee chairman Datuk Salbiah Mohamed said 66% of participants reported higher monthly income as at end-2025, while 25% had doubled their earnings.
She said the Professional Certification Elderly Care Course under the “Santunan Kasih” initiative had so far trained 356 participants.
“Currently, we can only provide certificates of completion as there is no formal accreditation body for this field.
“However, the skills acquired have enabled participants to offer elderly care services, with some earning RM7,000 to RM15,000 a month,” she told reporters at the “Santunan Kasih” dinner event in Ipoh, reported Bernama.
Salbiah said about 66% of those trained were now directly involved in providing elderly care services, while others applied their skills to care for family members.
She said some participants had also gone into social enterprises in the elderly care sector.
“We are focusing on developing social enterprises and will look into ways to support participants who have started businesses in this field.”
Salbiah also hoped the Federal Government would establish a dedicated accreditation system or recognised body for elderly care services.
Such framework was important as it would involve development of a blueprint and legal considerations, particularly in determining responsibility and accountability for registered caregivers, she said.
A recognised system would also enhance the value of skills acquired by caregivers as Malaysia moved towards becoming an ageing nation, she said.
On trained caregivers serving outside Perak, Salbiah said the state government was refining mechanisms to retain skilled workers.
“Perak itself needs more people involved in elderly care services,” she said.
“It will be a loss if the talent we have trained moves elsewhere, especially when not many states have begun focusing on this sector,” she noted.
The TVET programme is conducted with UniKL RCMP, Sunshine Qualicare Sdn Bhd, Retirement and Recreation Management Sdn Bhd and Malaysian Association of Social Care and Care Home Professionals (MASOC Care).
