Billions spent but TVET not running at capacity

Making a change: Nurul Izzah and Kulasegaran speaking to the media after a meeting at the Human Resources Ministry in Putrajaya.

PUTRAJAYA: Technical and Vocational Education & Training (TVET) institutions in the country are running at only 70% capacity, the Human Resources Ministry revealed.

Its minister M. Kulasegaran said this was despite the fact that the Government had spent about RM4.5bil on TVET.

“Most of our TVET institutions are underutilised. There are only 70% students, while the remaining 30% is vacant.

“Not many are attracted to study TVET, and this is despite the Government spending about RM4.5bil on it yearly.

“We need to stop the overlapping that is going on. Currently there are seven ministries involved in running TVET programmes.

“Too much money is used for the same purposes. What we spend, we need to get our money’s worth,” said Kulasegaran at a press conference at his ministry.

Kulasegaran said Malaysia will look towards emulating the German model of TVET, where it is seen as a viable life path among students.

“In Germany, people studying TVET would go on to become PhD holders, but it is not the same here,” he said.

Kulasegaran was speaking after a meeting with Permatang Pauh MP Nurul Izzah Anwar and Gabungan Bertindak Malaysia, a coalition representing 28 non-government organisations (NGOs).

Nurul Izzah was recently appointed as the head of a special task force to strengthen and improve TVET.

The task force’s aim is to streamline TVET system in the country which is seen to be too disjointed.

The PKR vice-president said she will require around two months to conduct engagements with various stakeholders to gain input on how best to empower TVET in Malaysia.

“To reform the TVET system in this country, we need the cooperation from all. I will be meeting stakeholders from the industry, students, government and private sectors to gather input.

“TVET must be demand-driven and industry-driven,” said Nurul Izzah.