KUALA LUMPUR: The government is considering a review of the initial RM800 fee payment to allow more youth to join Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programmes, says Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof.
The Deputy Prime Minister told the Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday (Feb 28) that the move was aimed at attracting more youth, especially those in rural areas and the Orang Asli community, to participate.
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"We have to give more awareness to those in the rural areas and the Orang Asli community to get involved.
"And their parents should be involved so they can remain in the TVET programmes.
"Perhaps one of the main challenges is the payment of the initial fee of RM800 and we are considering to help with this, and maybe then more youth, particularly those from the Orang Asli community, will be involved," he said in reply to a supplementary question from Young Syefura Othman (PH-Bentong).
Young Syefura had asked the government to explain the initiatives taken to attract more youth from the rural areas and the Orang Asli community to join TVET programmes.
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Fadilah said TVET programmes had been implemented for both the rural as well as urban areas.
"For the rural areas, there are specific programmes for the Orang Asli group, which have been implemented by the Perak Orang Asli association," he said.
At the same time, the government will ink 10 memoranda of agreement (MoA) with private and government-linked companies (GLCs) in an effort to coordinate and improve the country's TVET ecosystem in the near future.
Fadillah said the targeted cooperation programme, which he described as a "quick win", will involve those from the automotive sector, oil and gas, hospitality, and air-conditioning sector, among others.
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"As announced under Budget 2023, a total of 50 MoAs are expected to be signed within this year.
"However, within the shortest period of time, a total of 10 MoAs with GLCs and the private sector will be finalised to implement TVET.
"The MoA will act as the main cooperation platform between GLCS and the private sector with the government," he added.
According to Fadilah, there are a total of 1,295 TVET institutions, comprising public and private skills training institutions, registered in the country.
He said the TVET programme is jointly managed across 12 ministries including Human Resources, Education, Higher Education, and Rural and Regional Development.
