Govt mulling RM800 TVET fee review to attract more youth

THE government is mulling a review of the RM800 fee 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 that the move was aimed at attracting more youth, especially those in the rural areas, to participate in the programme.

“We have to give more awareness to those in the rural areas and the Orang Asli community to be involved.

“And their parents should be involved so they can remain in the TVET programmes.

“Perhaps, one of the main challenge is the initial fee of RM800, and we are considering helping out on this, so that maybe 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 rural youth and the Orang Asli to join TVET programmes.

Fadillah said TVET programmes had been implemented for those from the rural as well as in urban areas.

“For the rural areas, there are specific programmes for the Orang Asli, which had been implemented by the Perak Orang Asli Association,” he said.

At the same time, the government will create 10 memoranda of agreement (MoA) with private and government-linked companies (GLCs) to coordinate and improve the TVET ecosystem in the near future.He said the targeted cooperation programme, which he described as a “quick win”, will involve those from the automotive, oil and gas, hospitality, and air conditioning sectors, among others.

“As announced under Budget 2023, a total of 50 MoA are expected to be signed within this year.

“However, within the shortest period of time, a total of 10 MoA with GLCs and the private sector will be finalised to implement TVET.

“The MoA will act as the main cooperation platform between those GLCS and the private sector with the government,” he added.