KUALA LUMPUR: A bipartisan parliamentary committee has urged the government not to proceed with the implementation of the revamped National Service Training Programme (PLKN) 3.0, saying it needs thorough scrutiny.
The Parliamentary Special Select Committee (PSSC) on Nation Building, Education and Human Resources Development said if the government is sticking to its mid-2025 implementation target, a deeper study is needed.
Its chairman Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah said the proposed PLKN 3.0 also has no clear objectives and targets.
“The target and modules must be based on military or semi-military training. The question is, do we really need that?” he told a press conference at the media centre in Parliament yesterday.
The eight-member parliamentary committee comprises five backbenchers.
Saifuddin said the current modules are a mix of basic military and nationalism, with emphasis on the former.
“But parts of the content module have nothing to do with basic military training,” he contended.
He said the content module incorporating TVET training and nationalism could be delivered via other programmes or by existing educational institutions.
Saifuddin, who is Perikatan Nasional’s Indera Mahkota MP, said studies on the effectiveness of PLKN 1.0 and 2.0 did not show long-term positive results among the trainees, despite the high cost of implementation.
Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin had said PLKN 3.0 would be implemented in stages from next June or July under a new concept and format.The training programme is to be divided into a pre-PLKN phase involving Form Four students, to be carried out during co-curricular activities in schools, and a basic PLKN phase for those aged 17 and above.
The basic phase, comprising 30% national service modules and 70% military training, is scheduled to begin in April 2026 at 13 Territorial Army camps, 20 public universities and selected polytechnics nationwide.
On Nov 13, Mohamed Khaled told The Star that there will be no repeat of the past issues with PLKN 3.0, saying that it would be a whole new iteration of the programme that would balance traditional military-style training with contemporary civic education.The ministry is scheduled to carry out a 14-day trial run of PLKN 3.0 involving 200 male volunteers aged between 18 and 20 from Jan 12. Online applications for volunteers closed on Nov 23.
The PLKN training scheme was first introduced in 2004 involving a random selection of youths aged 18 for a compulsory three-month programme.
It was halted in 2015 and reintroduced the following year with participation to have been made optional by 2019.
However, it was scrapped altogether in August 2018.
In 2021, the then administration decided that the Defence Minister would set up a special committee to study the possibility of reviving the programme with a new template.
In October last year, then defence minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan announced the revival of the PLKN under a new format.
