Girls roped in for PLKN 3.0 trial run


PETALING JAYA: The revamped National Service Training Programme (PLKN) 3.0 will include both male and female trainees in its initial trial run, scheduled for January next year.

“A total of 200 trainees, comprising 148 boys and 52 girls, will undergo a month-long training programme at a single camp from Jan 12 to Feb 25 next year,” Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin (pic) told a press conference in Parliament yesterday.

Khaled also clarified that the RM8 daily allowance for trainees, which was reported by multiple news outlets on Sunday, was untrue and there had been no discussions or agreement to provide such an allowance.

“The government has only agreed to cover the transportation costs for trainees.

“However, an estimated RM64 per trainee would be spent by the government each day to cover their food, water and other necessities at the camp,” he said.

Previously, on Nov 17, Deputy Defence Minister Adly Zahari said the first trial run of PLKN 3.0 would run for 14 days and feature 200 male-only volunteers.

Khaled also said to ensure security and prevent possible cases of bullying, 32 wardens would be stationed at the PLKN camp on a 24-hour basis with CCTVs installed throughout the camp.

“This first batch of PLKN 3.0 participants will undergo training simultaneously, eliminating any potential for a senior-junior hierarchy and reducing the risk of bullying,” he said.

This comes after the Parliamentary Special Select Committee (PSSC) on Security raised concerns that bullying and provocation could be an issue among trainees in its report tabled to Parliament on Dec 12.

Khaled said the first phase of PLKN 3.0 would cost the government RM50mil and will be designed to test the effectiveness of the programme’s ecosystem and methodology used.

He added that a second batch of PLKN 3.0 is being planned and would feature up to 500 trainees, with male and female participants separated into different groups.

Mohamed Khaled had previously said that PLKN 3.0 would be implemented in stages from either June or July 2025 under a new concept and format.

He had said the training programme would 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 programme for those aged 17 and above.

On Nov 13, Mohamed Khaled told The Star that PLKN 3.0 would be a whole new iteration of the previous PLKN programmes that would balance traditional military-style training with contemporary civic education.

The PLKN training scheme was first introduced in 2004, involving a random selection of youths aged 18 and above for a compulsory three-month programme.

It was halted in 2015 and reintroduced the following year with participation made optional by 2019.

However, it was scrapped altogether in August 2018 but did not stay dead, with the following 2021 administration at the time deciding to set up a special committee to study the possibility of reviving the programme.

The outcome of the study led to then-defence minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan announcing in October last year the revival of the PLKN under a new format.

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