KUALA LUMPUR: Student participation in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programmes has reached 53.9 per cent and is expected to rise to 70 per cent by the end of the 13th Malaysia Plan (13MP), says Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
The Deputy Prime Minister said the increase was driven by high graduate employability rates and better salary prospects, especially for students from rural areas.
"We know that many secondary school leavers now choose TVET as their main pathway to further their studies. Three years ago, 190,000 students enrolled in TVET, and now the number has risen to 439,000 across 1,368 TVET institutions nationwide.
"This means we have made a game-changing shift in transforming the education ecosystem - moving away from the conventional pathway that emphasised the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) and Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM) before proceeding to university,” he said.
Ahmad Zahid, who is also Rural and Regional Development Minister, said this in his speech at the Chit Chat Madani programme organised by the Madani Government Supporters Club in collaboration with the Higher Education Ministry at the Parliament building on Wednesday (Oct 29).
Ahmad Zahid, who also chairs the National TVET Council, said the employability rate for graduates from TVET institutions under the Rural and Regional Development Ministry stood at 98.7 per cent, while the Construction Industry Development Board’s (CIDB) Akademi Binaan Malaysia recorded a 100 per cent rate.
"...although the national minimum wage is RM1,700, graduates holding the Malaysian Skills Certificate (SKM) Level 3 under TVET receive premium salaries of around RM2,500. This is why the government prioritises TVET, with a focus on students in rural areas,” he said.
He added that the government would continue to make TVET one of the main fields driving the transformation of Malaysia’s youth workforce ecosystem.
"When I was entrusted to chair the National TVET Council, the allocation distributed across 12 ministries managing TVET was RM6.8bil.
"A year later, it increased to RM7.5bil, and next year, as announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, it will rise further to RM7.9bil. This shows that the government is taking TVET very seriously,” he said.- Bernama
