PUTRAJAYA: School leavers wanting to enrol in technical and vocational education and training (TVET) courses have the option of doing so via the TVET Recruitment Unit (UP_TVET) portal.
The National TVET Council head of TVET secretariat Dr Azmir Mohd Yunus said the portal covers programmes and courses offered by multiple ministries that carry out TVET programmes.
Among them, he said, are the Human Resources Ministry and the Youth and Sports Ministry.
Azmir said students should seriously consider TVET as the country is pushing to meet the industries’ needs.
“The demand in our workforce is for technicians, skilled workers, operators and others who are able to do the work using their hands,” he said, adding that the demand is also for those with mid-tier skills.
He said a lot of high-value and high-tech industries require very specific skillsets, such as robotics and mechatronics, which are more easily learnt through TVET.
Aside from the fair, which has brought together many exhibitors under the Council, Azmir also encouraged the public to visit the National TVET Day celebrations happening from June 5 to 7 at Dataran Putrajaya to know more about what is happening in this field of education.
While acknowledging that the country’s universities and colleges are producing many talented graduates, Institute of Malaysian Plantation and Commodities (IMPAC) executive Kamal Hosny Md Isa said the country “critically needs” mid-level talent.
He said it is time for youths and parents to let go of the idea that a career in technical and vocational skills is 3D – dirty, dangerous and difficult.
For example, Kamal Hosny said, for those who choose to pursue a life in an oil palm plantation, most of the time, they would not have to worry about housing, utilities and schooling for their children.
They will also use more technology and not manual labour to harvest the crops, he said.
Kamal Hosny said many courses under IMPAC are fully sponsored by the government and certain courses, such as those under the Malaysian Palm Oil Training Centre, also include obtaining a Goods Driving Licence.
IMPAC, which is under the Plantation and Commodities Ministry, had brought personnel from Havea Academy (specialising in rubber plantations), Cocoa Innovation Centre and Wood Industry Skills Development Centre to showcase courses students can consider pursuing in agriculture and commodities.
Meanwhile, Dr Asiyah Kassim from Universiti Teknologi Mara Institute of Postgraduate Studies advised students to not just stop at a bachelor’s degree.
“If you stop at an undergraduate degree, you will be entering the job market competing against thousands of graduates,” she said.
Asiyah, who is the head of graduate studies (recruitment and admissions), added that companies now are looking for “thinkers” and not just “doers”.
The Star Education Fair ends today, with another happening in Setia SPICE Convention Centre, Penang, on May 23 and 24.
