JEMPOL: Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Agama (SMKA) Jempol will become the country’s first Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) religious stream school.
Education Minister Datuk Seri Fadhlina Sidek (pic) said the school is being built at a cost of RM98mil on a 14.22ha site over a three-year period under the 12th Malaysia Plan.
“Previously, TVET was offered only at vocational colleges or regular schools; we will now bring this TVET model to SMKA Jempol. The school will be the first SMKA to adopt or introduce TVET.
“I hope the project can be completed within the stipulated timeframe so that we can immediately develop TVET to meet not only the needs of the industry, but also the needs of the country at present,” she told reporters after officiating at the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of SMKA Jempol yesterday, Bernama reported.
Fadhlina said the fully residential school will be equipped with an administration block, an academic block with 25 classrooms, laboratories, workshops, a library, hall, canteen and prayer hall, as well as other facilities and a hostel with a capacity for 720 students.
Meanwhile, she said religious school students in the country are also encouraged to master various languages to strengthen the dakwah agenda more effectively.
Taking the example of SMKA Sheikh Tahir Jalaluddin in Penang, which has been recognised as Malaysia’s first ‘dakwah school’, Fadhlina said its students are given exposure to Chinese, Tamil, English and Arabic, in addition to Malay.
“Children in religious schools will certainly master Malay as the main language. At the same time, the learning of other languages must also be emphasised.
“We see that these children have the ability to master more than one language. Language is one of the tools that must be mastered to convey matters related to dakwah and explanations about Islam more effectively,” she said.
Fadhlina said the ministry also places great importance on character development, trustworthiness and integrity among students to prepare them to face current challenges.
She said education should not focus solely on academic achievement but also encompass intellectual development, cultivating a reading culture and fostering leadership with integrity.
