TVET is the future, bring back hands-on learning

 

From Khoo Kok Heong

I read with nostalgia and predicament the article “Graduates in lowly jobs seen as victims of govt policy” (FMT, Sept 18).

After achieving our independence in 1957, Malaya was accorded a “developing country” status and enjoyed many privileges in many areas to uplift the country, but the focus was on education and the economy.

The education system, being a key sector to educate the people and prepare them to earn a livelihood, was given special attention by the United Nations, which poured in aid in the form of facilities and expertise.

The early 1960s saw the birth of the first blueprint of our TVET ( technical and vocational education and training) in the country.

The UN and its member countries provided teaching aids in the form of tools, machinery and expertise to kick-start our first technical education in schools. The subject Industrial Arts was incorporated into the school syllabus for the first time.

Local teachers were trained by lecturers from many Commonwealth countries and the Peace Corps Programme also benefited many of our educators in teaching and the transfer of technology.

Under the auspices of the Colombo Plan, many Industrial Arts workshops and Domestic Science rooms were set up in schools nationwide.

These two programmes were a rousing success which saw schools becoming a hive of activity then. As a result of its popularity among certain sections of pupils, who are more inclined to hands-on learning, this programme was extended to include certain single-core subjects like cookery, woodwork and tailoring in the SPM examination.

Technical education saw a further leap with the establishment of trade schools and technical institutes. Here the students got the opportunity to go deeper into their chosen fields, such as welding, power mechanics, woodworking and air-conditioning, among others.

Graduates from such schools were in great demand then and some of the more enterprising ones set up their own businesses.

However, this scenario took a drastic change when the education ministry decided to amalgamate Industrial Arts and Domestic Science and call the new subject Living Skills. This obviously saw a great dilution of the earlier subjects.

A further change in the syllabus of Living Skills to its present form, Design and Technology, saw a further erosion of hands-on learning.

All the established workshops and Domestic Science rooms were dismantled, which made years of effort a sheer waste.

My take is that hands-on learning should be brought back into the system and further enhanced rather than be given less emphasis or totally ignored.

Grab drivers and delivery boys don’t need a tertiary education. With university graduates having to take up such jobs, there is a real mismatch in the demand and supply chain.

Most Asian parents want their kids to be on the academic pathway, and wear the mortar board as a sign of success. But more practically, it would be those equipped with the right skill set or niche technical know-how who will be able to earn a decent living.

There are too many knowledge workers with laptops these days.

No one wants to get their hands dirty when the real money is in such hands-on industries.

Countries like Germany, despite being so advanced, place equal emphasis on TVET and scholarly education, but most Asian countries, with the exception of Japan, do not do this.

As such, the education and human resource ministries should review their strategies and plans for TVET so that we will not repeat the same mistake we made a few decades ago. - FMT 

Khoo Kok Heong is an FMT reader.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.