Nurul Izzah wants OSA document on TVET declassified

INTERVIEW | The Official Secrets Act (OSA) has been used to hide facts detrimental to the reputation of the previous BN government, as was seen when the government's 1MDB audit report was kept under wraps.

Another such document that has flown under the radar is an OSA document on the Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programme - a previous Putrajaya initiative meant to produce skilled workers among those who are not academically inclined.

Permatang Pauh MP Nurul Izzah Anwar who heads the new TVET empowerment committee and has had access to the sealed document revealed to Malaysiakini that the classified file is about the performance of TVET centres based on interviews with public and private institutions.

"What is most staggering, scandalous and controversial, is the fact that they ranked the different TVET institutions based on their productivity.

"No one wants to be known as the least productive, the flawed and for not producing graduates at par, but we have the numbers.

"It is fair for Malaysians to know this. Don't you want to know which Mara institution is working well, which institution is producing superb industry staffers? It is our right to know this and we can't be hiding things," she told Malaysiakini during an exclusive interview last week.

The document is still under wraps for now but Nurul Izzah said she will push for it to be made public.

She stressed that uncovering the document was not an effort to denounce certain groups who are not performing for a variety of reasons, but rather to find a path forward.

"My point is we need to know where we stand for only then we can start moving to perhaps either revamp their purpose or have better collaboration with industries or privatise them.

"There are many options which I will submit based on the feasibility studies," she said.

There are at least 1,300 TVET institutes nationwide. The program is under the purview of multiple ministries namely Human Resources; Education; Youth and Sports; Rural and Regional Development; Works plus the Agriculture and Agro-based Industries.

Below are excerpts from Malaysiakini's interview with Nurul Izzah after editing for conciseness and readability:

Malaysiakini: One of the biggest issues with TVET is the perception that this for those who don't do well academically. How do you fix that?

Nurul Izzah: For me, my bigger cause is, first and foremost is changing perceptions beginning with yourself, beginning with what leaders can do. So in my engagement in the first three months where we gather feedback, I try my very best to visit and engage with the top-notch excellent TVET centres and there are many.

When I was in Mersing, clearly they were excellent. They were producing cyber-security experts. What's good is that they are in high demand because they are fulfilling the demand set by the industry. When that happens there is a nice co-existence between the graduates produced by the centres and what is needed by the industry.

So for me, it is important for us to lend our voices to sing praises of these unsung heroes. Local success stories have to be exalted and that's what I plan to do.

By the same token I always mention, if you want to change perception, you want better wages, then you have to bite some bullets. This means, some centres that are not performing well or are sub-par, there has to be a relook at their role, systemic change, structural change that has to take place.

If you take a look at the past reports by PricewaterhouseCoopers, Boston Consulting, even Pemandu, they have spoken in no-holds-barred kind of commentary against some of the decisions made which have really held the TVET back and led to the problems and the state it is in now.

I would like to synthesise all these reports including the ones commissioned by the Human Resources Ministry as well as by our engagements, our future town hall sessions, in a transparent, accountable channel, a website that will collate all these findings.

I'm glad the cabinet has adopted (the view) that my report will be brought up to that level, but I think the next step is also for all of us to participate and remind the different ministries of what needs to be done. Bullets are so difficult to swallow but some of them they need to be.

Malaysiakini: Do you plan to change the mindset of parents, which is that good grades are everything?

Nurul Izzah: Good grades are important. I'm not going to be hypocritical as a parent and say that I don't want my children to excel academically.

The corollary to that is that every child is special and you need to accord some second chances. Different kids have different gifts. They might not be automatically able to absorb some academic content, but it doesn't mean that if you don't work at it, don't allow for some degree of flexibility, that they can't prosper.

But first and foremost how can a ministry credibly push for the TVET when your own institutions are not producing certificates that are acceptable by the industry and by the different accreditation authorities? So that moral credibility gap has to be addressed.

I'm a graduate, a master's degree holder, certainly, I wouldn't be able to understand. But I do know this. I'm flying on MAS, on a new Airbus plane and then the toilet will not work. And lo and behold, the flight attendants are busy looking for a technician to fix the toilet.

Why? Because engineers like me will prove to be completely useless in fixing what needs to be fixed. So to me, that's a small reminder that you are producing jobs that are going to be useful, effective for the nation, for the industries.

But if you allow the skills mismatch to continue, if you allow for them to be continuously underpaid, you're not going to see more takers. What parents are looking at is that 'I paid so much for this TVET degree and guess what, my kid doesn't have a sustainable well-paying job, not even a certificate that is recognised.'

Those are the clear problems that have to be fixed first before we can really embrace an era where TVET is superior or at the same level as degree holders.

Malaysiakini: When do you expect to table your report to the cabinet?

Nurul Izzah: I have to finish it within a year. The first three months, we have finally, successfully gotten the OSA document. Once I got that, it really helped us to provide a more in-depth response. I have a line-up of programs and events that never seem to end, but it's exciting as well.

I was focused on degree holders for so long, on graduates, and I saw in the informal system, there are half-a-million youth who are not part of the education system. They're not part of the formal education system. So where do they go, right?

You see so many of them really relying on the TVET. It astounds me and it gives me so much realisation that this is the way to go. Even in the UK, and Germany, you give pride to these professions, you give technicians the expertise.

It's a chicken and egg situation. Once you start adopting it, we have to start moving to ensure that the degree, repayment and the system meet with expectations. -Mkini