Zahid: Govt to create single body to standardise TVET ratings

The government will create a single body for rating Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programmes to standardise the quality of courses offered, said Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

Zahid, who is also the National TVET Council Committee chairperson, said the decision was made at the TVET Council Meeting No. 1/2024 which he chaired yesterday.

He said the measures were also to avoid a “mismatch” or non-alignment of the courses offered with industry needs.

"Coordination is done for the recognition and rating of TVET (graduates) where the unification to a single rating body is done in collaboration with the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) and the Labour Department.

"It is to adapt all TVET courses based on the demand of the industry, unlike before where the syllabus in TVET was based on what the TVET institution can offer," he said in a press conference after the National TVET Council meeting.

At the same time, Zahid hopes that TVET graduates in the country will be recognised as technologists by the Malaysian Board of Technology (MBOT) - which will give them added value to increase the salary level in line with the industry's offer in the field of high technology.

He said, MBOT, which acts as a professional body to recognise professional technologists and technicians, is also expected to continue to help strengthen the national TVET ecosystem so that it follows standards that meet the industry’s needs.

As a new approach to empowering TVET in the field of agriculture and plantations, Zahid, who is also rural and regional development minister, said the National TVET Council also decided that palm fruit harvesters will no longer consist of migrant workers.

Instead, they will employ skilled workers who have graduated from TVET institutions after attaining the status of “harvesters”.

"The new approach is to prepare a 'harvester' course for students to follow a course at a certain TVET institution to become a 'harvester', to give them the opportunity to be at a higher level in plantation and agriculture. This will offer a higher salary than ordinary fruit harvesters," he said.

In addition, he said the recruitment of TVET students after Form Three will also be strengthened starting this March, with the Education Ministry going on roadshows to encourage students to enter the TVET field.

"This change was made to encourage the provision of skilled workers at an early age, in accordance with the increasing demand from the industry," he said.

More quota from China

The TVET programme at the high school level is being implemented through programmes such as vocational college, technical high school and senior vocational programmes.

Meanwhile, Zahid said TVET institutions in China also offer more than 2,000 TVET training quotas to Malaysian students.

"(Previously) they have so far offered 2,000 places to TVET students to continue their studies in China, but the latest offer that has reached Mara through UNIKL, they offered more than 2,000.

“This is on the belief that the quality of TVET graduates in our country is equivalent to the minimum qualification required by TVET institutions in China," he said.

The training quota given by the Chinese TVET institute is in various fields - especially related to electric vehicles (EV), artificial intelligence (AI), internet of things (IoT) technology, solar, information technology and machining.

- Bernama