Building a technical and vocational workforce
THE Upper Secondary Industry Apprenticeship (PIMA) programme, an initiative by the Education Ministry, will help increase student enrolment in technical and vocational sectors for the country’s workforce in future.
A pilot project at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Bukit Rahman Putra (SMKBRP), Sungai Buloh, from March this year, the programme starts in Form Four and ends a year later, giving students a valuable two years’ experience in industry-related training.
The ministry’s technical and vocational education director Zainuren Mohd Nor said the programme was in line with the ministry’s aim to achieve eight per cent student enrolment in the vocational stream.
“PIMA, apart from helping increase enrolment in the technical and vocational fields, also addresses the issue of poor attendance in schools. With PIMA, these selected students are able to learn and carry out practical training in fields they are interested in.
“As they are involved in something they like, the probability for poor attendance is drastically reduced,” he said.
Under PIMA, students, who are identified by their schools, are involved in direct industrial training and learning sessions three out of five days a week.
The other two days are spent at school, learning Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) subjects with their fellow students.
“At the end of the programme, the students will receive a SPM certificate as well as accreditation and testimonials from the industry, making them more marketable for the workforce,” Zainuren explained.
SMKBRP principal Ahmad Ismail said there were currently 25 students enrolled in PIMA, and the selection process for their involvement was done in stages, taking into consideration many aspects such as student interest and the suitability of each industry.
“First, the school will identify the relevant industry partners around the school that are willing to participate in PIMA.”
“We then advertise the open positions to the students and hold interviews with them and our counsellor. The counsellor will give them a psychometric test to identify their interests and whether they are suitable for the programme.”
“Following this, the chosen students will be given offer letters to join the programme.”
According to Ahmad, the students involved in PIMA comprises those who are not academically inclined, and are more interested in practical, hands-on knowledge.
“For this group of students, it is better for them to learn skills which would benefit them in the future.
“So far, the attendance rate for this programme has been between 98 and 100 per cent, a far cry from the low attendance the students exhibited when they were in mainstream education,” he said.
Among the technical and vocational industries available at SMKBRP are sewing, spa management, automotive, and air condi- tioner servicing.
Under PIMA, cooperation between four parties, namely the school, student, industry and parents are crucial, said SMKBRP Parent Teacher Asso- ciation president Datuk Azmin Mustam Abdul Karim.
“The response from parents has been encouraging, as these students are those from challenging family backgrounds which contribute to them underperforming in academics.
“In these light industries, the students’ potential is optimised and they are able to give their full commitment as they are very interested in it,” he said.
The industries have also been cooperative, Azmin said, and parents should play the role of mediator between the industry and school to ensure the best for their children.
“We also took the initiative to formulate an insurance coverage plan for the students involved where the payment is only between RM20 and RM30 annually for a wide protection coverage at the workplace.”
Zainuren further added that the ministry was targeting to have at least 20 schools participating in the programme in partnership with various local industries next year.
“PIMA ensures that the ministry produces a pool of skilled human capital that will be ready to join the workforce in the future.”