Whither goes TVET in this country?
PUTRAJAYA: There is a number of issues plaguing Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in Malaysia. The establishment of a committee to look into these problems is therefore a much-welcomed move by the government.
The TVET Empowerment Committee was established in June and Permatang Pauh MP Nurul Izzah Anwar was appointed as its chairperson. The move is testament to the government’s seriousness in addressing these issues, some of which have been so serious that it has become the subject of public debate in recent years.
The committee certainly has their work cut out for them.
Among the things they need to look into are the overlapping of tasks involving seven ministries, the education system, the certification system, the lack of funding and the uncertain future of TVET graduates.
Before delving further into the issue, we first need to understand the landscape of TVET management in the country.
TVET generally falls under the purview of both the government and private sector. Both sectors are grappling with their own challenges in the management of TVET.
For the government, the main issue is having seven different ministries (based on the structure of the previous government) running TVET using their own systems and procedures.
The ministries were the Rural and Regional Development Ministry (KKLW), the Education Ministry (KPM), the Higher Education Ministry (now under the Education Ministry), the Human Resources Ministry, the Youth and Sports Ministry, the Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Ministry, the Works Ministry and the Energy, Green Technology and Water Ministry (KeTTHA).
The National Occupational Skills Standard (NOSS) and the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) are managed by the Human Resources Ministry and the Education Ministry.
The TVET institutions under the private sector are struggling to survive as they are competing with similar programmes offered by government institutions. Further compounding the situation is that the allocation for the former have been reduced despite the increase of allocation for TVET in the national budget for the past few years.
One of the biggest issues faced by private sectors running TVET programmes is the difficulty in its students getting loan approval from the Skills Development Fund Corporation (PTPK). PTPK, like PTPTN (the National Higher Education Fund Corporation), is meant to help students fund their education.
The chairman of the Alliance of Bumiputera Private Skills Training Institutes (GILKSB) Nordin Abdul Malek said that at the moment, some 30,000 students were still waiting for their loans to be approved by PTPK.
“The allocation for PTPK have been reduced from year to year. In 2013 the government allocated RM380 million for 18,095 borrowers. In the following years, the allocation lessened RM330 million in 2014 (15,714 borrowers), for 2015 a total of RM300 million (14,285 borrowers), and RM200 million in 2016 as well as 2017 (19, 523 borrowers for each of the years). For this year, RM175 million was allocated for 8,333 borrowers,” he explained.
He said if the number of students eligible for loans decreased, there would be fewer enrolments into private training centres. This would subsequently reduce the number of TVETskilled manpower.
There are currently 1,901 public and private institutions nationwide offering a total of 2,480 TVET courses.
At the TVET Roundtable Discussion organised by the National Professors Council (MPN) recently, the former Education Deputy DirectorGeneral (Education Operations) Datuk Ahmad Tajudin Jab said the recurring problems in the TVET system has affected many quarters.
He said the current education system did not give much room for students to enter into TVET while the lack of a standardised certification systems has caused employers to become confused by the status and quality of TVET graduates - who come from various training institutes.
“We previously have the Malaysian Vocational Certificate and the Malaysian Vocational Diploma. Under the Higher Education Ministry, we had the polytechnic certificate and diploma, the National Modular Certificate and the Malaysian Skills Advanced Diploma.
“The Human Resources Ministry, meanwhile, issued the Malaysian Skills Diploma and the Malaysian Skills Advanced Diploma while the Rural and Regional Development Ministry issued the GiatMara certificate, the Malaysian Skills Institute Certificate (IKM), the IKM Diploma and the Technology Diploma,” he said.
The Youth and Sports Ministry also awarded the Technology Certificate and Diploma as well as the Malaysian Skills Diploma. The Agriculture and Agro-based Ministry issued special certificates related to the agriculture industry while the Works Ministry certificated related to the construction industry.
As such, it was no wonder potential employers looking to hire TVET graduates became confused, he said.
“At the end of the day, the nation would suffer a loss because it is unable to produced enough skilled manpower to fill the numerous vacancies in the market requiring such skills,” he said.
The format of the nation’s education system was also not TVET-friendly, resulting in local TVET graduates entering the job market much later than their peers in other countries.
“SPM leavers can only further their education at age 18. They complete their tertiary education after three years and enter the job market at age 21. For Vocational Colleges, students enrol at age 16 and complete their studies by age 20. Those who enter the industry at such ages are considered latecomers in certain countries,” he said.
Technical and vocational institutes overseas accept admission from age 15 and by 18, graduates would have entered the workforce. Among the countries employing such model are Austria and Germany.
Closer to home, Singapore allows TVET graduates to enter the industry as early as 19.
Ahmad Tajudin said that a study on students who entered the schooling system (at Standard 1) in 2006 and complete their studies in 2016 (Form 5) revealed shocking findings.
Of the 500,178 students who enrolled in 2006, only 70.2 percent or 352,756 left with an SPM certificate. This meant that the nation lost 30 percent of students in the formal education system during that period.
“At the moment, only six percent of students enter into TVET. What happened to the other 24 percent? Wouldn’t it be great if we could get all 30 percent into TVET?” he questioned.
He explained that academia was not for everyone and as such, entrance into TVET should be made more widely accessible.