‘TVET not second class education’
KGBS hopes that parents will make good of this golden opportunity and encourage their children, who did not get a place in institutions of higher learning (IPT), to take up TVET programmes in institutes across the country.
SIBU: Sarawak Bumiputera Teachers Union ( KGBS) urged society to change its negative mindset on Technical and Vocational Education and Training ( TVET) as it offers vast opportunities in various fields.
KGBS president Ahmad Malie said overseas, children embarking on TVET education were viewed in high esteem.
He said locals are not confident that TVET can bring high income.
“KGBS urges parents and the community to transform their mindset to view TVET positively as it offers vast opportunities in a wide spectrum of fields,” Ahmad told The Borneo Post yesterday.
He shared Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Richard Riot’s view that parents are not to view TVET as second class education.
KGBS urged parents to be confident in sending their children who had completed SPM
Ahmad Malie, Sarawak Bumiputera Teachers Union president
to institutes offering TVET.
Their children will be given free training by the providers of TVET which also give allowances, free meals, hostels and uniforms.
“KGBS hopes that parents will make good of this golden opportunity and encourage their children, who did not get a place in institutions of higher learning ( IPT), to take up TVET programmes in institutes across the country,” Ahmad said.
SMK Agama Sibu’s ParentTeacher Association ( PTA) chairman Mohamad Safree Mohamad Kassim said parents and children must be given early exposure to TVET.
“The exposure should start in primary schools so they see the importance of TVET,” added Mohamad Safree.
He said parents need to be more open-minded in the era of globalisation and technological advancement.
Sarawak Teachers’ Union ( STU) called for more talks and roadshows to inform parents and students, especially among rural folks, on the importance of TVET.
STU president Jisin Nyud said this was to correct the perception of vocational education as only for people like school dropouts and those not academically inclined and needing special learning.
There are parents not keen for their children to do TVET.
“I suggest more talks and roadshows on TVET, especially for folks in the rural and interior parts of Sarawak. It’s time to be serious about vocational education, especially for a developed nation like Malaysia.
“We need more vocational schools to train students for a skill or trade and do courses that prepare for jobs in specific fields and higher learning institution,” Jisin said.
“STU supports the government’s endeavour to strengthen the field of TVET such as setting up the Human Resources Department Training Institute ( ILTJM) in the country.”