KUALA LUMPUR – Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi says he does not want the Universities and University Colleges Act (AUKU) to restrict young people’s ideas, feelings and struggles.
He said Malaysia should instead focus on developing a highly skilled workforce, with Barisan Nasional (BN) and its partners aiming for 80 per cent of the country’s workforce to be highly skilled and earn higher wages.
“We do not want AUKU. We do not want young people to have their ideas, feelings and struggles restricted,” he said during the Umno Youth General Assembly at the World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur (WTCKL) on Friday.
Zahid said skills, expertise and lifelong learning should become the new measures of progress and a new currency for the country’s development.
He said Malaysia must also target the development of high-technology companies and globally competitive industries that are invented, designed and owned by Malaysians.
“Malaysia must set a target for high-technology companies and globally competitive industries that are invented, designed and owned by Malaysians,” he said.
He said BN and its partners also wanted Malaysia to become a skills nation by mainstreaming technical and vocational education and training (TVET).
Zahid said young Malaysians from polytechnics, GiatMara, Mara TVET, Institut Kemahiran Mara (IKM), professional institutions and religious schools should all be part of the effort to build a skilled nation.
“We want our children, whether they are in polytechnics, GiatMara, Mara TVET, IKM, professional institutions or religious schools, to work together to shape Malaysia into a skills nation. This is our aspiration,” he said.
Zahid said the government’s goal was ultimately to have 80 per cent of the country’s workforce in the highly skilled category while earning higher wages.