Ministry wants TVET to offer weekend courses - Hannah

KUALA LUMPUR - The Ministry of Youth and Sports (KBS) wants to restructure the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programme by providing courses on weekends.

Minister Hannah Yeoh said this will increase participation by fully employed individuals who want to upskill through the TVET programme.

"Many ministries are doing the same thing and providing the same packages to the same group of people but many are turning away from TVET and going to the gig economy,” she said in her speech at the launch of Malaysia Career and Training Fair (MCTF) here today.

Hannah said these are signs that should be taken seriously and the programme needs to be restructured to ensure the beneficial usage of government funding towards the TVET programme.

In addition, she said the important indicator of youth employment rates is not solely based on the unemployment rate but should be based on data such as social welfare department beneficiaries and health care.

"I appreciate initiatives like this (career fair) because with more events we will have more data,” she added.

She said the ministry is focusing on empowering youth with skills that can provide income, such as the KLAS Renang programme which provides free swimming lessons for B40 youths and a career for former swimmers.

The MCTF provided a platform for more than 200 exhibitors comprising employers, training providers, universities and colleges to show their brands and meet potential candidates. - BERNAMA