FOR YOU: Muhyiddin receives a souvenir from Klang Vocational Colleges students during the launching of 1Malaysia Vocational College Carnival. — Bernama photo
KLANG: Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday instructed the Education Ministry to take immediate steps to provide more places in vocational colleges to meet the rising number of applicants.
He said he was informed that 117,000 applications had been received for the 2013 recruitment when there were only just over 21,000 places.
Muhyiddin, who is also the Education Minister, said these additional places could be made available by setting up more vocational colleges and collaborating with private colleges.
Launching the 1Malaysia Vocational College Carnival here, he attributed the big demand for vocational education to the promotional efforts of the Technical and Vocational Education Division of the ministry and the colleges themselves.
He said promotions had been held through the mainstream media, college tour programmes, vocational education transformation upgrading briefings, consolidation programmes and the National Conference on Vocational Education.
Muhyiddin said vocational college education was in the form of a semester system of four years which enabled a graduate to be awarded the Malaysia Vocational Diploma.
During the four years, the students would undergo various aspects of education such as on-the-job training, production-based education and school enterprise to become an individual with the skills demanded by the employment sector, he said.
He said vocational education in Malaysia had undergone a major change with the implementation of the Vocational Education Transformation in January last year that saw 15 secondary vocational schools upgraded to vocational colleges that year and the recruitment of 3,120 PMR (Penilaian Menengah Rendah) school leavers.
This year, he said, 72 more vocational colleges started operations and enabled the recruitment of 21,250 PMR school leavers. Also, at the lower secondary level (Forms 1 to 3) the number of schools offering basic vocational education rose from 15 to 65 in 2013.
He also said that two private institutions implemented the vocational college programme with high-impact courses such as aircraft maintenance and mechatronics this year.
The government adopted a proactive measure in 2009 to ensure that the technical and vocational education in the country matched that of countries in the region and the developed nations, he said.
Muhyiddin said he was happy that many quarters had recognised the Malaysia Vocational Diploma, such as the Public Service Department, City & Guilds and LCCI.
“If engineers in the country can acquire professional recognition from the Board of Engineers Malaysia, graduates of the vocational colleges awarded this diploma can acquire professional recognition through the Malaysian Board of Technology (MBOT),” he said.
Muhyiddin said MBOT would accord recognition to technologists and certified technicians and added that this was an encouraging development and hoped that more young people would go for vocational education to spur the country’s economy.
He said the Education Ministry encouraged collaboration between training institutions and industry as this could boost the education and training of the students and prepare them for employment.
He said 100 memorandums of understanding would be worked out in 2013, which was a key performance indicator for the Technical and Vocational Education Division.
He also said that vocational colleges also offered short-term programmes by way of the Timber Processing and Finishing (TPF) apprenticeship as well as a pilot equine course introduced in 2010.
Thirty-five participants of the equine course had acquired the Malaysia Skills Certificate Level 2 and had been employed in the equine industry with a minimum salary of RM1,200 while 16 TPF graduates had secured employment in the industries in need of their service, he said.
At the event, Muhyiddin presented Muhamad Aqiel Irham Rozaimin of the Klang Vocational College RM500 and a challenge trophy for having been adjudged winner of the Malaysia Skills Competition.
The deputy prime minister also received a donation of RM30,000 for the families of the policemen and soldiers killed in the Lahad Datu terrorist intrusion from the Malaysian Technical and Vocational Schools Alumni Association (Maltivo). It was handed over by the association president, Rusly Nasution.
The carnival, which began on Thursday and will end tomorrow, is organised by the Technical and Vocational Education Division of the ministry, the Klang Vocational College Alumni Association and the Klang Vocational College. — Bernama