FMM In The News: FREE MALAYSIA TODAY, PETALING JAYA, Friday, February 3, 2023 - The Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) said it was puzzled that a special Cabinet committee was needed to look into the mismatch of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) graduates and the industry.
Its president Soh Thian Lai said it was confused as to why it was not left to the National TVET Council (MTVET) and consequently, the Government-Industry TVET Coordination Body (GITC) to resolve the matter.
This was especially so since “much progress” had been made by the private sector since the GITC was set up last year, he said.
The GITC comprises 12 representatives of the different sectors who have agreed to work together.
Soh said there was currently no clarity on the future of MTVET, GITC and the TVET policies being pursued by the new government.
Neither was there any engagement with partners involved in ongoing MTVET initiatives.
“This has somewhat led to a great sense of frustration and disappointment among the parties involved including the FMM,” he said in a statement.
Soh went on to say that ideally the TVET Commission should chart the direction of TVET programmes, especially the standardisation of training and qualification.
“FMM is strongly of the view for the long-term sustainability of the initiatives undertaken on TVET empowerment and in further enhancing the TVET ecosystem and to meet the increasing demand for highly skilled manpower,” he said.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said the government plans to have greater engagement with businessmen and industry players to resolve the skills mismatch that hampers school-leavers and fresh graduates from getting employed.
Anwar said the special Cabinet committee chaired by deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi would continue to look into the matter and identify private companies that could partially or fully adopt TVET.