KUALA LUMPUR: The government is currently drafting the policy to empower and strengthen Technical, Vocational Education and Training (TVET) to be presented to cabinet, says Deputy Prime Minister I Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
Ahmad Zahid said the policy was currently drafted by the national TVET secretariat under the jurisdiction of the Deputy Prime Minister's office and is expected to be launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Anwar Ibrahim in February, next year.
"Since its inception, there has been no TVET policy; therefore, I have directed the development of one, which will be submitted to the cabinet for approval by January next year.
"I am very serious about empowering TVET education and will consistently advocate for its transformation into the predominant option for employers seeking to recruit skilled workers.
"Hence, the policy will cover various matters including the issue of minimum salary and the focus is the minimum salary for TVET graduates must be above RM3,000 per month," he said in his speech during the signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the Malaysia-China Youth TVET Training Programme at Parliament, today.
The programme, led by TANG International Education in China, will involve 200 skilled youth in various fields which will be sent to several TVET universities in the republic by next month.
The programme is also aimed at sending 2,000 skilled youth to China with the involvement of more public and private skill training institutions.
Meanwhile, Zahid said the minimum salary of RM3,000 also did not require parliament approval as the minimum salary requirement was determined by the Human Resources Ministry.
He added that the requirement was also agreed upon through several agreements with foreign companies that have centres in Malaysia.
"We have signed with German companies in Malaysia that agreed to give a minimum wage of RM3,000 to these graduates. If they can do it, other companies can also do so as these graduates are skilled workers.
"This is also not a new requirement and not required to go through the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) as we are doing direct agreement with industry players."
Zahid added that he had also instructed Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara) to establish TVET Training institutions in collaboration with Korea and Turkiye to offer programmes and training to youth in the country.