BANGI, July 22 — The government is in the process of taking over all views and aspirations contained in the National Transformation 2050 (TN50) Youth Canvas to be translated into a policy towards youth empowerment.

Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman said the government was committed to empowering the young people in every aspect of life and that their aspirations contained in the canvas would be an important matter for consideration.

“We have the TN50 Youth Canvas that contains the views or aspirations of the young people about the future.

“I think that is the most important and we are now in the process of taking over these views to be translated in terms of policy and implementation,” he told a news conference after the 5th Malaysian Youth Council (MBM) Skilled Youth Convention here today.

The TN50 Youth Canvas, which was launched during the previous government, is a document that summarises, illustrates, and reports the hopes, dreams and aspirations of over two million youth for the country for the next 30 years.

Prior to this, over 60,000 aspirations in the TN50 Youth Canvas collected during the TN50 Youth Initiative outreach by the Youth and Sports Ministry throughout the country over the past year had been submitted to the then Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak for further action.

When asked on the specific aspiration that could possibly be made a policy, Syed Saddiq said “all matters regarding TN50 will be answered at the Parliament sitting tomorrow”.

Meanwhile, the minister said the surplus of foreign workers was the main reason for the wage rate in the skilled sector had remained static to the extent of affecting the opportunity for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) graduates to get hired.

He said based on Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) report, more than 40 per cent or nearly seven million jobs that were supposed to be filled by local workers were taken over by foreign workers, among others, due to lower wages and minimum benefits offered by employers.

“This is not really a healthy competition for the skilled workers in the country and the government will ensure that the jobs will be returned to our young people,” he said.

Syed Saddiq said in order to prepare the young generation to face the challenges of the 4th Industrial Revolution, the government was in the midst of reforming the TVET to make it equivalent to, if not better than, degree courses.

He said it was being done through the setting up of the Technical and Vocational Education and Training Empowerment Committee chaired by Permatang Pauh Member of Parliament Nurul Izzah Anwar.

The first phase of the reforms had begun with Nurul Izzah meeting with several stakeholders including the Ministry of Human Resources and the Ministry of Youth and Sports, he said.

Earlier, Syed Saddiq presented TVET certificates and diplomas to 504 graduates from 11 skills colleges under MBM. — Bernama