IPOH, Oct 6 — The government is planning to recruit experts from India and Ukraine to train the trainers of the Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programme, said Human Resources Minister M. Kulasegaran.
Speaking to reporters at the Job Fair at Urban Transformation Centre (UTC) 5.0 here, Kulasegaran said many TVET institutions need to be upgraded, adding that government-to-government approaches would best address this.
“I will be heading to India tomorrow as Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad instructed me to visit and discuss with the TVET programme in India.
“India has some world experts on aviation, metro techniques, technical matters, artificial intelligence and a few more. We want to bring them here and train our trainers as a collaboration between the two countries,” he said.
Kulasegaran said that he was made to understand that over a million people benefited from India’s vocational training.
He will also visit next month due to the sophistication of their vocational programme.
“The importance of human development cannot be more emphasised than in Ukraine. Their education ministry is only at a regional level, while their TVET programme is at a national level and one of the best-run programmes in the whole world,” he said.
He said that this approach would reduce employers’ dependency on skilled foreign workers.
“When the trainers are equipped with knowledge and experience from experts, they can train the students well and it would allow the students to get accredited certificates.
“So companies do not have to depend on foreign workers and the students who complete the programme can earn a better wage,” he said.
Kulasegaran also urged employees to take up the courses in the TVET programme to upgrade their skills.
“The TVET programme is not only for school leavers. Workers are also eligible to join the programme. Most of the companies are willing to raise the wage provided that the workers have accredited certificates,” he said.
He also said that the ministry is willing to provide financial aid for the workers who wanted to join the TVET programme.
