Nurul Izzah defends position as TVET committee head

PETALING JAYA: Permatang Pauh MP Nurul Izzah Anwar has defended her appointment as head of the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Empowerment Committee.
Her response came after the National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) questioned her ability to lead the committee.
"Five ministries, two Malaysian national plans and more than RM10 billion spent over a span of three years, from 2015 to 2017 - and where is technical and vocational education and training (TVET) today? Still plagued by stories of thousands of stranded, unqualified youths, awaiting placement and promises of a better future.
"Regardless of the current state of affairs, everyone who cares about Malaysia's future should support TVET as a means to empower Malaysia's young (which is in) line with our upcoming embrace of the Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR 4.0)," she said in a statement today.
She went on to recall a conversation with the Youth and Sports ministry's secretary-general Datuk Lokman Hakim Ali, who she said "was filled with excitement" for the National Youth Skills Institute (IKBN) to adopt IR 4.0 as part of its curriculum.
"The new government would have to continue with much more worthy initiatives than its predecessor - with full transparency, accountability, and efficiency. To succeed, we need all quarters on-board. This is our Malaysia. It requires all of us to make anything work.
"Reforming TVET requires us to think bigger than just focusing on courses and institutions. While we accept the fact that people come with different talents in this world, we have a system that only measures and rewards one - academic talent. Students who don't make the cut are thrown into a group we now call the TVET system. This is a systemic problem and we should treat it as such.
"Revamping TVET has always been a key goal for Pakatan Harapan, included in the manifesto where we have promised to develop technical and vocational schools to be on par with other streams.
"We should look to adopt international best practices as has begun in Penang with the implementation of the German Dual Vocational Training. This scheme offers financial incentives to companies that offer industrial training and/or internships to TVET students," she added.
Yesterday, Education Minister Maszlee Malik announced that Nurul would head the committee which will soon prepare a report to upgrade TVET in the country.
Nurul also urged NUTP to continue to be as loud and demanding as they are now.
"Time and tide waits for no minister to implement much-needed reforms," she said.