National Association of Skilled Workers (PKPB) secretary-general Rizan Hassan said there has been no significant promotion of TVET as a primary choice for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) graduates.

“The fact is we do not provide a clear platform for school leavers to plan their future, including the careers they will pursue. It’s as if we are leaving them hanging without proper guidance,” Rizan said in a statement.

He said, the industry, on the other hand, often complains about the shortage of manpower to the extent that they have to rely on foreign workers.

“However, the reality is that they are not aggressively offering themselves to assist the government in leading TVET programmes,” Rizan said.

He urged the government to immediately formulate a training development framework to ensure the emphasis on industry-led TVET is widely understood.

He added that TVET training institutions were facing difficulties to continue operations due to the hike in cost for materials, resulting in a more theoretical than “hands-on” approach in classrooms. As a consequence, TVET graduates do not meet the industry’s standards in terms of their skill sets.

“Therefore, the government should provide financial assistance or development grants to TVET institutions so that they can afford to provide state-of-the-art training infrastructure and facilities that meet the needs of the industry.”