The deputy prime minister said this would complete the education ecosystem of Mara, which already has junior science colleges (MRSM), polytechnics, and Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM).

“This is to ensure the agenda of developing the next generation would be bolstered by a robust human capital development syllabus,” he said in his speech at the Umno general assembly at Menara Dato Onn here.

Zahid said this as part of his proposed agenda to develop the next generation of Bumiputeras. He said there were certain quarters who were seeking to sow hatred among the younger generation, even dividing them along political lines.

“These children are being brought up with feelings of hatred towards the government, which causes them to develop a restricted and rigid worldview.”

The rural and regional development minister said Umno should focus its efforts on developing Islam and Muslims, pointing out that his ministry had started pre-tahfiz school programmes at 4,145 Kemas kindergartens, with the participation of 62,172 children.

He said this was aimed at producing 140,000 tahfiz school students by 2026.

Zahid moots formation of Core Economic Action Council

Meanwhile, Zahid proposed that the government set up a Core Economic Action Council to help Malaysia pivot to new sources of revenue and growth, such as rare earths, digital economy, and technical and vocational education and training (TVET).

The Bagan Datuk MP said Putrajaya should also consider introducing a more progressive tax regime to boost the nation’s revenue.

Currently, the government has the National Economic Action Council and Bumiputera Economic Council, both of which are chaired by the prime minister.