Limit Ministries Agencies Overseeing Tvet To Only Three Pssc

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The Parliamentary Special Select Committee (PSSC) on Nation-building, Education and Human Resources Development has proposed for the number of ministries and agencies overseeing Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programmes to be limited to only three.
Its chairperson Saifuddin Abdullah today pointed out that there are currently 12 ministries and agencies monitoring TVET programmes nationwide.
Speaking in a press conference at the Parliament lobby today, Saifuddin said the PSSC will be meeting Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to further discuss this matter. 
“Today, we have more than 1,300 TVET institutions under 12 agencies. The PSSC thinks that there are too many agencies overseeing TVET and there are issues, including that not all the institutions are using the accreditation determined by the National TVET Council,” he told reporters today.
“We generally proposed (this matter) to Higher Education Minister Zambry Abdul Kadir, but it can’t be answered by the minister as it’s under the deputy prime minister.
“Ideally, TVET should be under no more than three agencies, one of which is of course the Higher Education Ministry, and the other is the Human Resources Ministry,” the Indera Mahkota MP said.
Further, Saifuddin said a meeting with Zahid had to be held as the latter would chair the committee related to the consolidation of TVET.
Earlier, Saifuddin said the PSSC had held seven meetings with ministries, departments and associations throughout this term.
They include the Education Ministry; Higher Education Ministry; National Unity Ministry; Human Resources Ministry; Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry; Community Communications Department; and the Youth and Sports Ministry.
Saifuddin added that among the main issues that were also discussed was the engagement session on the minimum wage and the awarding of government contracts. 
Other matters discussed include the guidelines for the payment of allowances to tertiary students who are undergoing industrial training under several ministries, human trafficking, as well as the development of digital technology, he said.
“Overall, the committee has examined the presentation by the ministries and departments. Based on the presentations, the committee has asked the ministries to submit additional information.
“The committee also held a discussion with the higher education minister on March 18, which focused on five issues related to the country’s higher education,” Saifuddin said.
The issues were related to education reform, TVET consolidation, the weightage of co-curriculum in the calculation of admission marks to get into public universities, marketability of graduates and commercialisation of research and development results of higher education institutes. - Mkini

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