TVET will be realigned to be industry-driven — Dr M

The Technical and Vocational Education and Teaching (TVET) programme will be reviewed and realigned to be industry-driven to produce graduates based on areas of economic focus by region or locality identified in the Shared Prosperity Vision (SPV) 2030.

Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who is also acting Education Minister, said in line with the SPV, TVET would be made one of the enablers that contribute to the development of a prosperous and inclusive developing country.

For the year 2020, he said the Education Ministry (MOE) and other TVET provider ministries would be focusing on the TVET Empowerment Strategies Map developed by the TVET Empowerment Cabinet Committee.

It is to produce balanced, holistic and entrepreneurial TVET graduates who will later become highly skilled workers contributing to the country’s productivity and economic growth, he said.

“All relevant parties need to ensure the success of the industry-led TVET implementation to overcome skills mismatch issues, dependence on foreign workers, and eventually produce TVET graduates who meet the needs of the industry,” he said at his mandate and aspiration-sharing programme with the MOE staff here today.

Meanwhile, Dr Mahathir said to prepare students to face the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the MOE would ensure science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education was enhanced in various aspects.

The enhancement includes the number of students taking STEM subjects, teachers teaching skills, collaboration with industries and parents’ involvement in fostering students’ interest in STEM, he said.

“To attract more students into the STEM field, the ministry has provided more options for them to choose elective subjects under the STEM package besides literature and humanity,” he said.

Dr Mahathir said the ministry’s digital learning platform, developed on July 1 2019, would be strengthened further this year as a digital teaching and learning catalyst for teachers and students via easier and wider access to materials.

“Curriculum content is also designed to include elements such as the Internet of Things (IoT), encoding, robotics and big data in primary and secondary school subjects to attract students and facilitate the mastery of knowledge,” he said.

Source: Bernama