PUTRAJAYA, June 6 — Government training and research institutions will be required to provide training programmes in emerging fields for selected Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) students from July, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Anwar, who is also finance minister, said he has instructed Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar to coordinate the initiative to further enhance the skills of TVET students nationwide.
He said at least 50 to 100 TVET students at each selected institution will be given early training opportunities in emerging and hi-tech fields.
“They will be selected to master truly new fields, namely, AI, crypto and energy transition,” he said when officiating at the National TVET Day 2026 celebration here today.
Also present were Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and other Cabinet members.
Anwar said these TVET students will experience training at various agencies, including the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI) or research training centres under the National Science Council.
“This means that certain selected TVET graduates will automatically be elevated above (having market value greater than) a bachelor’s degree holder.
“Therefore, their wages and salaries should be ensured to be higher than what any graduate holding a bachelor’s degree receives,” he said.
He stressed that this initiative is an additional step by the government to uplift the status of TVET graduates, thereby attracting more youth to pursue the field.
He said Shamsul Azri is expected to call relevant agencies next week to determine the number of students from each TVET institution to be enrolled in supplementary courses so they can acquire skills and expertise not yet available in the public education system today.
Anwar said the extraordinary rise of TVET in Malaysia is driven by good government policies as well as Zahid’s commitment as National TVET Council chairman.
More encouragingly, the prime minister said, the nation’s TVET field has now become a benchmark in ASEAN, proving Malaysia’s ability to extensively elevate this field of education.
“We have improved our performance. In ASEAN, I am certain that Malaysia’s TVET has become an important benchmark for how a country can elevate TVET training, and it is now considered among the top in ASEAN,” he said.
Anwar said he emphasised to Cabinet members that success would come with a clear policy.
National TVET Day is celebrated on June 2 every year to recognise the role of skills training as a driver of human capital development, while also serving as an important platform in strengthening the Madani TVET agenda, which emphasises skills, innovation and graduate employability.
Under the Malaysia Madani framework, TVET has been elevated to a national agenda and no longer just a second-choice option, with the government committed to empowering the field by offering hi-tech courses to meet global industrial investment demands.
