Budget 2023 and What It Has for Higher Education and TVET in Malaysia

by StudyMalaysia.com on April 6, 2023 | Technical & Vocational Training (TVET) Education, Top Stories

Budget 2023 and What It Has for Higher Education and TVET in Malaysia - StudyMalaysia.com

Budget 2023 has good news for students across the country. The budget includes a number of measures aimed at improving access to education and providing support for students in Malaysia. In the revised budget 2023, the higher education sector received a whopping allocation of RM15.3 billion, an increase of 1.3% from the initial budget announced last October. This is also a 5.5% increase from the RM14.5 billion allocation for 2022.

?One of the key initiatives in the budget is the allocation of RM50 million for the establishment of a National Education Savings Scheme. This scheme is designed to encourage families to save for their children's education, and it will provide matching grants to help boost savings. This is a positive step towards making education more accessible to students from all backgrounds. Individual income tax relief of up to RM8000 for annual net savings will be extended until 2024.

?Another important initiative in the budget is the allocation of RM5 billion for the Higher Education Loan Fund (PTPTN). This fund provides financial assistance to students who are pursuing higher education, and the increase in funding will help more students to access loans to support their studies. Children of the M40 group will enjoy a loan increase from 75% to 100%. Students under this group can also apply for computer loan facilities. Repayment discount is given from 1 November 2022 to 30 April 2023.

There will be a discount of:

20% for full settlement of outstanding debt
15% for repayment of at least 50% of outstanding debt in one payment/ repayment through salary deductions or direct debit
5% for repayment made through MyPTPTN

Students who graduate with first-class bachelor’s degrees will be exempted from repayment.

The budget also includes an allocation of RM1 billion for the implementation of the Malaysian Education Blueprint 2023-2035. The blueprint outlines the government’s plan for the future of education in Malaysia, and the funding will be used to support the implementation of initiatives aimed at improving the quality of education across the country.

In addition, the budget contains other initiatives aimed at supporting students in Malaysia. RM100 million will be given to the MyBrain 15 programme to provide financial assistance to students pursuing their postgraduate studies.

From the allocation for higher education, RM6.7 billion will be channelled to 7 key ministries for the implementation of various Technical & Vocational Education and Training (TVET). Nurturing of skills and talent under TVET will support businesses with the required skilled workforce. RM180 million will be used as a TVET Fund for the Skills Development Fund Corporation to provide loans for 12,000 trainees under the Malaysian Certification Programme. The government will continue with the National Dual Training Programme with an allocation of RM20 million for the benefit of 3000 trainees.

TVET education costs a lot of money as it is based on fieldwork and requires the latest state-of-the-art equipment to fulfil the syllabus in meeting the current standards and needs of industries. GLCs and the private sector are roped in to prevent a mismatch between technical and vocational training (TVET) and jobs. Leading the way are PETRONAS in Pengerang and DRB-Hicom in Pekan where TVET students would be trained on the skills required for the industries.

The TVET committee chaired by Deputy Prime Minister will explore more new measures to ensure skills and training are aligned with what is required by industries. The Government has identified TVET as one of the drivers of change in meeting the demands of employers. To date TVET programmes involve more than 500 public training centres and institutions with more than 250,000 students.

To facilitate the growth of TVET, the government will implement a pilot model involving federal TVET institutions with a target of 50 companies mainly from GLCs (Government-linked firms). This move would give confidence to employers in the private sector to come forward to support TVET institutions. Under the pilot programme, leading companies will partially or fully take over the operations of TVET institutions such as community colleges, public skills training institutes and national youth skills institutes. To encourage more participation from various sectors, the government will continue with the Employment Incentives under the Social Security Organization by paying RM600 to RM750 per month for 3 months to employers who hire TVET graduates. This will benefit 17000 TVET graduates. With such incentives given, it is projected that the Ministry of Education will achieve its target of having at least 55% of SPM leavers further their studies by 2025.

The Capital Market Graduate Programme with an allocation of RM30 million will enhance the employability of graduates and the Graduate Entrepreneur Programme with RM20 million will also benefit 1000 students encouraging them to become entrepreneurs. Besides these, RM50 million will be used to promote the plantation automation sector through robotics and artificial intelligence (AI). This will attract more local talents to join the plantation industry and reduce reliance on foreign workers.

With all the incentives given, employers will be encouraged to hire more TVET graduates. More over with their participation in TVET institutions, the courses can be tailored to meet the needs of the respective industries.

Our Higher Education Minister, Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin, in his New Year Mandate said the allocation given to higher education will focus on the ministry’s digitalisation plan in all aspects of management, education, learning and services. This means the upgrading of the digital facilities at all Institutes of Higher Learning (IPT). The authority will also work to improve the Green Campus initiative in public universities and also R&D activities.

Overall, this revised budget bodes well for Malaysian education as it improves access to education and provides support for students in the country. These initiatives are an important step toward ensuring that all students in Malaysia have the opportunity to pursue their education and achieve their goals. The big allocation given to higher education proves the government’s concern to maintain institutes of higher learning as it recognises that higher education is the best investment to build the future of students.