KUALA LUMPUR (ILO News): The International Labour Organization (ILO), the Universiti Malaya (UM) and the United Kingdom government today launched a partnership to boost and promote the future readiness of Malaysia’s technical and vocational education and training (TVET) and skills development systems with the integration of generic skills related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

The partnership is synchronised with the 12th Malaysia Plan, the country’s biggest five-year development plan unveiled yesterday by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob. Strengthening STEM and TVET to transform talents for the future of work is among the Plan’s priorities.

The ILO-UK-UM initiative will build stakeholders’ understanding of how STEM skills can be integrated into TVET and skills systems to support national aspirations to increase STEM adoption in the country. The initiative will support this by developing a model for integrating STEM elements into the TVET and skills training curriculum, and then share results of the pilot with key TVET and skills actors to implement a wider adoption of the model.

The primary focus is on STEM skills related to the construction sector and food processing in the manufacturing sector. The partnership aims to increase employment and career progression opportunities for students and trainees, especially women, youth and other vulnerable groups such as members of the bottom 40% (B40).

With technical support from the Skills for Prosperity Programme in Malaysia (SfP-Malaysia), which is led by the ILO and funded by the UK, UM – Malaysia’s oldest university – will conduct a situational and needs analysis of STEM competencies in skills training and TVET programmes in Malaysia.

Following that, UM will enhance TVET and skills programmes by integrating STEM-related generic skills, such as advanced problem-solving skills. These skills are particularly relevant to the industry, referring to international initiatives, such as the ILO’s global framework on core skills for life and work in the 21st century and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) J-WEL’s Human Skills Matrix. UM will then run pilot training for students and trainees to test the practicality of this approach.

The model, the knowledge gained and the pilot results can provide a solid foundation for replicability and wider adoption by other institutions and industrial sectors, paving the way for greater integration of STEM-related skills into TVET and skills systems.
The arrival of this initiative is timely as Malaysia’s educational and training institutions strive to equip graduates with skills and knowledge that meet the demands of smart industry and manufacturing goals leading towards the Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR 4.0). Integrating STEM into TVET has also become a policy focus of the Malaysian government as it builds a more skilled technical workforce that can adapt to the changing technological landscape.

By the end of this year, UM will share the situational and needs analysis report with curriculum drafters such as the Ministry of Human Resources (MOHR), Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE), polytechnics, community colleges and skills training institutes to promote further inclusion of STEM in TVET and skills training. At the same time, UM will facilitate the formation of an inter-ministerial working group to ensure that results and good practice from this partnership will be incorporated into national policies.

Junichi Mori, SfP-Malaysia Chief Technical Advisor, pointed out that currently STEM subjects mainly concentrate on secondary and higher education in Malaysia, when many TVET and skills trainees can benefit from STEM-related generic skills.

“In the changing world of work, STEM skills are necessary for TVET and skills training graduates to land their first job – a decent job with decent pay – and then obtain more career progression opportunities, even in a time of uncertainty brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic and the IR 4.0,” said Mr Mori.

“Furthermore, many employers require workers with problem-solving skills supported by STEM knowledge for quality and productivity improvement and adoption of new technologies. Therefore, integration of STEM skills will not only improve the relevance of TVET and skills training but also change the public’s misplaced perception of TVET as second-choice education,” he added.

Professor Dato' Ir. Mohd Hamdi Abd Shukor, UM’s Vice-Chancellor, said this partnership will work towards identifying a viable way to integrating STEM in TVET and skills training, while learning from the experiences and success stories of other countries through international comparative analysis.

“Apart from technical skills, scientific knowledge is essential for operations, troubleshooting and maintenance in smart industry. Thus, equipping future workers with deeper knowledge, higher-order thinking skills and greater adaptability to new technologies in order to secure jobs and remain competitive,” said Dato’ Mohd Hamdi.

“We hope to provide students with skills and knowledge that shape them into effective and competitive individuals in a flattened world. Thus, the future of smart industry will be largely shaped by STEM education,” he added.

Kebur Azbaha, Counsellor and Head of Prosperity and Economics at the British High Commission Kuala Lumpur highlighted that promoting STEM education is important for post-COVID economic recovery, contributing to employability, and ultimately higher incomes.

“In the UK we have seen the positive impact of supporting STEM education at an early stage of education. For example, according to the Department of Education in the UK, acceptances into computer science courses have risen by almost 50% from 2011 to 2020; and acceptances to engineering courses are up by 21%,” said Mr Azbaha.

“Research showed that achieving two or more A Levels in STEM subjects adds more than 7.8% to earnings, when compared to just gaining the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) level qualifications (equivalent to the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia, or the Malaysian Certificate of Education). In addition, recent forecasts have suggested that increasing the number of women working in STEM sectors can increase the UK’s labour value by at least £2 billion. We believe lessons from our experience can be shared with Malaysia, to support more women to benefit from STEM education,” added Mr Azbaha.

The ILO-UK-UM partnership is part of SfP-Malaysia’s larger endeavour to improve the quality, inclusiveness, relevance and cost-effectiveness of TVET and skills development systems in Malaysia. SfP-Malaysia is part of the ILO-led Skills for Prosperity in South-East Asia Programme funded by the UK government.

For further information and media inquiries please contact:

Surasak Glahan
Communication and Information Management Officer
ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
M: +66 61 450 7337, E: glahan@ilo.org (Bangkok, Thailand)

Shaza Onn
Senior Project Officer
Skills for Prosperity Programme in Malaysia
M:+60 13 244 9369, E: alauddinonn@ilo.org (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)