SERDANG, Malaysia, Oct. 3 — The two-day ASEAN Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Conference concluded on Monday (26 September 2016) with the participation of over 200 representatives of TVET institutes, line ministries, stakeholders from ASEAN Member States and non-ASEAN countries, and ASEAN Secretariat.
Participants discussed various issues such as industry involvement, dual TVET systems, inter-agency coordination in implementing TVET systems, relevance of TVET curricula and infrastructure, quality of trainers and skills recognition.
In his opening remarks, H.E. AKP Mochtan, Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for Community and Corporate Affairs said “TVET institutes across ASEAN Member States play an important role in producing graduates that are relevant to labor market demands and regionally competitive. Therefore, improving the quality of TVET systems in our region is critical.”
Furthermore, Dato’ Sri Adenan bin Ab. Rahman, Secretary-General of the Ministry of Human Resources of Malaysia underlined that “a competent and competitive workforce enhances economic growth in the country and ultimately improves the quality of life of its people.”
Experts from Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), International Labour Organisation, Human Resources Development Korea, SEAMEO VOCTEC, Department for International Trade of United Kingdom, Howarth & Co., and universities from Malaysia and Republic of Korea shared their initiatives and experiences to promote workforce competencies, TVET quality and skills standards.
The conference was convened in conjunction with the 11th ASEAN Skills Competition which began last week and will end on September 28. Nearly 300 competitors from ASEAN are participating in the event to demonstrate technical abilities both individually and collectively in 23 skills areas. The biennial ASEAN Skills Competition started in 1995 in Malaysia as a regional platform of vocational education and skills excellence.
Since then, the competition has been hosted by the Philippines (1996), Thailand (2001), Indonesia (2002), Viet Nam (2004), Brunei Darussalam (2006), Malaysia (2008), Thailand (2010), Indonesia (2012), and Viet Nam (2014). The 12th and 13thASEAN Skills Competition will be hosted by Thailand in 2018 and Singapore in 2020, respectively. (ASEAN)