Activation Policies for the Poor in OIC Member States
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Training
The Malaysian government under the Ministry of Education is successfully driving the academic
attainment of students. However, the government has identified that an academic route is not
appropriate for all students and as such an alternative vocational route has been established for
those students that drop out or fail the academic system. In this regard, the Department of Skills
Development is responsible for managing, coordinating and promoting skills training programmes
and career development based on skills competencies.
The National Dual Training System (NDTS) programme was established in 2005 and the objective of
the NDTS programme is to ensure that those individuals have the right skills to move into
employment by providing a direct link to employment. The programme provides industry orientated
training that combines workplace and institutional training. The programme therefore ensures that
training provided includes a significant proportion of employment. This was based on the Malaysian
government following a similar apprenticeship approach followed in Germany.
Because the programme focuses on those individuals that have not been able to obtain a high level of
education, the programme helps prevent poverty by providing training that links directly to
employment and secondly, the participants on the programmes tend to be from more disadvantaged
communities.
The NDTS programmes last for between six months to two years. Most courses last for six months to
a year. The key delivery method is a 30/70 split, with 30% of the time being spent with a training
provider and 70% of the time with an employer. This mechanism ensures that there is a direct match
for the training to support an individual into work. The NDTS programme is available to individuals
under the age of 30 and approximately 100,000 individuals participate in the programme per
annum. This is approximately half the number of people that continue into higher education each
year.
The NDTS programme is funded by the government and is very well funded. Allowances and
payments are given to the provider for undertaking the training, the employer for providing the
placement and additionally to the individuals studying. This gives a clear incentive for individual
and employer participation. The programme provides training and employment support to young
people that drop out of the academic system and increases the vocational skill levels of individuals.
MARA is an example of a government funded provider, a large organisation that focuses on the
delivery of education, investment and entrepreneurship. The literal translation of MARA is the
Council of Trust for Malaysians. The programmes provided by MARA combine both technical and
vocational training with entrepreneurship. The aim here is to help individuals to become not just
jobseekers (once they have developed the appropriate technical and functional skills) but to become
job creators.
NGOs also play a key role in supporting engagement of poor communities. SOLS is an example of an
NGO funded SSN programme from donations that seeks to work with disadvantaged and poor young
and help them into employment. The support provided by SOLS is targeted at helping the young in
disadvantaged communities. Typically the individuals have had limited access to education, and this
could be for a variety cultural and religious reasons that have prevented engagement. Many of the
individuals that SOLS work with are not interested in education and do not see the value of
education. The biggest challenge is soft skills and English and the programme works to address
these gaps. Indeed, programmes are targeted at providing the skills that young people need to
secure a job. This includes IT, English and soft skills (or employability skills). The programme is not
targeted on providing a full education, but just addressing the key barriers that prevent a person
from getting a job. Therefore the programme focuses on English, IT skills and also life skills, or
employability skills such as confidence.
SOLS is operated from 22 SOLS centres and to date over 5,000 have passed through SOLS
programmes and of those 90% have moved into employment.