KUALA LUMPUR: The Higher Education Ministry now focuses on premium wages for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), says Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin.

“For the ministry, our focus is no longer graduate employability, but our target is premium wages,” said the Higher Education Minister.

Premium wages refer to a monthly salary of RM4,000 or more.

Khaled said about 10% of Malaysian Technical University Network graduates received premium wages, and 38% of TVET graduates from public universities received a salary of RM2,500 and above.

“About 0.9% of polytechnic graduates with diplomas are receiving premium wages. About 6.1% are receiving RM2,500 and above,” he said

Among the initiatives that would be taken to attain this target is to have cooperation between the polytechnic institutions and the industry players.

“We will prepare new programs that fulfil the country's and industry's needs,” he said.

Khaled was responding to a question by Datuk Muslimin Yahaya (PN-Sungai Besar) on the government’s effort to improve the wages of TVET graduates and ensure that Malaysians take up such jobs.

Khaled said between 2018 and 2023, there were 256,901 TVET courses under the Education Ministry.

Of this, 71,825 were from public universities, 185,076 were from polytechnics, and 45,497 were from community colleges.

Between 2018 and 2022, the graduate employability rate of TVET graduates from public universities stood at 9.8%.