By: Retave’s TVET Desk Editor
The way to take in more students, says Dr Azmir Mohd Yunus, is to move more of their learning into the workplace.
Dr Azmir, head of the National TVET Council (MTVET) Secretariat, made that point two days before Budget 2027 was tabled. Malaysia’s technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions can accommodate about 450,000 students at any one time, he said, so work-based learning opens room for many more.
On 9 October, tabling Budget 2027 in the Dewan Rakyat, Parliament’s lower house, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim gave the sector its number: RM8 billion across ministries. It’s the third year in a row that the figure has gone up, and the money reaches well beyond the classroom, into training places, job placements and graduate pay.
A third rise in a row
The total has climbed for three years running, from RM7.5 billion in Budget 2025 to RM7.9 billion in Budget 2026, and now to RM8 billion.
Three million places, and who fills them
The biggest share runs through the Human Resource Development Corporation (HRD Corp): RM3 billion for three million skills training opportunities, including continuing professional development for professionals. For a polytechnic or skills institute student, the closest line is the Skills Development Fund Corporation (PTPK), which provides RM500 million in financing for trainees at registered public and private skills training institutes.
Several smaller lines are aimed at particular groups. Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) will train and place 1,000 Bumiputera (ethnic Malay and Indigenous) youths in high-growth sectors. The Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) will train 10,000 young people in robotics and digital technologies. The Manpower Department’s Advanced Technology Training Centre (ADTEC) will run an Advanced Automotive Technology programme for graduates, and community colleges will keep offering short courses for tahfiz (Quran memorisation school) students.
Armed forces personnel leaving service from the other ranks will train through Universiti Kuala Lumpur’s Malaysian Institute of Aviation Technology (UniKL MIAT) and the Malaysian Maritime Academy (ALAM). Funding for the Malaysian Indian Transformation Unit (MITRA) has risen to RM150 million to provide training and jobs for Indian youth in industrial automation, technology, and aircraft maintenance.
One line does two jobs at once. Trainees from GIATMARA, MARA’s network of skills centres, who are skilled in electrical wiring, will repair wiring in 20,000 homes of low-income families, so the training doubles as community service.
The Federal Expenditure Estimates 2027 add the Ministry of Higher Education’s share. Polytechnics and community colleges get RM1.82 billion in operating money, up from RM1.74 billion, and the polytechnic development line rises to RM386 million from an amended RM270 million this year.
Technical universities are reading the RM8 billion as a boost to nurturing skilled talent. Datuk Prof Dr Zaliman Sauli, vice-chancellor of Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), set out the aim in a statement on 10 October: “Our goal is not merely to produce academically excellent graduates, but also to nurture skilled individuals with integrity and resilience who can contribute meaningfully to society and national development.”
30,000 jobs through BAKAT Madani
BAKAT Madani began with six government-linked investment companies, Petronas and a network of government-linked companies committing to train and employ 25,000 young people. For 2027, the target is 30,000 new job opportunities, with private companies invited in. Firms that run BAKAT Madani training programmes are eligible for a tax deduction from 29 June 2026 to 31 December 2030.
“Many of the graduates here will be happy”
The national minimum wage will rise from RM1,700 to RM2,000 per month as of June 2027. Micro, small, and medium enterprises with annual sales below RM50 million are exempted, which, the speech says, gives them room to adjust their business models.
For TVET graduates, the next line matters as much. The government says it will reform the wage framework, “beginning with a minimum wage of 2,500 ringgit a month for semi-skilled workers and graduates.” Which jobs count as semi-skilled, and from when, are the details to settle. That RM2,500 is also the bottom of the premium pay range of RM2,500 to RM4,000 for TVET graduates, agreed with employers in September 2024. Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who chairs the National TVET Council, announced it at the time.
Seventeen days before the budget, Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri R. Ramanan had hinted that good news was coming. At a convocation for 929 diploma and advanced diploma graduates on 22 September, he told them: “I think many of the graduates here will be happy with what is in the Budget.” He also said pay for highly skilled TVET workers could now reach RM16,000, up from about RM12,000.
1.19 million places by 2031
MTVET’s pre-budget pitch was specific. Dr Azmir wanted Budget 2027 to back work-based learning, apprenticeships and the Industry-Based Academy model, to help create 1,188,479 new TVET enrolment places between 2027 and 2031. He also noted that the 2030 target for Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) school leavers entering TVET, set at 60 per cent in the 13th Malaysia Plan, was raised to 70 per cent at an MTVET meeting on 5 March.
The speech channels training money through HRD Corp, PTPK and BAKAT Madani. Specific lines for work-based learning and for MTVET itself could be set out at the committee stage. In Budget 2026, MTVET was allocated RM45 million, including money for digital and AI skills for 10,000 tahfiz and pondok (traditional religious school) students.
Another idea to follow is a proposal the Human Resources Ministry raised in July. Back then, Datuk Seri Ramanan said he would take a proposal to the Cabinet to turn RM100 million in PTPK loans for high-skill training into grants, adding that it depended on the economy and the government’s deliberations.
Dr Azmir’s case before the budget was about room to grow. Budget 2027’s training lines, from three million HRD Corp training places to RM500 million in PTPK financing for trainees at public and private institutions, give that growth plenty to build on. With TVET funding up for a third year running, the sector heads into 2027 with momentum.
Further Reading
- Budget 2027 gives Malaysia’s universities RM19.1 billion, and their students a lighter load
- Budget 2027 adds 100,000 free AI subscriptions for young Malaysians, ChatGPT included
- Malaysia’s TVET Funding Model Has a Structural Flaw
Sources
- Bernama. (2024, September 23). TVET graduates to earn premium salaries of up to RM4,000 – Ahmad Zahid. https://bernama.com/en/general/news.php?id=2343395
- Bernama. (2025, October 10). Budget 2026: TVET allocation increases to RM7.9 billion. https://www.bernama.com/en/news.php?id=2477239
- Bernama. (2026a, September 22). Ramanan hints at good news for TVET graduates in Budget 2027. https://www.bernama.com/en/general/news.php?id=2610311
- Bernama. (2026b, October 6). Second reading of Supply Bill 2027 this Friday at 3.30 pm. https://www.bernama.com/tv/news.php?id=2616079
- Bernama. (2026c, October 7). Budget 2027: Work-based learning key to expanding TVET access – MTVET. https://bernama.com/en/general/news.php?id=2616420
- Bernama. (2026d, October 9). Budget 2027: Government raises minimum wage to RM2,000 – PM Anwar. https://bernama.com/en/general/news.php?id=2617639
- Bernama. (2026e, October 10). Budget 2027: RM8 bln TVET allocation to boost efforts to nurture skilled talent – UniMAP. https://www.bernama.com/en/general/news.php?id=2618359
- Ministry of Finance Malaysia. (2025). Budget 2026 speech [English translation of the speech by Prime Minister and Finance Minister Anwar Ibrahim, tabled in the Dewan Rakyat on 10 October 2025]. https://belanjawan.mof.gov.my/pdf/belanjawan2026/ucapan/bs26.pdf
- Ministry of Finance Malaysia. (2026a). Budget 2027 speech [English translation of the speech by Prime Minister and Finance Minister Anwar Ibrahim, tabled in the Dewan Rakyat on 9 October 2026]. https://belanjawan.mof.gov.my/pdf/belanjawan2027/ucapan/bs27.pdf
- Ministry of Finance Malaysia. (2026b). Anggaran perbelanjaan persekutuan 2027: Kementerian Pendidikan Tinggi (B.64 dan P.64) [Federal expenditure estimates 2027: Ministry of Higher Education]. https://belanjawan.mof.gov.my/pdf/belanjawan2027/perbelanjaan/BP.64.pdf
- RTM. (2026, July 2). Cadangan tukar pembiayaan RM100 juta TVET kepada geran dibawa ke Jemaah Menteri [Proposal to convert RM100 million in TVET financing into grants taken to the Cabinet]. https://berita.rtm.gov.my/nasional/senarai-berita-nasional/senarai-artikel/cadangan-tukar-pembiayaan-rm100-juta-tvet-kepada-geran-dibawa-ke-jemaah-menteri/
