More Malaysians choosing skills over degrees vocational training gets boost from Beijing

SEPANG, Selangor/ BAGAN DATUK, Perak - At 19, Mr Syed Amirul Syafiq Syed Norazman was unsure about his future. Today, the 26-year-old is on track to complete his diploma in electrical engineering, after which he will be a vital part of an electric train maintenance team.

“With my mother’s blessing, I’ve been given this golden opportunity to study in China,” he told The Straits Times while preparing for his first overseas trip.

The training stint in China will help Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) students like him enhance their skills and earning potential.

Mr Amirul, who hails from Temerloh, about 130km east of federal capital Kuala Lumpur, was among 102 students from Universiti Kuala Lumpur British Malaysian Institute (UniKL-BMI) who left on May 19 for a year-long practical railway engineering course at the Liuzhou Railway Vocational and Technical College, located about 500km west of Guangzhou city in southern China.

The medium of instruction for the current course at Liuzhou College is English, and trainees will also attend Chinese-language classes.

UniKL-BMI is one of 694 public institutions in Malaysia offering post-secondary technical and vocational training – akin to Singapore’s Institute of Technical Education – with programmes ranging from electrical and electronics engineering and smart automation to culinary arts and fashion, starting from age 15.

This was the latest TVET batch sent for overseas exposure.

Malaysia has sent a total of 2,621 trainees to China as at May 1, 2025, according to Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

“The students stand to benefit from exposure to global-level upskilling in areas such as electric vehicles (EVs),industrial automation systems and the Internet of Things (IoT) during their training in China,” said Datuk Seri Zahid, who is also the National TVET Council chairman.

The TVET tie-ups with Beijing, which started in November