No specific act to mandate industrial training allowance payment - Mustapha

KUALA LUMPUR - The Dewan Rakyat was told today that there was no specific act mandating the payment of allowances for industrial training in ministries, agencies or government departments.

Deputy Human Resources Minister Mustapha Sakmud, however, said the Human Resources Ministry will soon be discussing the matter.

"There has not yet been a specific act to ensure that our industry trainees, especially young people, are required to be paid an allowance. However this matter will be taken into consideration and the proposal will be refined and discussed at the highest level of the ministry," he said during the question and answer session.

He was replying to a supplementary question from Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman (Muda-Muar) who wanted to know why there are still ministries, agencies or government departments that have not continued paying the industrial training allowance from RM300 to RM900 as stipulated by the Cabinet in 2019.

Mustapha, at the same time, said the Human Resources Ministry, through Pembangunan Sumber Manusia Berhad (PSMB) had implemented the Industrial Training Scheme, introduced with the aim of enabling employers to get financial assistance if they want to recruit students for industrial training in their companies.

Mustapha said financial assistance in the form of a monthly allowance (maximum RM500 per month) can be applied by using levy and will be given to trainees for at least two to eight months throughout their industrial training period.

"In 2022, PSMB approved a total of 6,243 trainees for the scheme and assistance totalling RM10.97 million, while from January to April 2023, a total of 3,787 trainees benefited from financial assistance totalling RM7.42 million.

"The implementation of this incentive has helped students in undergoing industrial training with companies in various industries and can further equip and expose them to the working world,” he said.

He was replying to the original question from Mohd Sany Hamzan (PH-Hulu Langat) who had asked whether the government plans to create an incentive fund to help employers create appropriate opportunities for students of higher learning centres to carry out work training assignments (internships) with reasonable allowances. - BERNAMA