SHAH ALAM, Nov 25 — The Ministry of Human Resources (KSM) plans to introduce the Tahfiz Malaysian Skills Certificate (SKM) in an effort to improve students’ academic performance.

Its Deputy Minister Datuk Mahfuz Omar said armed with this certificate, students in the tahfiz stream would have more job opportunities.

“Currently when the tahfiz students complete their studies, they will only obtain an educational certificate from the institution. However, with the Tahfiz SKM, they will be equipped with several other skills apart from the ability to memorise the Quran.

“So far, I have met over 70 tahfiz centre operators in Kedah and they seem to agree that the move will provide a brighter future for tahfiz students. I hope Kedah will be a pioneer in this endeavor,” he told reporters after launching the Cyber Security Modular Professional Certification Programme here today.

Also present was Malaysia Board of Technologists (MBOT) president Tan Sri Dr Ts. Ahmad Zaidee Laidin and the ministry’s secretary-general Datuk Amir Omar.

Mahfuz said efforts to introduce the Tahfiz SKM was akin to the objectives of having the technical and vocational education and training (TVET) programme, which was introduced earlier to enable the students to obtain TVET certificates.

“As such the first step (in the introduction of the Tahfiz SKM) is to upgrade the tahfiz centre management and for the teaching staff to attend similar courses adopting TVET teaching and management methods,” he said.

Earlier at the event, MBOT together with the Department of Skills Development (JPK) and CyberSecurity Malaysia held a strategic collaboration to develop the certification programme.

A total of 14 memorandums of understanding were exchanged between MBOT and representatives of institutes of higher learning, among them Perdana University, Taylor’s University, Institution of Civil Engineers, Centre of Applied Data Science and Open University Malaysia (OUM).

Source: Bernama