KUALA LUMPUR: Steven Sim will be taking the Malaysian Skills Certificate (SKM) for his fifth-level certification, alongside 100 industry leaders, to prove that technical and vocational education and training (TVET) extends beyond ordinary individuals.

“The IR Industry Revolution 4.0 is a TVET revolution. An education programme should be training individuals for the real world by making them learn on the job and by practice,” said the Human Resources Minister during the National Economic Forum 2025 held at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday (July 17).

He mentioned that the cabinet has agreed to table an amendment to the National Skills Development Act 2006 to increase the levels of SKM to 6, 7 and 8, to enhance the quality of TVET in the country.

He said these levels were equivalent to an individual receiving a degree or a master’s certification.

“We want to make sure the recipients are not just stuck at level 5 (advanced diploma), but to go all out to higher levels,” said Sim.

He also hoped that this bill would be tabled in Parliament this year.

At the same time, Sim highlighted a flagship program under the ministry, Academy In Industry (ADI), which allows students to directly learn within the business environment, in the real world. Similarly, he mentioned another program called ILHAM program, which aims to provide 20,000 structured internships focusing on job learning set for a longer period.

“This structured internship is a human factor development.

“Under this programme, we not only provide double tax deduction for all of your internship expenses but also allow SME in the outskirts to use the Human Resource Development Corporation (HRD Corp) levy to pay your interns, “said Sim.