KUALA LUMPUR: The government is stepping up efforts to develop Malaysia’s local aged care workforce by pushing for stronger integration of caregiving into Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), said Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri.
Nancy said TVET must now be expanded and prioritised as a key part of the country’s national care infrastructure.
She said the move is part of broader efforts to meet rising care demands and reduce Malaysia’s dependence on foreign caregivers.
“This is an ongoing programme that we have. It should have started long ago, but we can’t keep hopping on that — we need to keep doing the work moving forward,” she said at a press conference during the ASEAN-ROK Conference on Care and Support for Older Persons.
“Our next plan, if God wills, is to recruit more people who are interested. We have to work more with the TVET programme for caregiving.
“I think that is one way of raising awareness, especially for those who are looking for jobs — to let them know this is something noble to do.”
She said that caregiving is not only meaningful, but also offers strong income potential, with institutions already approaching the ministry for help sourcing local talent.
“Quite a number of institutions have even come to us to help them find those interested in this industry. So we take this seriously,” she said.
Nancy said the ministry has already begun upskilling its own staff and now plans to expand training and certification to the wider public.
“We want to do more — we want to give them upskilling courses and better qualifications so they can value their certificates or degrees and use them to secure better jobs.”
She emphasised the need to build a self-sufficient local caregiving workforce.
“There are quite a number of people in our country who are relying on other countries to provide caregivers.
“But we don’t want to keep relying on others. It’s time for us to have our own.
“We’re already working on this, and we hope to speed up the process so we can grow the workforce as fast as possible,” she said.
