83,000 dropouts in three years

Thursday May 1, 2008
83,000 dropouts in three years

SOME 83,000 students dropped out from primary and secondary schools in the past three years and the Government wants to stop this.
“Although this figure represents a small 2% of the total five million students that we have, 83,000 is still quite a number and we want to further reduce the number,” Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak told reporters yesterday.
He added that several measures would be taken to reduce the dropout rate including asking the Education Ministry to set up vocational schools catering for younger students.
“This will give more students who are not academically-inclined to continue their education in vocational institutes,” said Najib after chairing the National Training Council meeting at the Parliament.
He added that training more skilled workers would also complement the country's needs, including the ability to supply more workers to small- and medium-scale industries (SMIs).
The Government has decided to provide a RM300 monthly allowance to each apprentice undergoing the training scheme, which was meant to meet the demand for SMI workers.
The meeting, said Najib, also made projections for future needs for workers in industries aiding the progress of the economy, such as the services sector.
With the projections, the Government would take the necessary steps to provide the right kind of skills training to meet industry needs.