An employer survey on industrial sector involvement in Malaysian national dual training system

Abstract

The main purpose of this survey is to get industrial employers' feedback on the reasons for their lack of involvement in National Dual Training System (NDTS) organized by the Department of Skills Development, Ministry of Human Resources Malaysia. Industrial employers' involvement and support is very important in ensuring NDTS implementation success. Therefore, it is very critical to identify factors and barriers that hinder industrial sectors from participating in NDTS program. A survey questionnaire was developed to act as a data collection instrument. Survey questionnaire was sent to 5,000 companies comprising of multinationals, small and medium-sized industries. However, only 509 companies returned the completed questionnaires giving a low response rate of 10.18%. Survey results revealed the following factors hinders industrial sectors from participating in NDTS program; they are: training culture, organizational structure, financial and physical resources, policies, NDTS awareness, employer's commitment and technological factors. In addition, survey result showed respondents companies have good training culture; however, they tend to focus on-the-job training. Majority of respondents did not participate in the NDTS because they were not aware about its existence and no information or publicity materials made available to them. Therefore, the authors strongly suggest the Department of Skills Development, Ministry of Human Resources Malaysia to enhance their promotion and publicity campaign on NDTS program to industrial sectors.