Thousands of students from B40 families are reportedly affected following the discontinuation of education loans and living allowances under the Skills Development Fund Corporation (PTPK).
The issue has been ongoing for several years and is becoming increasingly critical as new students no longer receive funding while existing students lose their living allowance.
The lack of financial assistance has caused many students to have to bear the cost of food, transportation and accommodation themselves, to the point that some have had to postpone their studies.
The Federation of Malaysian Accredited Training Centres (FeMAC) explained that the main cause of the problem is the lack of PTPK funds and not the weaknesses of private TVET institutions.
FeMAC also stressed that the single TVET rating should be used as the basis for training centre qualifications, rather than additional requirements that complicate institutions.
This funding crisis has not only burdened B40 students but has also affected the operations of more than 350 private training centres that depend on the admission of new students.
This situation threatens the country's target of producing 1.3 million skilled workers by 2030 as students potentially have to drop out of their studies.
FeMAC has put forward five main demands to the government including immediate additional funds, annual fixed allocations, and repayment of outstanding allowances.
They also called for an open explanation from the ministry and a new mechanism to ensure the sustainability of TVET loans in the future.
FeMAC supports measures to increase repayment collection from graduates but insists that institutions cannot be blamed for borrowers' failure to repay their debts.
Failure to address this issue immediately risks undermining the local skilled workforce development agenda and increasing reliance on foreign workers.
