KUALA LUMPUR: The National Training Index (NTI), the first index to measure training and development in Southeast Asia will revolutionise the training and development landscape for Malaysia as the country marches towards unveiling a progressive wage model.
The NTI, which was developed by the Human Resources Development Corporation (HRD Corp), is seen as a module that will not only standardise and streamline the way training effectiveness are measured but also set the benchmark for industry players to emulate.
Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) executive director Datuk Shamsuddin Bardan described NTI as a good and timely initiative because the country is working on accelerating growth and future-proofing the economy.
“We are talking about a progressive wage model and under that model, training plays a very important part. When we have this particular index drawn up, at least we have a direction on how training should be conducted throughout the nation,” he told Bernama.
Shamsuddin also hoped NTI will spur the small industry players to take up training and treating it as an investment for them by having more skillful and productive employees because a combination of skillful workers with new technology would enhance productivity to a higher level and become more competitive.
He was confident that NTI will also help place Malaysia in the top 12 of the Global Competitiveness Index as outlined by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in the country’s economic framework “Madani Economy: Empowering the People”.
Yesterday, Human Resource Minister V. Sivakumar launched the NTI, that measures the level of training activeness and activities among Malaysian industries including employers, economic sectors and sub-sectors while providing recommendations to relevant bodies on how to improve training activity levels within their respective industries.
The NTI Report which will be published annually to ensure its relevance for industry players is assessed through three dimensions, namely Firm Preparedness, Worker Skills Development and Training Provider Effectiveness, plus 19 indicators.
Meanwhile, chief technical advisor, Skills for Prosperity in South-East Asia Programme-Malaysia, International Labour Organisation (ILO) Junichi Mori said NTI can be a good reference to other countries in this region since no similar examples have been outlined in Southeast Asia.
He pointed out that data was important because it can be turned into insights that inform collective action and shape nation’s policies, thus the NTI is a good framework.
“This is a very interesting because it is Malaysia’s own initiative. I do not see similar examples in this region. This is going to be a good example,” he said.
HRD Corp chief executive Datuk Shahul Dawood said the NTI provides HRD Corp, the Human Resource Ministry and government with comprehensive insights into the issues, challenges and opportunities in nurturing nation’s workforce and talent.
As an industry-led framework, he was confident that the Index will be a game-changer for the local industry players and workforce because it shows them their respective training activity levels as measured against their counterparts and whether they are ahead or lagging behind.
He pointed out that the NTI itself was five years in the making and featured inputs from 19 industry representatives covering government agencies, industry players and academia while the Working Group Committee was responsible for identifying the three dimensions and 19 indicators to measure the country’s success in training and development.
“From the numerous assessments, we were able to track firm preparedness, worker skills development and training provider effectiveness for five economic sectors, 238 sub-sectors, over 81,000 employers and close to 4.3 million employees,” he added.
NTI which examines the readiness of employers to invest in employee training and development; the skills development of workers and the effectiveness of training providers, will help raise the bar, and place Malaysian talents on the world stage for decades to come. – BERNAMA
