KUALA LUMPUR, March 12 – The government will consider exempting those in school from the reintroduced National Service Training Programme (PLKN), Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said.
He said this matter, however, was still under consideration.
“PLKN may not involve those who are in school… perhaps after (completing) school. We are considering all of this, and we take note of concerns for the adjustments to be made,” he told a media conference at the Parliament building here.
The government had before this announced plans to reintroduce PLKN, which was abolished in 2018, through two phases.
Phase 1 will involve Form Four students through the Education Ministry (MOE) curriculum that will include co-curricular activities such as police cadets, firefighters and scouts while Form Five students, exempted from Phase 1 to allow them to prepare for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia examination, would join Phase 2 at the territorial army training camps.
Elaborating, Mohamed Khaled said the programme, based on 80 per cent military training and 20 per cent on nationhood theoretical courses, could be implemented next year.
“The coursework for nationhood will be discussed with the Higher Education Ministry as it involves unity elements and so on, and that will be given due attention. As for the military aspect, it will be handled by the Defence Ministry,” he said.
