AKTA PEMBANGUNAN KEMAHIRAN KEBANGSAAN (PINDAAN) 2026

National Skills Development (Amendment) 1 LAWS OF MALAYSIA NATIONAL SKILLS DEVELOPMENT (AMENDMENT) ACT 2026 Laws of Malaysia 2 Date of Royal Assent ... ... 10 February 2026 Date of publication in the ... ... 23 February 2026 Gazette Publisher’s Copyright C PERCETAKAN NASIONAL MALAYSIA BERHAD All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording and/or otherwise without the prior permission of Percetakan Nasional Malaysia Berhad (Appointed Printer to the Government of Malaysia). National Skills Development (Amendment) 3 LAWS OF MALAYSIA NATIONAL SKILLS DEVELOPMENT (AMENDMENT) ACT 2026

An Act to amend the National Skills Development Act 2006. [ ] ENACTED by the Parliament of Malaysia as follows: Short title and commencement

1. (1) This Act may be cited as the National Skills Development (Amendment) Act 2026.

(2) This Act comes into operation on a date to be appointed by the Minister by notification in the Gazette and the Minister may appoint different dates for the coming into operation of different provisions of this Act. Laws of Malaysia 4 Amendment of section 2

2. The National Skills Development Act 2006 [Act 652], which is referred to as the “principal Act” in this Act, is amended in section 2—

(a) by substituting for the definition of “curriculum” the following definition: ‘ “curriculum” means the content of an organized training programme conducted by a skills training provider based on the Standards indicating the activities to be undertaken, the time allotted to each activity, and their sequence;’;

(b) by substituting for the definition of “accreditation” the following definition: ‘ “accreditation” means a procedure by which the Director General evaluates and approves a skills training programme based on the Standards;’;

(c) in the definition of “accredited programme”, by substituting for the words “training programme” the words “skills training programme”; and

(d) in the definition of “Certificate”, by inserting after the words “skills qualification” the words “or skills recognition”. Amendment of section 5

3. Subsection 5(1) of the principal Act is amended—

(a) in paragraph (c)—

(i) by substituting for the word “nine” the word “twelve”;

(ii) in subparagraph (i), by substituting for the words “Economic Planning Unit in the Prime Minister ’s Department” the words “Ministry responsible for economy”; National Skills Development (Amendment)

(iii) by deleting the word “and” at the end of subparagraph (viii);

(iv) by deleting the word “and” at the end of subparagraph (ix); and

(v) by inserting after subparagraph (ix) the following subparagraphs: “(x) one is a member representing the Ministry responsible for women, family and community development;

(xi) one is a member representing the Ministry responsible for rural and regional development; and

(xii) one is a member representing the Ministry responsible for investment, trade and industry; and”; and

(b) in paragraph (d)—

(i) by substituting for the word “ten” the word “eleven”;

(ii) by deleting the word “and” at the end of subparagraph (iii);

(iii) by substituting for the full stop at the end of subparagraph (iv) the words “; and”; and

(iv) by inserting after subparagraph (iv) the following subparagraph: “(v) one is a member representing the Malaysia Board of Technologists.”. Laws of Malaysia 6 Amendment of section 17

4. Section 17 of the principal Act is amended—

(a) in subsection (2)—

(i) in paragraph (a), by deleting the word “and” at the end of the paragraph;

(ii) in paragraph (b), by substituting for the full stop at the end of the paragraph the words “; and”; and

(iii) by inserting after paragraph (b) the following paragraph: “(c) the granting of recognition to any other training programmes under section 36a.”; and

(b) in subsection (5), in the national language text, by substituting for the words “Penolong Kanan Pengarah” the words “Penolong Pengarah Kanan”. Amendment of section 24

5. Section 24 of the principal Act is amended—

(a) in subsection (1), by substituting for the words “its training programme” the words “its skills training programme”;

(b) in subsection (5), by inserting after the words “or any officer of the department responsible for skills development” the words “or any other person appointed by the Director General”; and National Skills Development (Amendment)

(c) by inserting after subsection (5) the following subsection:   “(6)  A skills training provider shall be disqualified from applying for the accreditation of a skills training programme under subsection (1) if the skills training provider has an existing accredited programme in respect of which the certificate of accreditation has been suspended or revoked by the Director General under section 29 or 32, as the case may be, and a period of one year from the effective date of such suspension or revocation has not lapsed.”. Amendment of section 25

6. Paragraph 25(1)(a) of the principal Act is amended by substituting for the words “three years” the words “not more than six years”. Amendment of section 27

7. Paragraph 27(2)(a) of the principal Act is amended by substituting for the words “three years” the words “not more than six years”. Amendment of section 29

8. Section 29 of the principal Act is amended by inserting after subsection (2) the following subsections:   “(3)  Upon receipt of the written notice under subsection (2), the skills training provider may make written representations to the Director General within thirty days from the date of the receipt of the notice, stating the reasons why the certificate of accreditation in respect of the accredited programme should not be suspended or revoked. Laws of Malaysia 8

(4)  After the expiry of the period of thirty days specified in subsection (3) or after considering any written representations made, the Director General may—

(a) issue a warning and give directions to the skills training provider for the skills training provider to rectify, to the satisfaction of the Director General, the matter in respect of which the proposed suspension or revocation relates; or

(b) proceed with the proposed action to suspend or revoke the certificate of accreditation.

(5)  If the skills training provider fails to rectify the matter as required under paragraph (4)(a), the Director General may proceed to suspend or revoke the certificate of accreditation.

(6)  A written notice of the decision of the Director General to suspend or revoke the certificate of accreditation shall be served to the skills training provider if the action of suspension or revocation is imposed under paragraph (4)(b) or subsection (5).

(7)  The suspension or revocation of the certificate of accreditation under this section shall take effect on the date specified by the Director General in the written notice served under subsection (6).”. Substitution of section 34

9. The principal Act is amended by substituting for section 34 the following section: “Award of Certificate

34.  (1)  The Director General may award a Certificate to any person who has conformed to the Standards in respect of the following skills qualifications:

(a) Malaysian Skills Certificate;

(b) Malaysian Skills Diploma; National Skills Development (Amendment)

(c) Malaysian Skills Advanced Diploma;

(d) Malaysian Modular Skills Certificate; or

(e) Statements of Achievement.

(2)  The Director General may award a Certificate to any person who has conformed to the Standards in respect of the following skills recognitions:

(a) Skills Expert;

(b) Senior Skills Expert; or

(c) Skills Consultant.”. New Part VIIa

10. The principal Act is amended by inserting after section 36 the following part: “Part VIIa RECOGNITION OF OTHER TRAINING PROGRAMMES Recognition of other training programmes 36a.  (1)  Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Act, the Director General may, subject to the terms and conditions as he deems appropriate, grant recognition to any other training programme not based on the Standards, conducted by any establishment, body or organization, whether established within or outside Malaysia, for the purpose of the granting of skills training loan or skills training financial assistance by the Perbadanan Tabung Pembangunan Kemahiran under the Skills Development Fund Act 2004 [Act 640].

(2)  An application for the recognition of other training programme under subsection (1) shall be made by the establishment, body or organization conducting the training programme to the Director General in such form and manner as may be prescribed. Laws of Malaysia 10

(3)  Every application under this section shall be accompanied with such documents, information and fee as may be prescribed.

(4)  At any time after receiving an application for recognition under subsection (2) and before it is determined, the Director General may by written notice require the applicant to provide additional documents and information within the period specified in the notice.

(5)  Where the additional documents and information required under subsection (4) are not provided by the applicant within the specified period or any such extended period as may be allowed by the Director General, the application shall be deemed to be withdrawn and shall not be further proceeded with, but without prejudice to the right of the applicant to make a fresh application.

(6)  For the purposes of recognition under this section, the Director General may establish an evaluation and recognition committee to advise and to make recommendations to the Director General on matters relating to such recognition.

(7)  The Director General may, at any time, revoke the recognition given under subsection (1) if the establishment, body or organization whose training programme has been granted the recognition has failed to comply with the terms and conditions imposed under that subsection.

(8)  For the purposes of this section, “Perbadanan Tabung Pembangunan Kemahiran” means the Perbadanan Tabung Pembangunan Kemahiran established under section 6 of the Skills Development Fund Act 2004.”. Amendment of section 52

11. Section 52 of the principal Act is amended by inserting after the words “enrols trainees for” the words “or carries out”. National Skills Development (Amendment) 11 Amendment of section 54

12. Subsection 54(1) of the principal Act is amended by inserting after the words “in relation to a skills training provider” the words “, Certificate or accredited programme”. Amendment of section 55

13. Subsection 55(1) of the principal Act is amended in the national language text by substituting for the words “tidak melebihi dua puluh ribu ringgit” the words “tidak kurang daripada dua puluh ribu ringgit”. Amendment of section 57

14. Section 57 of the principal Act is amended by inserting after the words “skills training programme” the words “or for the award of a Certificate”. Amendment of section 72

15. Subsection 72(2) of the principal Act is amended—

(a) by inserting after paragraph (b) the following paragraph: “(ba) the procedure, manner and form of evaluation of skills recognition;”; and

(b) by inserting after paragraph (c) the following paragraphs: “(ca) the procedure, manner and form of application for skills recognition and the award of skills recognition; (cb) the procedure, manner and form of application for recognition of other training programme;”.