The Otomotif College (TOC) expects to produce about 300 skilled auto maintenance and repair workers next year as it continued to get more student enrolments from Malaysia and abroad, said CEO and founder Adelaine Foo Lee Kwan.

Although the numbers are small Foo said TOC would prefer to emphasise on the quality rather than quantity of students.

“We want them to represent not just as an individual person but an ambassador of skilled workers,” Foo told The Malaysian Reserve (TMR) after the official launch of TOC’s car maintenance 101 course in Petaling Jaya Tuesday.

Currently, TOC has seen the graduation of about 1,500 graduates since its establishment back in 2004.

Foo said TOC also would like to educate the general public that the repair and maintenance business is a respectable and well-paid profession.

Last August, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Idris Jala was reported to urge the country to gear up towards having 50% competent and highly-skilled workers by 2020 to keep the competitive edge in the quest to become a high income economy.

Idris said ironically, highly-skilled workers now accounted for only 25.5% of the 12.7 million workers in the country.

TOC offers four courses to the students which are Certificate in Automotive Technology, Diploma in Motorsport Technology, Diploma in Automotive Technology and Sijil Kemahiran Malaysia.

According to Foo, the course’s completion period ranged from 15 months to two and half years depending on the course.

“We also had a few universities partners in New Zealand, Australia, Malaysia, Korea, US and UK where our students can continue to pursue their degree there once they’ve completed their diploma with us.

“The good thing about our diploma is the credits are transferable as it is recognised by Ministry of Education and therefore when students want to transfer (diploma) into degree they can transfer all the credits and study from second years onwards or perhaps third year, depending on universities.

“This year we estimated about 400 to 500 new students to enroll in TOC,” Foo told TMR while adding there will be 200 students graduate this year.

She did not reveal the fee for the courses offered at TOC.

She was talking to the media after the launch of TOC’s half-day Car Maintenance 101 course for the public at a fee of RM200 per person.

TOC training director Allan Cabiles said car maintenance 101 course is divided into four segments which covers topics on the basic important car components, service and tyres, tools management and basic maintenance inspection.

He added the course will also focus on safe driving tips and techniques on driving maneuvers as well as dealing with road bullies.

“Basically, we’re giving a general understanding about your car and those important areas to check before you go for a long distance journey to ensure you reach your destination without any worries.

“With car maintenance 101, we will teach you basic diagnosis and trouble shooting that you will mostly encounter on the road so that you will not panic in the scenario where nobody is able to attend to you when your car brakes down,” he said.

The course was officially launched by Deputy Director-general of Road Safety (JKJR) Abdul Haris Lakar.

Abdul Haris complimented TOC for coming up with such initiative that is geared towards improving awareness amongst motorists on the importance of keeping their vehicles well maintained and further educate them on road safety.

He added statistics showed 80% of fatal accident cases was due to human negligence, 8% due to vehicle conditions while the remaining was due to environment factors.

“According to Royal Malaysian Police statistics, the highest number of accident in Selangor by March 2015 is in Petaling Jaya which is a total of 2,450 accidents that been reported. This shows an increase of 334 cases compared to March 2014 of about 2,116 accidents.

“In 2015, the number of death in February is a total of eight cases and increased to nine cases in March 2015. In conjunction with zero fatality vision, JKJR wants all private institutions, schools and universities as well as government organisation to increase the number of road safety programmes because every life is precious,” Abdul Haris said.

Article source: The Malaysian Reserve