anuary 23, 2006 21:18 PM

About 520 IKBN Nationwide Under 9th M’sia Plan

MIRI, Jan 23 (Bernama) — The government will strive to achieve the building target of 520 National Youth Skills Institutes (IKBN) for every state constituency nationwide under the Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP) to address overwhelming applications from youths seeking vocational training.

Youth and Sports Minister, Datuk Azalina Othman Said said there had been overwhelming interest shown by the youths to undergo training at the IKBN.

In 2005, only 4,500 were accepted while 18,000 applicants had to be turned down, she said.

A standard IKBN in an urban area or growth centre would cost RM100 million to build while in a smaller rural constituency, it would cost less, she told reporters, here Monday.

Earlier, Azalina chaired a retreat meeting on the Ninth Malaysia Plan here for all state excos, state directors and senior ministry as well as youth and sports officials, essentially to fine-tune programmes on youth and sports.

On the RM3.5 billion proposed allocation for the ministry under the 9MP, the minister said the state excos would have more say in the implementation of physical infrastructure at the state level as they were more familiar with the local situation in overcoming serious obstacles.

Under the new plan, she said more sports complexes would be built to enhance youth movement activities and improve the development of sports at various rural growth centres or urban areas.

“The complex in future will become a one-stop centre for all kinds of activities at rural or urban centres, in order to improve local sporting events, help youth clubs or associations to have proper offices and to make it ideal for all community functions,” she said.

– BERNAMA