SEPANG - THE proposal to lengthen the National Service training
programme from its current three months to six months will be
tabled in its council meeting next month.
National Service Department director-general Datuk Abdul Hadi
Awang Kechil said it was presently preparing a working paper on the
proposal.
He said any recommendation on the matter would be forwarded to
Defence Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, whose ministry
was in charge of the programme.
'The minister will then bring the matter up to the Government.
At our level, we will deliberate the proposal thoroughly because
lengthening the period will have implications on the Government's
finance and the trainees' educational process,' he told reporters
after visiting the Princess Haliza National Service camp here on
Monday.
A survey conducted by the department in 2009 and analysed by
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia found that several groups wanted the
training period to be lengthened to six months.
Ahmad Zahid recently said the ministry was studying the
possibility of lengthening the period as the three-month stint was
too short to develop noble characters and foster a sense of
patriotism. He also said the department would introduce a module to
enhance awareness on the importance of voting when the trainees
turn 21.
-- THE STAR/ANN