DEPUTY Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi wants the Malaysian Youth Index to be raised through various youth-based programmes.

He said this was due to the lower index of 58.4 last year compared to 60.31 in 2021.

“The lower index relates to reduced youth awareness and commitment towards political, nationalistic and democratic activities, as well as political awareness that should have changed during the recent general election in November 2022.

“Efforts to boost the index must be intensified especially in the fields of state administration and democracy, as we want the involvement of youth in these matters,” he said during a media conference after chairing the Youth Development Cabinet Committee Meeting No 1/2023 at the Parliament building today.

The Malaysian Youth Index is an index developed to monitor the development of youth prosperity in the country.

The index acts as a benchmark to measure whether youth prosperity has risen or dropped based on the value of the index.

Zahid said today’s meeting also discussed the involvement of the Youth and Sports Ministry and other ministries to jointly study and coordinate all youth programmes and initiatives.

The future of 2.64 million gig workers, through up-skilling and re-skilling programmes under the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (Tvet) was discussed to ensure youth have the skills in certain fields, as well as transit homes for them to curb homelessness. – Bernama, March 20, 2023.