KUALA LUMPUR: The Special Select Committee on Nation-Building, Education and Human Resource Development has kept its stance against the continuation of the National Service Training Programme (PLKN) 3.0.
Its chairman, Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah, said the committee had been briefed on the new programme's concept and format but found that they did not meet the previously outlined justifications.
"The justifications were presented after a briefing with the Defence Ministry and the Malaysian Institute of Defence and Security (MiDAS) recently.
"However, if the government insists on proceeding with the programme, a more thorough and in-depth study must be conducted to ensure the same issues do not recur.
"We (the committee) are prepared to invite Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin to a committee meeting to present its study on continuing PLKN.
"Previously, we invited the Higher Education Ministry and the Education Ministry for discussions," he told "Berita Harian" (BH) today.
Last Friday, BH reported that the government had decided to implement PLKN 3.0 based on detailed and comprehensive studies, with a new concept and format.
Khaled said academic research had been conducted to measure the programme's impact.
He noted that statistics on youth participation, participant satisfaction levels, and patriotism metrics showed positive outcomes.