PETALING JAYA: As applications for the first 200 trainees in the pilot batch of the National Service Training Programme (PLKN) 3.0 began yesterday, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin has promised there will be no repeats of the past.
He said version 3.0 would be a whole new iteration of the programme that would balance traditional military-style training with contemporary civic education.
Applications for the pilot batch of 200 trainees opened on the Defence Ministry website yesterday for Malaysians aged between 18 and 20, and will close on Nov 24.
Involving the Defence and Education ministry, PLKN 3.0 would be formal in its training with a three-phase ecosystem approach – pre-PLKN, basic training, and specialised training, said Mohamed Khaled.
The pre-PLKN phase will be for Form Four students in national schools and conducted as part of their co-curriculum activities.
This phase would instil them with character-building values using the Generasi Madani initiative by the Education Ministry, he said.
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The basic and specialised training phases for youth aged 18 and above would involve school leavers and higher-education institution students, he added.
The specialised training phase is open to those aged between 17 and 35, and will include intensive field and practical segments.
Volunteer bodies and reservists who will run the specialised training phase include those from the auxiliary police, auxiliary fire brigade, Civil Defence Force (APM), Rela, Rukun Tetangga and others.
After the first batch of 200 trainees are trained in January, there will be an assessment, and relevant rectifications made.
Mohamed Khaled said PLKN 3.0 would then go full-fledged with four intakes of recruitment annually, with the aim to train more than 194,300 participants.
“Unlike its predecessors, which operated exclusively in private PLKN camps, PLKN 3.0 utilises a diverse range of government-based facilities including 13 army territorial camps, 20 public universities, 27 teacher training institutes and various polytechnics.
“This shift does not only provide better infrastructure but also creates a more formal and better professional training environment.
“The recruitment method in PLKN 3.0 also demonstrates innovation through a hybrid approach, combining conditional conscriptions for the basic training phase with voluntary participation for specialised training.
“Hence, the approach adopted differs from PLKN 1.0, which based purely on selective conscription and PLKN 2.0 with its voluntary model approach,” he added.
Parents have expressed concerns about cases of bullying, sexual harassment and racially motivated fights in previous PLKN programmes.
In 2009, a female trainee at the Chini training camp was allegedly molested by more than 20 male trainees and four days later, a fight believed to be racially motivated took place at the camp’s canteen between two groups of students.
In 2004, a trainee was raped at the Merang camp in Setiu, Terengganu.
In 2013, it was reported that a total of 23 deaths were recorded at camps nationwide since the training programme started in December 2003.
The programme was suspended in 2015 as a cost-cutting measure, reactivated in 2016, but finally scrapped in 2018.
Mohamed Khaled said PLKN 3.0 would be managed by the National Service Programme Department and various other government agencies, unlike the previous national service programmes that were handled solely by the department.
The minister added that PLKN 3.0 would incorporate 70% basic military training and 30% national education modules.
“Firstly, the military training component aims to instil discipline, physical resilience, and basic defence capability knowledge among participants, ensuring a foundational understanding of national security readiness.
“The education modules strengthen national identity and foster deeper understanding of Malaysia’s constitutional framework, multicultural heritage, and civic responsibilities.
“This structured division of responsibilities of different ministries and government agencies ensures that each phase of PLKN 3.0 benefits from the relevant expertise of different ministries.
“While the Defence Ministry focuses on the military training aspects during the basic training phase, the Education Ministry will leverage on its educational expertise for the pre-PLKN phase, with military personnel providing supplementary support when and where needed,” said Mohamed Khaled.
He said PLKN 3.0’s emphasis on volunteerism represented a strategic approach to developing socially conscious youth.
The pilot run was brought forward to January as it was initially slated to begin mid-2025.
“Bringing forward PLKN 3.0 from mid-2025 to January next year is meant to establish a crucial testing period.
“This period will assess and refine various operational aspects before full-scale implementation. This early rollout, involving one Army territorial camp with 200 national service trainees, serves as a pilot phase to evaluate the programme’s effectiveness,” said Mohamed Khaled.
He added that the advanced timeline would allow authorities to thoroughly assess several critical areas such as management requirements, training components, facilities and logistical support.
“In the pre-PLKN phase, about 398,000 Form Four students from schools under the purview of the Education Ministry will take part,” he said.
“The basic PLKN 3.0 training component expects to train 25,000 trainees at one time, distributed across 13 Army territorial camps through four intakes of recruitment annually”.
The programme will also recruit from 20 public universities – 31,872 uniformed students and 61,344 non-uniformed students.
“Further participation includes 92,000 students from 33 polytechnics, 6,000 students from 27 teacher training institutes, and 10,000 students from general skills training institutes and industrial training institutes,” said Mohamed Khaled.
Former National Service Programme Department director-general Datuk Abdul Hadi Awang Kechil, who headed PKLN 1.0, said the objectives of PLKN did not seem to have changed.
However, he proposed that if the government has the finances, it should be made compulsory for all youth upon attaining the age of 18.
“For the current generation of youth, such training is more pertinent as it provides them with interaction, discipline and a structured programme to mould them into better Malaysian citizens.
“Every Malaysian youth should be made to undergo PLKN – if the government has the budget to do so.
“What is important is that there is a structured programme with Malaysian values and unity as the priority,” said Abdul Hadi.
National Service Volunteer Brigade president Mohd Syafik Mohd Taufik said the percentage of youth who had undergone PLKN was too minuscule, compared with the total youth population, to make an impact.
He said that as of now, there are about half a million PLKN alumni nationwide.
