Debated in Parliament on 4 Feb 2013.
Mr Zainal Sapari asked the Minister for Education (a) of the ITEs, polytechnics and universities that are under the Ministry's purview, how many have adopted the Tripartite Advisory on Best Sourcing Practices in 2012; (b) what is the total number of outsourced cleaners and security officers currently employed in all the tertiary institutions under the Ministry's purview; and (c) how many of these institutions are currently embarking on the Progressive Wage Model in their outsourced contracts to ensure low wage workers are paid fairly.
The Autonomous Universities, Polytechnics and ITE have all adopted the Tripartite Advisory on Best Sourcing Practices in 2012 for the procurement of new outsourcing contracts. As of 1 December 2012, existing contracts under our Autonomous Universities, Polytechnics and ITE covered a total of 2,332 outsourced cleaners and 260 outsourced security guards.
Following the release of the Tripartite Cluster for Cleaners' (TCC) recommendations of a Progressive Wage Model for cleaners in October 2012, our Autonomous Universities, Polytechnics and ITE have been encouraging their service providers to pay wages according to the Progressive Wage Model and will be reviewing their future contracts to make this a requirement.
PAPERCUTS