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