– This study was performed to measure the gender equality involvement in Technical and
Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Program in one of the Malaysia Technical University
Network (MTUN). The focuses of this study are general perspective in gender equality, men and
women position in society, and sources of information about TVET. 200 respondents involving
students and lecturers from various field of TVET programs involved in this study. Questionnaire was
applied to gather the data information and descriptive analysis represent the findings. Result showed
that most respondents strongly agree with men helping in the household were women, they are also
aware about the national policies on gender equality in Malaysia, and for last section of survey,
respondents agree that they choose studying in TVET program because the better job opportunities.
In summary, there is no gender issue in Malaysia’s policy, position of work and opportunities in
further education especially in TVET programs.
To date, the utilization of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) fibers are only restricted to weak mechanical application such as wound dressing. Physically, CMC has a weak mechanical strength due to the high hydrophilicity trait. However, this flaw was saved by the extensive number of reactive functional groups, allowing this macromolecule to form linkages with chitosan to ensure its versatility. This work successfully fabricated CMC-chitosan fiber via dissolution, crosslinking, dry-jet wet-spinning extrusion, and coagulation processes. Chitosan was constituted with CMC fiber in two approaches, coating, and inclusion at various concentrations. Morphologically, chitosan incorporation has triggered agglomerations and roughness toward CMC fibers (CMCF). Chemically, the interaction between CMC and chitosan was proved through FTIR analysis at peaks 1245 cm-1 (ECH covalent crosslinking), while 3340 cm-1 and 1586 cm-1 were due to ionic and hydrogen bonding. The result from analysis showed that at higher chitosan concentrations, the chitosan-included CMC fiber (CMCF-I) and chitosan-coated CMC fiber (CMFC) were mechanically enhanced (up to 86.77 and 82.72 MPa), thermally more stable (33 % residual mass), and less hydrophilic compared to the plain CMCF. The properties of CMC-chitosan fibers have opened up vast possible applications, especially as a reinforcement in a watery medium such as a hydrogel.