Free scholarships for TVET students to continue studies in China

MELAKA, 16 January 2024 - Malaysia-China collaboration within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative benefits students when the Chinese government offers free scholarships to 1,000 Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) students in the country to take courses there.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr. Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the opportunity involved various courses, especially automotive, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and new high-tech fields such as electric vehicles.

He said this after recently inaugurating the TVET Place & Train UTeM@KPT programme at the Chancellor’s Hall, UTeM Main Campus, Durian Tunggal.

Meanwhile, UMPSA Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dato’ Ts. Dr. Yuserrie Zainuddin said UMPSA welcomed this effort, and even UMPSA’s strategic collaboration with Chinese institutions such as Liuzhou Railway Vocational Technical College (LZRVTC) saw the establishment of the Rail Training Centre at this university in empowering the field of engineering and rail technology that supports the National TVET Empowerment Agenda.

Currently, UMPSA is also collaborating with Beijing Jiaotong University (BJTU), China, for dual degree programs involving nine semesters of study: two years at UMPSA and the remaining 2.5 years at BJTU in civil, mechanical, and electrical engineering, which has contributed to the development of the national rail industry since 2020.

The programme successfully attracted Malaysian students, with a total of 70 students enrolled in the first and second cohorts.

UMPSA also widened its collaboration with educational institutions in China including dual degree programme with Tianjin University (TJU) and strategic collaboration with Ningxia University (NXU), Baotou Railway Vocational & Technical College (BRVTC) and Baotou Iron & Steel Vocational Technical College.

The same programme also saw the Industry-MTUN Cyber Security Consortium collaboration program involving UMPSA, Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM) and Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM) in improving students’ skills and abilities, especially in the field of cybersecurity in line with the needs of the next 25,000 workers to face the global digitalisation.

This kind of job demand will have an impact on increasing premium salaries.
Also present were the Chief Minister, Datuk Seri Ab Rauf Yusoh, Minister of Higher Education, Datuk Seri Dr. Zambry Abd Kadir and UTeM Vice-Chancellor, Professor Datuk Ts. Massila Kamalrudin.

By: Mimi Rabita Abdul Wahit, Centre for Corporate Communications
Translation by: Dr.  Rozaimi  Abu  Samah, Faculty   of Chemical and Process Engineering Technology