Academic and International

Graduates of UMP, the preferred choice of the job market

The engineering and technology programmes offered by Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) have always undergone advancement and given added values through continuous benchmarking process using world-class model, a result of a partnership programme with Karlsruhe University of Applied Science (HsKA) Germany.

This is seen as the best case in point in producing graduates who are competent, holistic, balanced and with entrepreneurial characteristics who meet the needs of the industry.

Also, being in the 101-150 ranking of the world's best young university of the Quacquarelli Symonds list, UMP certainly continues to enjoy the trust of foreign universities and industries in forging closer ties, and bring about positive impacts in the graduates produced.

This strategic alliance has proven to be effective as the rate of Graduate Employability (GE) of the university has reached its highest ever, recording 96 percent and surpassing the target of 80 percent set by the Ministry of Education.

According to UMP Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ir. Dr. Wan Azhar Wan Yusoff, UMP had always stay committed in creating innovation and uniqueness in its academic programmes through strategic collaborations at the international level.

“In our efforts to be a competitive and global player, the internationalisation process of UMP is administered by way of having a solid academic partnership with Germany. This has enabled us to groom and produce competitive graduates.

“By having a German education background, graduates have become more marketable and will have more opportunities of being hired by companies that have business links with Germany.

“The graduates are also more adept in their soft skills, knowledgeable and highly skilled – qualities that meet the demands of industries especially when facing with the new industrial revolution of the IR 4.0, transformation in the digital world and automation,” he said.

As part of the efforts taken to groom human capitals to cater to the needs of the country, UMP offers Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech.), together with the Malaysia Technical University Network (MTUN) members - Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM), Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM) and Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP).

This initiative was seen as complementing the country’s Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) ecosystem.

The organising of CEO Programme@Faculty by the Ministry of Education was also seen as a move that further enhanced the participation of the industrial sector into the country’s higher learning system where prominent personalities shared their experience and skills.

The latest personalities to join the programme were Chairman of Nova Wellness Sdn. Bhd., Dr. Abd Manaf Mohamad, Chief Executive Officer of Dream Edge Sdn. Bhd., Khairil Adri Adnan and Director of Scomi Transit Project Sdn. Bhd., Rohaida Ali.

They were appointed by the ministry to participate in the programme where they would deliver talks, hold discussions and conduct co-teaching sessions which would benefit the university students and staff.

Academic & International

Global Village UMP promotes better command of English among secondary school students

Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP), in collaboration with its Association of International Economic & Commercial Science Student Club (AIESEC), Department of Student Affairs & Alumni (JHEPA) and UMP International Office, recently organized a programme to promote better command of the English language among secondary school students.

Vide its Global Village UMP 2019, some 200 students from five secondary schools from the towns of Pekan and Kuantan took part in the programme to learn communicating in English.

Among the participating secondary schools were Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Sungai Soi, SMK Ubai, SMK Mat Kilau, SMK Paya Besar and SMK Seri Mahkota. 

Held at the UMP Holdings Hall in UMP Gambang Campus on July 26, 2019, the programme was officially closed by the Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Fuziah Salleh, who is also Kuantan’s Member of Parliament (MP).

In her official address, Fuziah congratulated UMP for its efforts, saying such programme helped promote better command of the English language among secondary school students.

“With the presence of seven international volunteers from India, Vietnam, Indonesia, China and Pakistan, it is certainly hoped that such programme will have a positive impact on the participants.

“I was made to understand that one of the main programme activities, called 'Speak Up', is slotted to help secondary school students utilize English as their daily communication tool,” said the Deputy Minister.

Fuziah expressed her hope that such programme could also help eradicate the negative perception of English as a difficult language to master and a confusing subject to learn.

“To better communicate in English, students have to read a lot more English books,” the MP emphasized, adding that teachers also have a pivotal role to play to encourage students to master the language.

Meanwhile, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Student Affairs & Alumni), Professor Dato’ Dr. Yuserrie Zainuddin expressed his appreciation to the international volunteers who spared their time to come to Malaysia and made the six-weeks Speak Up programme among secondary schools in Pekan and Kuantan a success.

“The international volunteers not only helped with the programme, but also shared with the participants their diverse culture, traditional food and music,” said Professor Dato’ Dr. Yuserrie.
“The volunteers played an important role of bridging the differences of culture and strengthening the bond. They also helped the participants keep abreast with the current state of world affairs,” he added.

Among those present at the closing of the programme were Director of UMP International Office, Dr. Nik Aloesnita Nik Mohd Alwi; Dean of Students Development (JHEPA), Dr. Ahmad Johari Mohamad; AIESEC UMP Advisor and Lecturer at the Centre for Modern Languages & Human Sciences (CMLHS), Haslinda Robita Hashim; and Programme Director, Celine Hing.

At the event, there was also an exhibition by the international students at UMP, who also showcased various international cuisines – among them from countries like Algeria, Pakistan, Yaman, Egypt, India, and Kyrgyzstan.

AIESEC is the world’s largest youth-run organization – an international non-governmental and not-for-profit that provides young people with leadership development, cross-cultural internships, and volunteer exchange experience.