 |
TIME has changed the education
landscape, just as it does to any other industry,
says Prof. Dr. Syed Abdul Hamid Aljunid, President
and Chief Executive Officer of Universiti Tun
Abdul Razak (UNITAR). Advances, especially in
information technology, have rendered the world
almost borderless. The blurring of boundaries
in turn, gave rise to a new set of challenges,
which the educational institutions have to adjust
to.
|
|
Prof. Dr. Syed Abdul Hamid
Aljunid
|
|
Students don’t just graduate.
They need to graduate with the kind of competence
required globally, as businesses now operate globally.
Significant number of employers now requires employees
to be able to function both locally and overseas.
UNITAR itself is going through a motion of change.
According to Prof. Hamid, the university is turning
the screws to become a premier management university.
"We are giving greater emphasis on management
and leadership orientation in our programmes at all
levels especially at the postgraduate level,”
he adds.
According to him, UNITAR is also focused on producing
graduates who are instilled with management, leadership
and entrepreneurial competencies. UNITAR expects their
graduates to be better prepared when they go out into
the real world.
In order to leave the university prepared, the students
are equally expected to do more on their own. One
of the things Prof Hamid stressed was on experiential
learning. Students need to get a lot of exposure along
with their studies. Extra curricula and co-curricula
activities then become very important to complement
the formal education that students acquire in class.
Being part of such activities allows the student to
be trained to solve problems under pressure in a group
setting. In addition, being part of the group offers
the sharing of experiences. All that can prove to
be very useful in their future working life.
|
|
At a higher
level, the students should also be able to plan, conduct
and report on programmes that involve a lot of research.
They must be able to work with data, and draw valid
conclusions that would lead to making informed decisions.
In addition, they must also be able to work independently.
Nowadays, a new trend is sweeping large organisations,
especially those that operate globally. They are now
more apt to focus on their core activities, while having
the remaining operations being outsourced. Thus, students
should be guided with an entrepreneurial mindset; hence
allowing them to seize opportunities in the course of
adding values to the supply chain.
“That is why UNITAR is giving serious thoughts
in inculcating entrepreneurship mindset amongst its
students. Graduates do not necessarily have to be working
for others. They can start up their own businesses.
With such valuable skills and practical training acquired
during their studies, these individuals would be more
than prepared to face the challenges of today’s
business would whether as self-employed or as employees.”
He added that the landscape for global employment also
involves a dimension of diversity. To be prepared for
such eventuality, students need to inculcate in themselves
the ability to absorb and understand different cultures,
values and norms not only those within Malaysia, but
also those beyond our borders. One of the ways of achieving
this is to study abroad, experiencing the foreign cultures
themselves. However, with the growing tendency of turning
Malaysia into an education hub of the region, people
of different cultures are themselves opting to be here.
The President has also expressed his confidence knowing
that the local students are able to accommodate students
from different lands and cultures, and helping them
to settle with the community. This is one of the important
factors that contribute to the university’s vision
of creating graduates who have been enriched with various
learning experiences.
“The focus is on producing thinking individuals
who can meaningfully contribute to the nation building
exercise,” says Prof. Hamid. “Youths make
up a large percentage of the present population, and
this young generation is more active and expressive.
They want to be heard, and are more prepared to exercise
their rights.”
“The onus now is on the educational institutions
to provide the right guidance to push these people in
the right direction to become the leaders of tomorrow.
At UNITAR, these responsibilities are taken seriously,
and we are taking the lead to ensure that the aspirations
of the nation will be achieved through these students
that walk through our doors,” he says.
For more information and details on programmes at Universiti
Tun Abdul Razak (UNITAR), please visit www.unitar.edu.my
or email us at crm@unitar.edu.my, or call 03-7809-2020.
Our next intakes for undergraduate are January, April,
July & August. For postgraduate intakes: January,
June & August.
|
