MTUN Should Have 60 Per Cent Students In Technical Fields By 2015 - Saifuddin

KUALA LUMPUR, April 25 (Bernama) -- The Higher Education Ministry has set that 60 percent of the student enrolment at the four universities under the Malaysian Technical University Network (MTUN) should be in technical fields by 2015.

Its minister, Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah, said that as such, the universities concerned -- the Tun Hussein Onn University(UTHM), Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM) and Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) -- were required to expand their technical programmes to meet the country's development needs.

 

"They have to be accorded the apex university status in the country's technical studies, like the applied science universities found in some countries," he said when winding up the debate on the speech by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin at the Dewan Negara Monday.

He said that to achieve the status, the ministry would suggest the MTUN to accept students from technical institutions, like those with diploma and advanced diploma.

Saifuddin said polytechnics in the country would continue to be strengthen in line with their position as the main institution for Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET).

He said that the ministry was targetting to produce 680,000 skilled workers with diploma or 45 per cent out of the 1.5 million required by the country by 2020.

He said the Online Distance Learning (ODL) would also be implemented in 2012 to provide more opportunities for youths to enter polytechnics.

The Dewan Negara sitting continues tomorrow.

-- BERNAMA