UCTS’ first student intake in May

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SITE VISIT: Taib, Ragad and entourage see for themselves the site of the new university.

SITE VISIT: Taib, Ragad and entourage see for themselves the site of the new university.

SIBU: University College of Technology Sarawak (UCTS) will begin its first intake for Foundation Studies in May, to be followed by the intake for Degree Programme in September.

Its vice-chancellor Professor Dato Dr Abdul Hakim Juri said student enrolment would start in March for the two foundation courses which include the Foundation in Arts and the Foundation in Science.

The five degree courses on offer include Bachelor of Civil Engineering, Bachelor of Quantity Surveying, Bachelor of Environmental Design, Bachelor of Business Administration and Bachelor of Engineering Technology in Electrical and Electronics.

“We have submitted the courses to the Ministry of Education for approval. The two foundation courses are already approved and we are now awaiting approval for the five degree courses,” he told reporters at the sidelines of the chief minister’s inspection of the site of the university yesterday morning.

Abdul Hakim said they would be targeting SPM students in this region to study at UCTS.

“Many of them do not have the means and resources to enter higher learning institutions and with that in mind, UCTS is here to help them achieve their dream,” he said.

He said UCTS would work in collaboration with Kolej Laila Taib (KLT) and other colleges in the country to get the diploma students to come here.

“We will also be providing support to the students, in terms of financial aids such as the attractive discounted fee especially for foundation students,” he said.

He said they would maintain the fees so that it would be affordable to the students.

Abdul Hakim, who is also former president/chief executive officer of Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL), said he would also use his vast networking to get the diploma students from UniKL to come and do their degree programme at UCTS.

With some 20,000 students and 11 campuses, UniKL is one of the established universities in the country.

Having been attached to UniKL for the past 10 years, he certainly has the experience and the expertise to manage UCTS.

“We plan to set up something similar to UniKL and students can go step-by-step, from diploma to degree level. We plan to bring in expertise from UniKL to help in terms of development of programme and exposure of the staff,” he said.

Asked what inspired him to take up the post as UCTS vice-chancellor, Abdul Hakim said he had reasons to believe that UCTS could eventually contribute significantly to the development of education in Sarawak.

“This is something new and we will help to provide the road for the students so that they can progress to the highest level of education.”