Partnerships benefit students, staff

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Fazzrudin (seated, ninth left), NIIT College academic advisor Prof Dr Andrew Tiong (seated, seventh left), Voon (seated, eighth left), Binary University founder and executive chairman Tan Sri Dato Prof Joseph Adaikalam (seated, ninth right), and Tiong (seated, eight right) pose for a photo with the graduands.

KUCHING: NIIT College’s partnership with international universities and relevant institutions benefit both students and staff.

Tupong assemblyman Fazruddin Abdul Rahman said this at the 17th NIIT College Graduation ceremony held at Sarawak Islamic Information Centre yesterday.

“International-local partnerships provide a platform for academicians to share experiences and grow from such sharing,” he said.

These include Binary University, Deakin University Australia, Infrastructure University Kuala Lumpur (IUKL), Chamber International Australia, Stratford University and Beijing Wuzi University, China. At institutional level, partnerships provide multiple opportunities for institutions to learn from each other, share knowledge and experience. It also enables benchmarking for students and staff who engage in mobility programmes, he said.

Earlier, NIIT College Managing director Anderson Voon said that the institute plans to increase its student’s capacity to 800 in a few years when its self-funded campus at Tropic City, Jalan Song is completed.

“We also aim to upgrade our current status from college to university in the near future.

“We have just recently established Diploma of Ecotourism to meet the needs of the tourism industry, the third largest contributor to Malaysia’s economy. By 2020, Malaysia aims to attract 36 million tourists, with tourism receipts projected at RM168 billion. Hence, subjects such as Introduction to Ecotourism, Tourist Guiding Techniques, and Nature Tourism will cater to interested students,” said Voon.

Meanwhile, NIIT College chief executive Michael Tiong said that in line with the nation’s aspiration of the 4th Industrial Revolution IR4.0, NIIT is also continuously improving its technology and infrastructure to support teaching and learning.

“Our staff are preparing for the various challenges in IR4.0. We are also exploring the potential of the digital era and equipping our younger generation with communication and information technology (ICT) skills through dynamic learning, major impact studies and high creativity.”

“We are continuously innovating our teaching approach to create better learning atmosphere for our students. The traditional approach of chalk and talk is not encouraged,” he said.

Instead, the college is using the Learning Management System (LMS) as an online learning platform to support teaching and learning. Soon, it will also apply blended learning, an education technique which combines online materials with in-person instruction. With blended learning, Flipped classroom will have students viewing their lecture material at home and doing coursework in class.

93 graduands from nine different cohorts received their scrolls and student awards during the ceremony.

The Best Student Award went to Kim Ng Peng Sing (Diploma in Actuarial Finance), Karen Goh Siaw Ching (Diploma in Accountancy), Tnay Tze Chung (Diploma in Entrepreneurship), Song Ming Fang (Diploma in Business Management ), Sammi Chai Ming Jie (Diploma in Event Management), Sim Wei Chuan (Diploma in Information Technology), Kimberly Hong Boon Ting (Diploma in Secretaryship) and Chai Sze Ting (Diploma in Marketing).

The Outstanding Achievement Award went to King Ng Peng Sing (Diploma in Actuarial Finance), Regal Best Scholar Award went to Karen Goh Siaw Ching (Diploma in Accountancy) and Best Final Year Project Award went to Tan Kwang Hao (Diploma in Information Technology).