Taufiq (centre) with the organising committee at the launch of International Conference on Education, Social Sciences and Technology.
KOTA KINABALU: Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) is focusing on its efforts to escalate the development of human capital in Malaysia to be on par with other developed nations.
UMS Vice-Chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Taufiq Yap Yun Hin said this commitment is a collective desire by all parties to contribute actively in making Malaysia an internationally competitive nation in academia including strengthening cultural knowledge.
He said, “Infrastructures, facilities and a variety of expertise at UMS will not contribute to the aspirational goal to uphold cultural knowledge, without the collective efforts from the UMS community and the support from various parties.”
Taufiq said this when officiating the two-day International Conference on Education, Social Sciences and Technology (Icest 2020) which was held virtually starting Thursday.
Taufiq stressed that efforts to ensure the achievement of a strong cultural knowledge is in line with the main objectives of Icest 2020, which were to create a knowledge- and skill-sharing platform pertaining to education, social sciences and technology among the Conference participants.
Taufiq is confident that a community that is committed to knowledge-sharing activities such as conferences will contribute to the performance and increment in productivity for themselves and the nation, particularly Sabah.
Also present at the opening ceremony were the Vice-Chancellor of Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) Prof Dato’ Dr Mohammad Shatar Sabran, Director of Sabah Education Datuk Dr Mistirine Radin, Dean of the Centre for the Promotion of Knowledge and Language Learning (PPIB), UMS Assoc Prof Dr Lai Yew Meng, Chairperson of Icest 2020 Assoc Prof Dr Mohd Sohaimi Esa and President of the Association of Malaysian Researchers and Social Services (AMRASS) Dr Mohd Nor Jaafar.
The conference was jointly organised by PPIB UMS, Sabah Education Department, AMRASS, Majlis Guru Pendidikan Khas Sabah and Institut Pendidikan Guru Kampus Gaya.
In his keynote speech, Prof Dr Mohammad Shatar stated that virtual learning has now become a global practice, but within the Malaysian context efforts to expand broadband coverage remain the top priority to ensure all students have Internet access no matter where they are.
Dr Mistirine’s keynote speech focused on the adoption of virtual methods for learning and collecting research data, which has made it easier for researchers to reach out to their informants or respondents.
The Conference was participated by more than 200 participants and included more than 150 research papers presented by local and overseas researchers.