Key role by community colleges
Published on: Wednesday, September 02, 2015
Community colleges play a key role in human capital development in efforts to create a skilled and knowledgeable community in Malaysia.Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Datuk Mary Yap Kain Ching said, to date, there are 92 community colleges throughout the country."The growth of community colleges is the 'fruit' of the Government's commitment and the local community's trust in the capabilities of this category of colleges," she said when officiating at the handing-over of the Guinness World Records Certificate of Participation to the Ministry's Community College Education Division for having produced the largest holdall in the world through four community colleges. (A holdall is a large bag made of cloth or leather).
ADVERTISEMENT
According to Yap, programmes offered by community colleges are based on a structured curriculum that has been developed with input from relevant government agencies and industries to meet the nation's aspiration and industry needs."This curriculum has won recognition from the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA). It also incorporates the concept of reskilling and upskilling that enables the participants to upgrade their skills in tandem with current requirements," she said.Yap, who is Member of Parliament for Tawau, added that community colleges also play a huge part in providing wider access to all members of the community, including disabled persons (OKUs), university graduates, industry workers and senior citizens. "In fact, opportunities are open to industry workers to reap benefits from the system of learning made available in such colleges."The Higher Education Ministry's Community College Education Division's Director-General, Dato' Amir Md Noor received the Guinness World Records Certificate of Participation from Yap. Sharing the glorious recognition was Mostwell Sdn Bhd Managing Director Fully Chye Goet Lee who is also the founder of Pusat Latihan Kraftangan Epal.
ADVERTISEMENT
Creation of the largest holdall which entered the Guinness World Records is a collaborative effort by four community colleges, namely Kolej Komuniti Selayang, Kolej Komunity Sabak Bernam, Kolej Komuniti Manjung and Kolej Komuniti Batu Gajah (representing the Ministry), Mostwell Sdn Bhd and Pusat Latihan Kraftangan Epal. Mostwell sponsored the event. The unique bag measures 7.62m long, 5.44m high and 3.04m wide. Apart from college students and lecturers, thirty-one other agencies also took part in making this patchwork bag. It took six months to complete the project, using up to 2984 pieces of cloth cut from used office and T-shirts.
ADVERTISEMENT
Yap expressed her appreciation to Pusat Latihan Kraftangan Epal and all directors of community colleges for co-operating with the Ministry of Higher Education to make its "Soaring Upwards" programme a reality.Meanwhile, President of Guinness World Records, Alistair Richards congratulated the Ministry's Community College Education Division on their Guinness World Records achievement.He said the record achieved is now one of the 40,000 world records that are held on the Guinness World Records database."Of the thousands of applications we receive every month, less than 5pc actually make it to become an official entry in our archive. As a member of this select group, you should be extremely proud of your achievement," he said in his message.Kuala Langat Community College first entered the Malaysia Book of Records in 2012 when it won recognition for making the Jalur Gemiling, using 28,880 pieces of soya bean curd and completing it within 27 hours. The same college notched a second success in 2013 by creating the biggest Perlis Kebaya that used up 341 metres of cloth.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
Daily Express Malaysia
