Published on: Saturday, March 03, 2007 |
BATU PAHAT: Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM), formerly known as Kolej Universiti Teknologi Tun Hussein Onn (KUiTTHO), is now the country's 15th public institution of higher learning.
The conferment of university status was officially made by Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein at the university's Dewan Tunku Ibrahim Ismail, here.
According to a UTHM statement, UTHM was set up on Sept 27, 2000 with specialisation in engineering, engineering technology, technology management and technical and vocational education.
Originally, it was the Pusat Latihan Staf Politeknik (Polytechnic Staff Training Centre) set up in 1993 before being upgraded to Institut Teknologi Tun Hussein Onn (ITTHO) in 1996 under the administration of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia and the Education Ministry.
The statement also said that UTHM was committed to quality management and this was demonstrated by it obtaining the MS ISO 9001:2000 certification from Sirim for its academic management since the end of 2001.
In his speech, Hishammuddin said his late father Tun Hussein Onn, Malaysia's third prime minister and of whom UTHM was named after, had always placed unity as a key element in ensuring the nation's development.
"He had once said that since Merdeka, we had achieved a lot as far as racial unity was concerned, and we should not change that," he recalled.
Hishammuddin said today's was his third visit to UTHM and had seen much transformation in terms of physical and acamedic development.
He hoped that UTHM would progress like the more established universities in the country and strive towards gaining international recognition for its academic quality.
