KOTA KINABALU: The State Education and Innovation Ministry fully supports the effort of Sabah Private Higher Learning Institution Association (PIPTSS) to pursue the forming a private university in Sabah.
Its Minister Datuk Dr Yusof Yacob (pic) said establishing a university through the consolidation of local colleges that were registered under PIPTSS will reduce the competition in student intake and provide wider options as well as better education quality through networking and sharing of facilities between colleges.
He said the plan has been approved by the Federal Education Ministry and set to commence in 2021.
“I believe this plan will attract more local and international students to take up studies in Sabah and help boost the State’S economy,” he said when officiating the ATIC 22nd Convocation held at Marriot Hotel, here, Tuesday.
He said ATIC being the premier college in hospitality and tourism in Sabah allows more opportunities for local children to have a recognised standard of education without having to spend huge cost to study outside the country.
“I understand that this year has not been a great year for educational institutions as we can see in the decrease of overall intakes all around Malaysia, but I am glad that ATIC College continues to take the initiative to prepare and provide skills to our local communities to bloom in this booming industries,” he said
He said for the past years, Malaysia has experienced significant increase in tourist arrivals from all over the world and this encourage even more for the thriving of Hospitality, Tourism and Business industry, especially in Sabah.
“We need more human resource skills to ensure Sabah will retain this title for years to come. Malaysian Associations of Hotels Sabah and Labuan also plans to open 10 new hotels by 2021.
“This clearly shows that job potential for our own people are secured and we need more human capital that specialises in the market to balance this industry expansion,” he said.
He said his ministry will continue to monitor and assist in providing more awareness on the need for tertiary education for school leavers.
He added that with the introduction of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in tertiary education, it will allow students to choose from more courses that specialised in practical skills than merely theoretical skills.
“The Ministry of Education has already collaborated with a few universities to develop new Bachelor of Technology Degree (BTech) programmes which will be focusing more on TVET graduates.
“TVET has been around for years but was not truly utilised as employers require theoretical skills, knowledge of creativity and innovation skills which remain as the most important skills today.
He said the Education Ministry strongly encourages all education institutions to strengthen TVET in their programmes to ensure a better learning outcome and to assist students to use these advantages of TVET for the benefits of the communities and nation.
He explained that practical skills are learned through real working situation and not by reading straight out of the books.
“We are progressing towards the 5G era where information will no longer be restricted for those in rural areas, although Sabah is still being restricted by connection, especially the lesser develop areas. The government will continue to push for the implementation of 5G to enable education through online learning.
“As technologies become more reliable and will be replacing more labour work, especially in the manufacturing sector, we will continue to require more skilled staff.
“Technologies could not handle the whole hospitality industry, we still require human presence in the industry to really show hospitality and affection to attract and boost our tourism industry,” he said.
