WOU has to date attracted 46 companies under the Valued Partnership Programme (VPP) – with the incentives offered serving to encourage employees from small and large companies in various regions of Malaysia to pursue higher education with WOU.

The VPP was introduced by WOU in October 2011 with the purpose of offering financial incentives to employees of participating companies to pursue higher studies at the University. Employees are to receive tuition fee rebates of up to RM550, and are also eligible for tuition fee rebate in subsequent semesters upon re-enrolment, up to a period of three years.

Preview at Maxis.

Many employers have become WOU’s education partners under the VPP, up from 22 companies in March to 46 in July. Penang leads with 22 partners, followed by the Kuching Regional Office with 10, and the Johor Bahru Regional Office with seven.

Among WOU’s newest education partners are Jabil Circuit, Agilent Technology, OSRAM Opto Semiconductors, Plexus Manufacturing, AMD, Maybank Academy, Dell Global Business Centre, Royal Selangor Marketing, and the State Education Department in Penang; the Zurich Insurance and Muda Pasifik in Johor; and the Sarawak Bank Employees Union.

Others that had joined the VPP wagon earlier include Maxis Berhad, Intel Technologies, Flextronics, Penang Skills Development Centre, and Canon Marketing.

It is heartening to note that 89 employees from small and large companies from various regions had registered under the VPP as new students recently. In addition, all the 21 employees from participating companies that joined the VPP in late 2011 also had re-enrolled to continue their studies for the July 2012 Intake.

WOU holds tea talk at PSDC.

This education partnership with the corporate and public sector contributes to a win-win situation between WOU and employers since it promotes a continual upgrading of the professional skills of the workers, contributing to better job performance and higher rate of staff retention.

In order to enjoy the benefits of the VPP, participating company employees must enrol for a minimum of two courses and remain as employees of the companies during the period for which the re-enrolment fee rebate is offered.