WOU has set up two more Learning Centres in the northern region to support the University in the enrolment and teaching of its part-time students, beginning with the July 2015 intake.
The new centres are Stradford International College (SIC), Prai and Institut Profesional (IP), Alor Setar. They will reach out to prospective students in mainland Penang and the north of Peninsular Malaysia.
The collaboration between the institutions was formalised in the Memoranda of Agreement (MoAs) between WOU and SIC and between WOU and IP. Vice Chancellor Prof Dato’ Dr Ho Sinn Chye signed on behalf of WOU, witnessed by Dr Andy Liew Teik Kooi, Director of Quality Assurance and External Relations, in a simple ceremony held at the University’s main campus on 4th June, 2015.
(FROM LEFT): LOH SHY TYUG, PROF HO AND KUMAR GHOSH SIGN THE AGREEMENT
EXCHANGE OF DOCUMENTS BETWEEN PROF HO AND LOH
The signatories for SIC and IP were Chief Executive Officer Kumar Ghosh Vasudevan and Education Director Loh Shy Tyug respectively. A ten-member delegation from the two partner institutions attended the event, including the Director of SIC, Abdullah Abdul Razak, and the Chief Executive of IP, Koay Chui Peng.
In his comments on the MoAs, Prof Ho said, “Wawasan Open University shares a common vision with Stradford International College and Institut Professional to address the increasing needs and demands of knowledge workers in various segments of our K-economy for tertiary qualifications to enhance their career prospects. We want to provide wider access to higher education and in the process build up the professional human resource capacity to increase the productivity of the workforce.”
“WOU is working towards establishing a few more Learning Centres across Malaysia through smart collaboration with like-minded institutions of higher learning. The Learning Centres will extend our market presence as a trusted provider of affordable and quality higher education to more Malaysians,” he added.
WOU also recently entered into agreements with the Penang Skills Development Centre (PSDC) and the East-West International College (EWIC), Seremban to set up Learning Centres. “We have informed the Ministry of Education about the University’s plans to dot the map of Malaysia with WOU Learning Centres,” he clarified.
PROF HO AND KUMAR GHOSH PERFORM THE EXCHANGE
Prof Ho stated that the newly established Learning Centres will help the University to offer support to its students in areas where WOU currently has no physical presence, such as mainland Penang, Alor Setar and Seremban. “It will be a win-win situation for everyone. With this, students in these areas will be delighted, knowing that they can now attend the monthly face-to-face tutorials at Learning Centres that are closer to them.”
Among the senior management staff of WOU present at the signing were Chief Administrative Officer Yeong Sik Kheong and Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic-ODL) Prof Madhulika Kaushik.
