KUALA LUMPUR – Universiti Teknologi Mara’s (UiTM) development plan will be hampered if the allocation for the institution under Budget 2021 is cut.
UiTM Centre for Media and Information Warfare Studies director Prof Datuk Ismail Sualman said with 35 campuses and more than 100,000 students nationwide, the institution requires a large allocation to balance student quotas and campus needs.
“When there is a certain reduction (in allocation), it will hinder our efforts to strengthen UiTM. We are currently pursuing the world’s top 500 target. If allocations are to be halved here and there, we worry that it will hamper our planning.
“As the largest and a well-known Bumiputera institution, many plans need to be implemented to elevate UiTM to be on a par with other world-leading universities, and that requires the development of digital infrastructure and infostructure (communication and technology),” he told Bernama.
The Budget proposes RM1.1732 billion for UiTM, down from this year’s RM1.861 billion allocation.
Ismail said the institution needs to increase research and development for a new learning syllabus to ensure graduates are able to secure jobs.
Mass communications alumni secretary Haniff Ghazali said the Covid-19 pandemic has changed everything.
“In the Covid-19 era, there will be careers wiped out, and new ones will emerge. Hence, UiTM needs to develop personality and identity in its graduates if it wants to position them as contributors to the economy.
“It is useless if there is a new ‘wisma’ (building) or office, but the graduates still have their ‘jaguh kampung’ (village champion) mindset and do not think global.
“We are complicit if we repeat the same old things and UiTM contributes to the dumping of unemployed graduates into the market. The development of education, identity, spirituality and personality is crucial.”
UiTM Academic Association president Associate Prof Abd Rahim Awang said the reduced allocation will affect the teaching and learning process, as well as research opportunities and cooperation with outside communities.
The matter was also raised by former education minister Maszlee Malik in Parliament recently. – Bernama, November 21, 2020
