Varsity status plans for Kiara College
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Education director Datuk Hajah Maimunah Haji Suhaibul hopes that private higher learning institutions will do their part in recruiting Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) school leavers who are unable to enter public colleges or universities.
At the same time, Maimunah said parents should also encourage their children to further their studies after completing Form 5 and 6.
She said this when officiating at the first convocation ceremony of Kiara College here yesterday where a total of 212 graduates received their certificates after completing their courses in Diploma of Executive Secretaryship, Diploma of Corporate Administration and Diploma of Hotel Management respectively.
Maimunah encouraged the management of Kiara College to be more aggressive in its promotional efforts, particularly at rural schools in the State.
“We have close to 35,000 SPM school leavers every year but not all of them are able to enroll in public colleges or universities,” she said.
As such, she hoped that private colleges could address the gap in this respect.
On another note, Maimunah said an interim management had taken over the management of Kiara College since June 1 this year, adding that the sales agreement on the acquisition of 100 per cent stake of the college would be signed in the near future.
“With the acquisition, Kiara College is now 100 per cent owned by bumiputera,” she said.
Maimunah said the new management was working on planning and strategizing the academic and corporate development of Kiara College in line with its vision and mission based on the guidelines of the Ministry of Higher Education.
Apart from enhancing the college’s competitiveness, she said the new management had plans to elevate Kiara College into a college with university status in the next three to five years.
Also present were Kiara College Board of Directors chairman Emeritus Professor Tan Sri Dr Anuwar Ali and Kiara College interim chief executive Associate Professor Lamjin bin Atoh.