25 China students at UMS under exchange program
KOTA KINABALU: Some 25 engineering students from Wuyi University in Jiangmen City, China, have arrived at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) to undertake project management and English language courses.
The student exchange programme was the result of the signing of a Letter of Intent (LOI) between Wuyi University and UMS, which was witnessed by the Consul General of the People’s Republic of China in Kota Kinabalu, Liang Caide, in October last year.
On June 24 this year, UMS sent its first batch of eight engineering students to Wuyi University for a two-month training course on high-speed rail management and maintenance.
According to Professor Yang Baojian and Professor Yang Min from Wuyi University, the Chinese students felt honored and elated to partake in the exchange programme.
Although the learning of English language was equally emphasized at Wuyi University, it would be the students’ first experience in attending classes with English as the medium of instruction, the professors said.
“This is a valuable experience for the students to not only learn about project management in Sabah, but also to enhance their English proficiency in expressing their ideas and views.
“We hope that the exchange programme will be a long-term activity,” they added.
Meanwhile, UMS Faculty of Engineering deputy dean Dr Ismail Saad thanked the United Sabah Sze Yip Association president Datuk Susan Wong Siew Guen for facilitating the cooperation between Wuyi University and UMS and ultimately enabled students from both universities to benefit from the exchange programme.
He said the initiative also exposed UMS’ reputation to the academia in Guangdong province.
Yang Baojian also expressed his appreciation to Wong for her assistance and support for facilitating the student exchange programme.
“Since Datuk Susan Wong was appointed as a director of Wuyi University, she has been actively promoting exchanges between both universities.
“I hope she will continue to assist students from Wuyi University to UMS for visits and courses.”