Industry-led curriculum
iNFORMATION and Communication Technology (ICT) has long been one of the popular programmes among school leavers embarking on tertiary education.
Nevertheless, the dynamic, ever-changing and innovative nature of the ICT industry demands that graduates of the discipline possess the necessary and up-to-date skills and knowledge in order to excel in their jobs.
Tunku Abdul Rahman College (TAR College) has constantly emphasised active industry collaboration to ensure that its ICT programmes are consistently relevant to the latest development in the industry, apart from upholding its high quality in the academic aspects.
This industry-relevant knowledge and skills not only add values to the programmes, but also engender higher employability of its ICT graduates to meet the needs in the marketplace.
TAR College, through its School of Arts and Science (SAS), has forged strong links with industry leaders to facilitate the latest knowledge and technology transfer to the classroom.
One such example is the collaboration with SAP, the market leader in enterprise application software, via the MyUniAlliance-SAP programme in which students of its Business Information Systems programme will also be trained in using the SAP software to provide practical exposure to complement the theoretical aspects of SAP such as enterprise resource planning, logistics operations, costing and accounting which are embedded in the programme curriculum.
SAP knowledge is highly prized and according to Robert Walters Global Salary Survey report for 2012, it shows that ICT professionals with SAP training are very much in demand and are among the highest paid IT professionals in Malaysia.
SAS has also established strong partnership with IBM with the aim of exposing IBM software technology to the students. The relationship reached a key milestone when IBM selected TAR College as the first institution of higher learning in Malaysia to set up its Centre of Excellence for Software Technologies in July 2011.
It’s to train the students on IBM software such as IBM DB2, IBM Rational Software Architect, IBM Rational Application Developer for Websphere and IBM Lotus Notes in programmes like Business Information Systems, Information Systems Engineering, Internet Technology and Interactive Software Technology offered at SAS.
The collaboration also provides an avenue towards IBM certification, demonstrating the students’ specialist knowledge in IBM software which will boost their marketability in the industry.
Some of the students from SAS have been certified as IBM DB2 Academic Associate, IBM Certified System Administrator – WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment v6.1, IBM Certified Database Associate – DB2 Fundamentals, IBM Rational Application Developer v7 and Foundation of IBM Cloud Computing Architecture even before they graduate from their programme of study.
One fundamental knowledge that ICT professionals must possess is networking and hence, TAR College collaborates with Cisco Systems (Cisco), the global leader in networking, to ensure students are well-equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills to give them a head start in their careers.
Through the collaboration, the Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) curriculum is incorporated into Information Systems Engineering, Internet Technology and Microelectronics with Computer Communications programmes. This paves the way for the students to pursue CCNA professional certification concurrent with their academic programme at TAR College so that they may obtain the certification prior to graduation.
Students with the CCNA certification as well as TAR College qualification will have an edge over others in the employment market.
The ICT programme curriculum is further fortified with the integration of Microsoft technologies.
With the partnership between SAS and Microsoft, TAR College ICT programme students will benefit from learning the latest and advanced technologies from software giant such as Microsoft Visual Studio (with focus on VB.Net and C#), Microsoft Windows Server, Microsoft Expression Web and Microsoft XNA, which are incorporated into the curriculum.
TAR College, being a member of Microsoft Dreamspark, is able to use Microsoft developer tools and software in the provision of its ICT programmes free of charge. TAR College is also part of Microsoft IT Academy programme and through this collaboration, it allows exclusive access to e-learning materials for students to learn more about Microsoft developer tools and software which will prepare them towards Microsoft Professional Certification.
Stretching the partnership further to provide value-added benefit, TAR College organises various events and workshops with support from Microsoft with the aim of encouraging students to learn and leverage on new technology to solve a myriad of problems.
Such an initiative is headed by TAR College students who are selected as the Microsoft Student Partners and this provides valuable exposure to develop leadership and management skills.
Students are also exposed to Microsoft Phone Development and Windows 8 application development by participating in the competitions such as Microsoft Imagine Cup 2012 (where TAR College students emerged among the top six teams out of 47 semifinalists), Nokia Knight Challenge (in which a TAR College student won the Nokia Knight Starters and Achievers Category 2012) and WOWZAPP 2012 – Worldwide Hackathon for Windows (in which the TAR College contingent won five awards).
SAS also works closely with NCL Solutions in order to incorporate the Novell Certified Linux Professional (NCLP) curriculum into the Business Information Systems, Information Systems Engineering and Microelectronics with Computer Communications programmes to ensure students are well-informed in Novell and Linux technologies which are widely used around the world.
The arrangement entails the assimilation of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 Administration into the programme structure, giving the students critical knowledge of one of the industry’s enterprise open source solutions.
The intensity of the industry collaboration driven by SAS has resulted in TAR College recently being awarded as one of the Most Engaged Institutions of Higher Learning in Industry-Academia Collaboration by Multimedia Development Corporation in September 2012.
Such an accolade is assurance that TAR College ICT programmes are industry-led and the content is consistently updated in tandem with the latest developments in the industry.
The ICT-related programmes offered at TAR College include Diploma and Advanced Diploma-cum-Bachelor of Science in Business Information Systems, Information Systems Engineering, Internet Technology, Interactive Software Technology as well as combinations in Computer Science and Management Mathematics/Computer Mathematics/ Statistics, and Microelectronics with Computer Communications.
At TAR College, upon completion of the Diploma programme, students proceed to the Advanced Diploma programme in which they are also simultaneously prepared to sit for the examinations of the Bachelor of Science Degree by Campbell University, the United States, leading to the attainment of the Bachelor Degree qualification entirely in Malaysia.
The TAR College Diploma is also widely recognised and granted attractive advanced standing into Year 2/Year 3 of relevant Bachelor degree programmes in many universities in the United Kingdom and Australia.
For more information on the TAR College ICT programmes, log on to http://www.tarc. edu.my/sas/main.htm
Contact TAR College at the following numbers: 03-4145 0123/0100 or visit the college’s Open Day at all its campuses from March 1631 (9.30am-5pm), or the college’s booths at all major education fairs.
Alternatively, you may visit the TAR College website at www.tarc.edu.my for more information.