UiTM halts international undergrad intake to prioritise Bumi B40 students

 UiTM vice-chancellor Shahrin Sahib @ Sahibuddin says the Orang Asli community, as well as residents of Sabah and Sarawak will also get priority.

UiTM vice-chancellor Shahrin Sahib @ Sahibuddin said UiTM remains committed to improving its ranking from 549th to among the world’s top 300 universities in the QS World University Rankings. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA:

Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) has ceased admitting international students at the undergraduate level for the past two years to focus fully on the Bumiputera community.

UiTM vice-chancellor Shahrin Sahib @ Sahibuddin said the move was taken to ensure access to higher education at the university is prioritised for children from B40 households, the Orang Asli community, as well as residents of Sabah and Sarawak.

“This move is in line with UiTM’s principle of maintaining the lowest tuition fees to ensure continued access to higher education, particularly for the B40 group, which needs to be given attention and priority.

“Despite the absence of international students at the undergraduate level, UiTM remains committed to improving its ranking from 549th to among the world’s top 300 universities in the QS World University Rankings.”

He said this to Bernama after presenting the UiTM2030 Strategic Plan, which was launched by UiTM board of directors chairman Kamil Jamil at Anjung Seri Budiman, UiTM, in Shah Alam today.

The UiTM2030 is the university’s five-year action framework focused on driving academic excellence, financial sustainability and high-impact digital transformation in producing globally competitive Bumiputera graduates.

Shahrin said the target of generating 25% of the university’s own income under UiTM2030 would be driven through postgraduate programmes, professional preparatory programmes and adult education programmes through the Institute of Continuing Education and Professional Studies (iCEPS), which currently has 13,000 students.

It is also leveraging the Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning for the Award of Qualifications (Apel.Q) and work-based learning. More than 200 military personnel are currently pursuing diploma studies from their workplaces without having to be on campus. - Mkini