UUM, KEMENAG SIGN MOU TO STRENGTHEN TIES IN EDUCATION

SINTOK May 5 (Bernama) -- Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Religious Affairs of Indonesia (Kemenag) to strengthen strategic cooperation in the field of education.

Present at the ceremony were Ministry of Higher Education’s (MoHE) deputy secretary-general (Policy)  Datuk Dr. Megat Sany Megat Ahmad and Kemenag’s secretary-general Prof. Dr. Muhammad Ali Ramdhani.

Megat Sany said the MoU involved academic cooperation between UUM and five State Islamic Universities (UINs) under Kemenag, namely UIN Ar-Raniry Banda Aceh, UIN Raden Fatah Palembang,UIN Sunan Ampel Surabaya, UIN Sunan GUNUNG Djati Bandung and UIN Mataram.

He said that through the MoU, 43 students from the five UINs, sponsored by Kemenag through the Indonesia Bangkit Scholarship (BIB), would pursue undergraduate studies at UUM and UIN for two years.

"There will be an intake of 43 Indonesian students, who will spend one year at UUM and one year at the participating UINs, pursuing various undergraduate programmes.

This marks the first collaboration between UUM and Kemenag, and we hope that this MoU will facilitate the development of more scholars and intellectuals while strengthening close ties in the higher education sector," he told reporters after the signing ceremony here today..

The MoU was signed by UUM vice-chancellor Prof. Dr. Mohd Foad Sakdan and Kemenang’s Islamic Higher Education director Prof. Dr. Ahmad Zainul Hamdi. 

The collaboration with the UINs includes student exchanges, joint academic conferences, collaborative research projects and academic publications.

Meanwhile, Ahmad Zainul expressed his gratitude to UUM for facilitating the academic cooperation which serves as a platform to internationalise education between Indonesia and Malaysia.

We hope that UUM will offer double degree programmes, allowing Malaysian students to study in Indonesia and vice versa, further strengthening our relationship. We also look forward to programmes involving Malaysian professors teaching in Indonesia," he said.

-- BERNAMA