KPT To Assist Sarawak Upgrade i-CATS As Full-fledged University - Zambry

SAMARAHAN, June 9 (Bernama) -- The Ministry of Higher Education (KPT) is committed to find a solution to the issue involving four Malaysian students who were affected by the recognition of the pharmacy programme they were pursuing at the University of Alexandria, Egypt.

Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir said the matter arose from the university's decision to change the name of the pharmacy programme to Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD).

"When the University of Alexandria changed the name of the programme from pharmacy to Pharm-D, that became a problem for the recognition of the programme because there was no information to the appropriate parties," he said when met at the National Level Public University MySiswa@Job On Campus Programme Launch Ceremony at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) here, today.

He said the change in the name of the programme had caused confusion to the Malaysian Pharmacy Board (LFM), while the university had also not made an update to the relevant parties.

"The issue does not involve the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) because the recognition of the pharmacy profession falls within the jurisdiction of LFM under the Ministry of Health (MOH)," he said, adding that his party would work with relevant agencies including Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad to find a solution.

Previously, the four Malaysian students studying pharmacy at the University of Alexandria complained that they were facing problems when the PharmD programme they were taking was not recognised by the LFM to enable them to sit for the Poison Law examination, which is one of the requirements that must be met before serving as pharmacists in Malaysia.

Previously, the studies offered to them through an official letter from the Ministry of Higher Education were pharmacy programmes, but the programme was upgraded to PharmD in 2019.

In a separate development, Zambry said the KPT was ready to assist the Sarawak state government in the process of upgrading the i-CATS University College to a full university.

He said this was because the ministry appreciated the state government's continuous efforts in strengthening the field of education and its higher education institutions.

“KPT has no problem supporting this wish and will work together to ensure that all the conditions and requirements set are met throughout the upgrading process,” he said.

He said the advantage of i-CATS which already has a solid foundation given that the institution has been operating for a long time and has its own campus, as well as university college status, will facilitate and further streamline the process.

Recently, Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg announced that ICATS had been officially recognised as a full university after receiving the federal government’s decision, making Sarawak to have two full universities including the Universiti Teknologi Sarawak (UTS) in Sibu.

--BERNAMA