Taking knowledge to the people

Education has a crucial part to play in building Malaysia’s knowledge society and increasing national competitiveness, so extending the education system in the regions is an important feature of the Ninth Malaysia Plan.

One of the fruits of the upgrading of tertiary education is the establishment of the brand new Universiti Malaysia Kelantan (UMK) in the agrarian state of Kelantan, in the northeast of Peninsular Malaysia.

“With the launching of the East Coast Economic Region, Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang are now considered economic regions,” says Prof. Ir. Dr. Zainai Bin Mohamed, the university’s Vice-Chancellor. “Kelantan is a strategic place because there are a lot of successful entrepreneurs, corporate figures and government officials who are Kelantanese.”

UMK opened its doors to its first intake of students in July last year. At present it has three faculties: a faculty of entrepreneurship and business, a faculty of agro-industry and natural resources, and a faculty of heritage and creative technology. There is also a centre for language studies and human development. Clear in its purpose, the university has set out its stall with the motto Entrepreneurship is our Thrust.

Professor Zainai says UMK will become a role model for Kelantan. He cites the example of the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, which has contributed to the development of the formerly remote area of Skudai into a rapidly expanding suburb of Johor’s state capital, Johor Bahru.

“With the university in place, we can change the mindset of the people, infrastructures can be brought in, and we can upgrade the area’s socio-economic standing,” says the Vice-Chancellor.

“We will be going into the countryside so we can share our expertise with rural people. We want to bring new technology to them, expand their knowledge and make them part of the success story of the university.”