UTS inks MoU with Chinese middle school to recruit more foreign students

SIBU (Nov 22): University of Technology Sarawak (UTS) yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Guong Ming Middle School to promote cooperation especially in the recruitment of international students from China to study at UTS.

UTS was represented by its vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Khairuddin Ab Hamid, while Guong Ming Middle School was represented by its Board of Directors chairman Datuk Tiong Thai King.

In his remarks, Khairuddin said UTS always welcomed cooperation with various parties, especially private educational institutions, in an effort to support the Sarawak government’s mission to provide quality education to the people.

“I am confident the MoU with Guong Ming Middle School will help UTS attract more foreign students, especially from China, to study at UTS to fulfil our university’s vision for 2030 which is to make UTS more international,” he said at the signing ceremony.

Tiong, meanwhile, described the MoU between UTS and Guong Ming Middle School as encouraging news.

“Undeniably, the MoU on educational collaboration will not only accelerate the transformation of Guong Ming Middle School but also contribute to the development of higher education in Sibu,” he said.

Tiong said that with the polarisation of higher education nowadays, the establishment of UTS provides the best choice for students in Sarawak who wish to pursue further studies, especially those from Chinese independent schools.”

He said as a university with progressive, open, and pragmatic advanced high-end education concepts, which include Sarawak’s development of a blockchain ecosystem and research platform, UTS also offers the first mobile game development course in Malaysia, drone research laboratories, and academic research on digital transformation.

“UTS is indeed a blessing to the people of Sibu and has become the citizens’ first choice of university,” he added.

Tiong said in recent years, UTS had embarked on an international programme to recruit students from China.

“This will not only profoundly affect the future academic development in Sibu, but it will also help cultivate scientific talents through various technological developments.”

Adding on, he said it was no longer an unattainable dream for students from China to pursue their studies here at UTS.

“The agreement that was signed between UTS and Guong Ming Middle School today indeed writes a new historical chapter for the development of Eastern and Western higher education on an equal footing.”

Furthermore, Tiong said it also demonstrated the unprecedented power and prospects within the framework of comprehensive strategic cooperation between China and Asean countries, particularly in the aspects of economy, education and culture.

“Although this is a new challenge and a new attempt, we must take advantage of the trend and face the formation of the world’s general pattern upon the arrival of the Asia Pacific century, especially after Indonesia’s decision to relocate its capital to Kalimantan,” he said.