PENANG, Jan 25. 2013 - Education Division Senator, Thailand, Assoc Prof Nareewan Chintakanod with some senate committee members met to share ideas and achievements in education with Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM).

In the discussion, Prof. Ahmad Shukri Mustapa Kamal, the Acting Vice-Chancellor, briefed the visitors on the achievements of USM as a research university and APEX university.

The visit and this session was a follow-up of the university winning of the Malaysia-Indonesia-Thailand Internationalisation iAward (MIT) by SEAMEO, Regional Centre for Higher Education and Development (RIHED) recently.

According to Nareewan, one of the challenges in education in Thailand is that most universities in Thailand are using the mother tongue as the medium of instruction and thus limited the opportunities of students studying abroad. However, the Director of the International Office, Associate Professor Anees Janee Ali, said that educational opportunities are widely available.

“In USM, all international students have to take English classes before they enter the first year for either Bachelor or the Masters. This makes it easy for students to follow and pursue their studies of their respective fields in English,” said Anees.

USM and Thailand, in particular, have closer education and research collaborations which provide more opportunities for win-win situation for both parties besides sharing expertise and facilities.

Also participated in the discussion were the Division of Student Affairs Deputy Vice-Chancellor; Office of Quality Director; School of Management and Institute of Postgraduate Studies Deputy Dean and Academic and International Division Deputy Registrar. Text: Rafizah Nor Md Zain / Photo: Mohd Fairus Md Isa / Translation: Yong Check Yoon