PENANG, 27 February 2016 – The Vice-Chancellor of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Professor Dato' Dr. Omar Osman recently received a courtesy visit by the delegation from Universitas Kanjuruhan Malang, Indonesia (UNIKAMA), led by its Rector, Dr. Pieter Sahertian at the USM Chancellory Conference Room.

Omar said that, USM truly welcomed the intent of the six-member delegation from UNIKAMA to establish relations and to jointly enhance each other’s strength in the various different areas.

"I hoped that with this visit, relations between these two countries would be better enhanced and would lead to more cooperation in areas of learning and research, to be initiated and conducted together in the future," said Omar.

In the meantime, the USM Vice-Chancellor said that USM is always ready to take part in the signing of any Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the purpose of collaboration in any aspect, more so in areas of lifelong learning with the lecturers from UNIKAMA.

"The previous Convocation held at USM has produced 12 Doctorates among the lecturers from Universitas Internasional Batam (UIB) Indonesia, through a collaborative postgraduate programme for the lecturers, and USM would welcome the lecturers from UNIKAMA in pursuing their studies further here especially at the Doctoral level, in order for more lecturers to attain postgraduate education to benefit the university and the country in the future," he added.

In his reply speech, Pieter Sahertian hoped that this visit would facilitate both parties in the sharing of knowledge and to establish working ties between UNIKAMA and USM in various areas.

“Therefore, we hoped that research relations could be established with universities in the Asian region, other than with USM being seen as among the renowned institutions,’’ he added.

He truly welcomed the proposed intention of the USM Vice-Chancellor to initiate a programme towards Doctoral certifications for the lecturers of UNIKAMA.

UNIKAMA is a privately-run higher educational institution in Indonesia, which had earlier given focus in the field of education and teacher training in Surabaya, Indonesia. Current, UNIKAMA has six faculties among which are the faculties of Economics, Educational Studies, Science and Technology, and Law.

The UNIKAMA delegation was later taken for a tour around USM and the USM School of Educational Studies.

Translation: Mazlan Hanafi Basharudin

Text: Syuhada Abd. Aziz