GAMBANG, PAHANG, 23 April 2016 – Higher Education Minister, Dato’ Seri Idris Jusoh urges students who have been selected as outstanding personalities to continue being icons and junior ambassadors at all levels of society, from those in schools to those at the international stage.

Idris said that the involvement of Student Personalities in any programme is also measured based on the impact from how the programme is implemented or in how they contribute to society.

“I was informed that the selection for this award was done in a detailed manner, using exceptional benchmarks such as having a minimum achievement of CGPA 3.0 and together with an admirable personality and commendable character," he explained when delivering his speech in conjunction with Majlis Anugerah Tokoh Siswa 2015 (ATS 2015) at the Dewan Kompleks Sukan Utama, Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP), Gambang, here recently.

He added that, such requirements were set to ensure that the individuals selected today would be those with calibre and having a towering personality, to represent the higher educational institutions at both national and international levels.

"Programmes on leadership and volunteerism led by students would assist in expanding their knowledge, thinking skills, language skills, leadership skills, ethics and spirituality in addition to improving aspects of integration national unity," he said on the organisation of ATS 2015 for the third time.

ATS 2015 relates to awards that would acknowledge and encourage students whom have persevered to become holistic and competent human capital in line with the current demands of the economy and development trends.

In all, 19 awards were contested, with nine awards in the Leadership category, seven awards for the Volunteerism category, one award for Student Leadership Personality, one award for Student Volunteerism Personality and a Special Main Award (Education Minister Award 2015) and Special Acknowledgement by the Director-General of Higher Education (KPPT) to 9 recipients.

Idris also emphasised on the shifts in the 1 Malaysia Education Development Plan 2015 -2025 (Higher Education) in producing holistic graduates with balanced and entrepreneurial character as one of the main objectives of the Ministry, resulting from improvements in the curriculum, expansion in cooperation with the industry and an experiential learning programme with an integrated evaluation framework that would result in a holistic development of the plan.

“Leadership and volunteerism programmes such as the 1 Malaysia for Youth (1M4U) programme, Student Volunteer Corps, and University Community Engagement (UCE) are examples of programmes which could raise the levels of self-competency of students for them to be more competitive in the job market," he further explained.

Idris hoped that with the high-profile recognition such as this, students would grab the opportunities, fully maximising their time at the university in the best way possible and to seek various platform to contribute to society in a proactive manner.

"Optimise your contributions in various co-curricular activities and at the same time continue to achieve excellence in academics," added Idris who presented three main awards, namely the Student Leadership Award, Volunteerism Award and also the Education Minister Award.

Also present at the ceremony were the Deputy Minister of Education, Datuk Mary Yap Kain Ching; Director-General of Higher Education, Dato' Professor Dr. Asma Ismail; Chief Secretary, Ministry of Higher Education, Dato' Seri Ir Dr. Zaini Ujang; as well as the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Students Development Affairs and Alumni (HEPA), Professor Dato’ Dr. Adnan Hussein.

Translation: Mazlan Hanafi Basharudin

Text: Syuhada Abd. Aziz / Photo: Mohd. Azrul Mohd. Azhar