Photo caption:Â Prof. Dato Dr. Md. Tahir Azhar officiates the ‘Jom Masuk IPT’ carnival.
By Hamka Rosli
GOMBAK, 7 March 2015: The ˜Karnival Pendidikan Tinggi Negara (National Institutions of Higher Learning Festival), organised by the Ministry of Education, Malaysia is back again for the 11th time. It has been going on since 14 February, launched in Kuantan, Pahang, as the first zone and has now reached its fourth zone in IIUM main campus, Gombak.
As host for the fourth zone, IIUM is organising ˜Jom Masuk IPT programme from 7 to 8 March at Padang Kawad beside the Convest Hill. There are in total nine zones covering the North, South, East, West including Sabah and Sarawak.
The event was officiated by  IIUM’s Deputy Rector (Academic and Planning), Prof. Dato Dr. Md. Tahir Azhar. He said that the programme can be a real good platform for students to further their studies in their field of interest. The students, which he saw are full of potential, should use the opportunity to plan their direction after graduating from high school.
As someone who was also the Chairman of Sub-Specialty Committee of National Specialist Register (Clinical Oncology), he said: œWe expect more to come to this event and grab this opportunity. I am really flattered to see the students using this platform.
The public are welcome to the event and also to explore new information regarding IPT in Malaysia. Besides students, parents are also among those who come to the ˜Karnival Pendidikan Tinggi Negara.
The programme is to provide a one-stop centre for high school leavers besides giving space for them to access information regarding higher education in Malaysia and abroad.
Prime Minister, Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak has conceptualised the theme of ˜1Malaysia Pendidikan Untuk Semua, which coincides with the aim of the programme to give an opportunity for students to further their academic studies.
œWe are honoured to host the event for the first time in the history of the establishment of IIUM. We are looking forward to open our doors to potential students and the public to come and experience the beauty of our Garden of Knowledge and Virtue as well as obtain relevant information from the exhibitors, said the Director of Corporate Communication and Marketing, Prof. Dr. Ainul Jaria Maidin.
She expressed her gratitude to the Ministry of Education for entrusting IIUM to host the event. œIIUM will benefit immensely from this event as we explore more than 60,000 people to visit our campus, she reckononed.
IIUM is looking forward to serve the Malaysian public from areas around Putrajaya, Kuala Lumpur and Selangor and at the same time to open its gates to all.
The programme started in 2005 as an initiative of the Ministry of Education to disseminate information on the opportunities available for Malaysians to further their education in institutions of higher learning, both public and private including Polytechnic, Community colleges and Institut Latihan Kemahiran Awam.
The carnival has also provided room for the invited financial institutions to give advice on education loans and scholarships. The event will provide a platform for students and the public to obtain advice on the choice of programme based on the area of interest to the students.
The coming zone for the continuation of the programme will be on 14 and 15 March at Stadium Indera Mulia, Perak, as the fifth zone. Students who are in the area concerned may come and grasp the opportunity to plan for future direction.***
*IPT stands for Institut Pengajian Tinggi (in English, Institutions of Higher Learning).
