An event that I never thought I'd have a chance to attend recently was the 2nd EduCity Educators Conference 2019. This year, the event was held at Newcastle University Medicine (NuMed) Malaysia - which coincidentally, was my bf's alma mater. The conference was jointly organised by Newcastle University Medicine (NuMed) Malaysia, University of Reading Malaysia (UoRM), University of Southampton Malaysia Campus (USMC) and EduCity Iskandar Sdn Bhd. This 1-day event was attended by 150 expert contributors from across the higher education sector.
This year's theme is "Support in Education". 4 topics were presented by renowned speakers which are Providing Quality Education through Private Higher Learning Institutions, Cultivating Well-being in Higher Education and Holistic Student Support as a means for Student Experience. The topics are presented as a series of keynote speeches, hands-on workshops and oral presentations, allowing participants to gain valuable hints and tips to enhance their own teaching and learning delivery, education research and to provide opportunities for networking.
During the Opening Keynote Address by Yang Berusaha Dr. Zubaidah Aman, Director of the Private Higher Education Governance Division, Ministry of Education on behalf of Yg Bhg Dato' Prof. Ir. Dr. Mohd Saleh Jaafar, Deputy Director of General Higher Education said, "The theme of this year's conference which is 'Support in Education', encompasses pastoral support, academic, employability and study skills support for students, and research, training and physiological support for staff. This event will include keynote speeches, workshops, networking discussions and the chance for delegates to present any of their research or areas of interest relating to this theme."
She added, "The real meaning of Support in Education, is a 360-degrees support that encompasses educating students and providing staff with the right medium of teaching. This is essential for both students and staffs to have the same objective which is creating a holistic individual with the right attitude and aptitude to determine the altitude. At the end of the day, the student must have the key ingredients to be "employable"."
Malaysia has been one of the leading hubs for higher education and in parallel with EduCity Iskandar's objective which is to promote Malaysia as a centre of educational excellence in the world, the 2nd EduCity Educators Conference 2019 speaks volume. One thing I remember clearly from her speech is that countries like Thailand and Vietnam are also starting to open up their higher education institutions to foreign students, which is why it is now more important than ever for Malaysia' higher education industry to reform and provide more benefits, welfare and safety for all students so that we hit the targeted number of students by year 2020. This year's conference is the result of last year's inaugural first EduCity Educators Conference which aims to introduce delegates with the tools needed to perform world-class research on teaching and learning approaches.
We were then given the chance to interview the 3 key persons from each university (from left to right), Prof. Rebecca Taylor of University of Southampton Malaysia, Prof. Christopher Baldwin from Newcastle University of Medicine Malaysia, Prof. Wing Lam from University of Reading Malaysia, and En. Wan Ahmad Saifuddin, the Managing Director of EduCity Iskandar Malaysia Sdn Bhd. Each university in EduCity is very motivated to helping to achieve the Malaysia higher education vision and mission by providing scholarships and added welfare benefits for foreign students. For instance, the EduCity International Student Village has more facilities now, including a co-working space where students can use as a platform to embark on their entrepreneurship journey, as well as plans for a Sports Carnival is in the works to encourage networking and sportsmanship amongst students.
Currently, EduCity Iskandar has 9 institutions which are:
1. Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia
2. University of Southampton Malaysia
3. Multimedia University
4. University of Reading Malaysia
5. Netherlands Maritime Institute of Technology
6. Malborough College Malaysia
7. Raffles University
8. Raffles American School
9. Management Development Institute of Singapore
For more information on EduCity, please visit:
Disclaimer: This post is published in collaboration with EduCity Iskandar Malaysia.
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