Academic & International

UMP goes the extra mile to assist new undergraduate Amrina

Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) recently went the extra mile to help new undergraduate, Amrina Rusyada Mat Kamal, made it to campus ground in Gambang, after she was offered to enroll for a Bachelor’s Degree in Project Management at the university for the 2019/2020 intake session.

Relating the benevolence experience, Amrina’s mother, Rohana Rashid, 52, said she was elated when her beloved daughter was offered to pursue her tertiary studies at UMP, but became worried of the cost she had to bear to send her over.

Being a single mother from Kampung Singkir Genting in Merbok, Kedah, Rohana said it had never crossed her mind that her family would become the recipient of UMP’s extraordinary goodwill assistance – in arranging the logistics for her daughter to travel across the peninsula to Gambang, Pahang.

She had initially thought of seeking help from Amrina’s uncle to drive them to the university in time for the new students’ registration day.

But, just a few days before the registration, Rohana was pleasantly surprised by a call from UMP, with the latter saying it had made the necessary arrangements to come fetch and drive the whole family to the university.

According to Rohana, she couldn’t believe her luck, and was even skeptical that a public institution of higher education would go out of its way to provide such assistance.

“We’ve all heard of financial assistance provided by universities for academically outstanding students, but for one to arrange logistics and transportation to the campus for registration is truly extraordinary,” she exclaimed. 

“In fact, I had to ask around, with relatives and neighbours, if they’ve heard of such provision. And all reacted rather surprised, and were also doubtful of such assistance,” Rohana remarked.

But to her disbelief, come registration day on Saturday (date here), 2019, UMP staff appeared at Rohana’s doorstep.

From that memorable moment, her skepticism turned into an emotional experience, having being inspired by such kind gesture.

Rohana felt ever more touched, when UMP did not only provide transportation from her home in Merbok to the campus ground in Gambang, but went further to accommodate the family at the university’s guest residence, complete with in-house meals throughout the registration process.

“My heartfelt gratitude to UMP for extending a helping hand and all the assistance. For a Nasi Lemak seller like me, I figured the travelling expenditure itself would have cost the university more than RM500 – that is a substantially significant amount to spare,” she humbly said.

Having been encouraged by such benevolence experience, Rohana strongly advised Amrina to study and work hard for a better and successful future.

Concurring with her mother, Amrina said she was deeply touched by UMP’s display of extraordinary compassion for her and her family’s plight.

Together with 69 other new undergraduates, Amrina was also a recipient of the university’s MyGift Initiative, presented in conjunction with the 2019/2020 Bachelor’s Degree enrolment on September 2, 2019. 

Each recipient gets RM1,000 cash assistance from the Bank Rakyat Foundation’s Fund on Tertiary Education Financial Assistance.

Academic & International

PAKAD holds workshop to help SPM students master Science subjects

By: ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR DR. FATMAWATI ADAM, FACULTY OF CHEMICAL AND PROCESS ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY

Lecturers from the Academic Association (PAKAD) of Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) recently held an academic intensive workshop to help Form Five students at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Agama Pahang (SMKAP) in Muadzam Shah prepare for their Sijil Peperiksaan Malaysia (SPM) examination this year.

Dubbed the ‘CSR Akademik PAKAD 2019’, the programme also aimed to boost students’ comprehension and mastery of the science subjects, like Physics, Chemistry and Biology, as well as Mathematics.

Held for two consecutive days on August 6 and 7 at the university’s Gambang Campus, the corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme saw 50 UMP lecturers and 11 postgraduate students mentor 33 students under the supervision of 12 teachers from SMKAP. 
 
According to PAKAD President, Mohd Hairul Ab Rahim, such CSR programme was conducted in line with the Association’s objective of encouraging academic staff to be more proactive in community services.

“We also hope such programme will help establish a cordial working relationship between UMP academic staff and SMKAP teachers, in terms of sharing and transfering of knowledge and expertise in the teaching and learning of science-based subject matters,” said Mohd Hairul. 

Programme Director, Associate Professor Dr. Fatmawati Adam of the Faculty of Chemical & Process Engineering Technology, concurred, saying the final year secondary school students will also be opportuned to reinforce their understanding of proactive learning as well as their comprehension of the concepts of Chemistry in a real-world laboratory.

“Furthermore, these students will get to experience campus life with an overnight stay at the university residences,” she highlighted. 

One of the academic staff-participants, Dean of Centre of Science Mathematics, Associate Professor Dr. Mohd Zuki Salleh, said his team of lecturer-mentors came up with several creative activities, including games and techniques, to inculcate interest and boost students’ understanding of the potentially difficult four subject matters.

“We had Mathematical games as well as demonstrations on the Laws of Ohm and Latent Heat to illustrate the concepts of electric resistance & conductance, and thermodynamics, respectively,” exuded the Associate Professor.
  
Meanwhile, SMKAP Headmaster, Ustaz Abdul Rahim Mohamad, extended his gratitude and appreciation to UMP for the latter’s creative contributions, which have significantly helped instill interest in the secondary school students to understand concepts and reinforce their comprehension of the SPM examination subjects.

The 'CSR Akademik PAKAD 2019' programme also saw the students attending a motivational workshop entitled 'Learning of Science in line with Quranic Teachings (Sunnatullah)', conducted by Ustaz Ahmad Irfan Ikmal Hisham from UMP’s Centre of Human Sciences.