UiTM halts undergraduate admissions for international students to prioritise Bumiputera access, while integrating AI into all subjects from October
SHAH ALAM: Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) has ceased admitting international students at the undergraduate level for the past two years to focus fully on the Bumiputera community.
UiTM vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Shahrin Sahib @ Sahibuddin said the move was taken to ensure that access to higher education at the university is prioritised for children from B40 households, the Orang Asli community, as well as residents of Sabah and Sarawak.
“This move is in line with UiTM’s principle of maintaining the lowest tuition fees to ensure continued access to higher education, particularly for the B40 group, which needs to be given attention and priority.
“Despite the absence of international students at the undergraduate level, UiTM remains committed to improving its ranking from 549th to among the world’s top 300 universities in the QS World University Rankings,” he said.
He said this to Bernama after presenting the UiTM2030 Strategic Plan, which was launched by UiTM Board of Directors chairman Tan Sri Mohd Kamil Jamil at Anjung Seri Budiman, UiTM, here today.
The UiTM2030 Strategic Plan is the university’s five-year action framework focused on driving academic excellence, financial sustainability and high-impact digital transformation in producing globally competitive Bumiputera graduates.
He said the target of generating 25 per cent of the university’s own income under UiTM2030 would be driven through other sectors, including postgraduate programmes, professional preparatory programmes and adult education programmes through the Institute of Continuing Education and Professional Studies (iCEPS), which currently has 13,000 students.
“We are also leveraging the Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning for the Award of Qualifications (APEL.Q) and work-based learning, whereby more than 200 military personnel are currently pursuing diploma studies from their workplaces without having to be on campus,” he said.
Shahrin said the initiatives were part of UiTM’s strategy to sustainably diversify its financial resources and reduce its dependence on government allocations, while strengthening the university’s ability to generate income, which currently stands at about RM400 million annually through rentals, consultancy and special courses.
Meanwhile, he said UiTM would incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) components into all subjects across every faculty, including branch campuses nationwide, as an initial step in the university’s digital transformation, beginning this October.
He said the initiative would not involve offering specific AI subjects, but would instead integrate AI components directly into the existing curriculum.
“We want to ensure that all subjects are equipped with AI components and that these are directly incorporated into the existing curriculum so that all UiTM students master the fundamentals of AI before progressing to higher levels.
“In terms of resources, we already have the expertise. Investment will be prioritised towards upgrading information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure, while also making extensive use of AI in teaching, research and administration,” he said.