TAR UC had the honour to host the Charming Sichuan Education Expo which was organised by the Education Department of Sichuan Province as well as Liu Xue Educational Service Centre (M) Sdn Bhd and co-organised by Chengdu Normal University and TAR UC. Held on 22 March 2017 at TAR UC Main Hall, the expo had the participation of 16 universities and colleges from Sichuan province and was open to the public and students of TAR UC.
The launching ceremony was graced by YB Senator Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun, Deputy Minister of Women, Family and Community Development Malaysia. Other distinguished guests in attendance were Mr Zhang Jie Xin, Director of Cultural Office, Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Malaysia, Mr Wang Songjian, Associate Counsel, Education Department of Sichuan Province and Datuk Dr Tan Chik Heok, President of TAR UC as well as local school headmasters and representatives from several local universities.
In her speech, YB Senator Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun shared that TAR UC has been actively collaborating with Chinese universities and impending recognition for the University College granted by the Ministry of Education of China. She said: “The University College collaborates actively with many Chinese universities in recent years. Since 2014, TAR UC has collaborated with many Chinese universities such as Guizhou University, Tongren University, Chengdu Normal University, Nanjing University Jinling College and most recently, the world-famous Tsinghua University with whom TAR UC inked the MoU in November 2016. With all these collaborations taking place, we are very positive on TAR UC’s standing in the international arena. I am also very pleased to note that the Chinese Education Ministry will be listing TAR UC’s name in the Ministry’s web portal very soon as one of the recognised foreign universities in China.”
Meanwhile, Mr Zhang Jie Xin in his speech highlighted the collaboration in education between Malaysia and China. He said: “In recent years following the strong bilateral relations between China and Malaysia, this has also intensified the collaboration in education between the two countries. This entails student exchange, joint collaboration / partnership as well as articulation among the institutions of higher learning in Malaysia and China. In 2011, Malaysia and China signed an agreement which enables both countries to mutually recognise some of the institutions of higher learning. In 2016, the two countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding (‘MoU’) which provides a platform for them to set up a structured framework.”
“Last year, as many as 11,445 Chinese students had come to Malaysia to pursue their education. Meanwhile, 6,880 Malaysian students had come to China to further their studies in 2016 and we expect these figures will continue to increase,” Mr Zhang continued.
On the other hand, Mr Wang Songjian shared in detail the development of tertiary education in Sichuan province: “The recent years have seen institutions of higher learning in Sichuan develop, reform and innovate rapidly. In addition, internationalisation is also gaining more importance. Therefore, we encourage and promote collaboration and exchange with foreign institutions. There is a growing international student population in Sichuan institutions coming from 140 countries pursuing their studies as well as research and even faculty is also internationalised with many faculty members from overseas.”
“In 2013, the Sichuan province government had set up a government scholarship for outstanding international students. We therefore welcome excellent Malaysian students to take this opportunity to come to Sichuan for further studies,” Mr Wang added.
The education expo was officially launched with the ribbon-cutting ceremony by the distinguished guests who later visited all the exhibition booths.
The 16 universities and colleges that participated in the exhibition were:
- Southwest University for Nationalities
- Chengdu University
- Xihua University
- Southwest Medical University
- Sichuan Technology and Business University
- Sichuan Normal University
- Chengdu Normal University
- Neijiang Normal University
- Mianyang Normal University
- China West Normal University
- Sichuan University of Science & Engineering
- Southwest University of Science and Technology
- Sichuan University of Arts and Science
- Sichuan Vocational & Technical College
- Sichuan Business Vocational College
- Yinxing Hospitality Management College
