KUCHING – Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus and MRS Management Sdn Bhd will explore and collaborate in developing and delivering internationally recognised short-term executive courses that cater to local industry needs.
The two organisations recently formalised the partnership with a memorandum of understanding, with Swinburne Sarawak Deputy Vice-Chancellor and CEO Professor Janet Gregory and MRS Management CEO Kristine Liew signing for their respective organisation.
The executive training courses they will develop and offer include those in engineering, English and soft skills.
As a start, Swinburne Sarawak will accredit MRS Management’s Certified AdminPro in Management, a newly developed HRDF-claimable certification program for administrative support professionals.
The curriculum and assessments of the program are jointly developed by MRS Management professional trainers and Swinburne academics. The 32-hour program adopts a blended learning style that offers high levels of engagement by trainees in the learning process.
Its curriculum comprises 30% theory and 70% hands-on practical sessions. Trainees who successfully complete all assessments will receive a Swinburne certificate of achievement.
“As a university we have a lot of focus on undergraduate and postgraduate courses but I think the executive development courses is an ongoing need as well and it’s part of our commitment and our thinking about lifelong learning,” said Gregory.
She encouraged MRS Management, a long-established training provider, to tap into the university’s expertise in research and teaching.
Gregory said Swinburne Sarawak is a branch campus of Swinburne University in Melbourne, Australia, and is a joint venture with the Sarawak government and has a strong role in the state.
“Swinburne also offers expertise in executive and industry training that we can tap into and we are already starting to do that. They have a customised executive development program that they have been running in Melbourne for a long period of time.
“This means MRS has a chance to work with the whole university. What we don’t have here we can tap into the Melbourne options as well.”
Swinburne Sarawak has excellent learning and teaching facilities, Gregory said.
“Our research centre and faculty of business are currently setting up a business excellence centre that should be completed at the end of this year. It’s a state-of-the-art area where we can run training courses that would suit people that are coming in from work. We are also doing a lot of development around the campus at the moment and our capacity to offer those spaces will increase as well.”
According to Liew, although MRS Management pioneered the training business in Sarawak, this is its first partnership with academia.
“I am proud to say that today is the beginning of another chapter where we are synergising with a university as prestigious as Swinburne, not just with your campus here in Sarawak, but also tap into the available resources in Melbourne,” said Liew, adding that the MoU signing also coincides with the company’s 28th year of operation this month.
The partnership aligns with the Malaysian government’s 2020 human capital development agenda, said Dr George Ngui Kwang Sing, Associate Dean for Research and Engagement from the Faculty of Business and Design at Swinburne Sarawak.
“As of 2015, skilled workers constitute 28 percent of total jobs created. According to recent statistics compiled by the Ministry of Human Resources, employers tend to enrol their workers for non-technical training courses.
“In addition, only one per cent of the existing HRDF-claimable training courses lead to some form of professional certification.”
He said the two entities will jointly address these challenges by offering executive courses that upgrade the skills of trainees based on curriculum recognised internationally.
They will also tap into the expertise of Swinburne’s Melbourne campus in delivering professional development solutions to companies in Australia.