UMT and UniSZA won't be merged, says Higher Education Minister

PETALING JAYA: The Cabinet will not merge Terengganu's Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) and Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA).

Higher Education Minister Datuk Dr Noraini Ahmad said the decision was made after taking several factors into account.

She said this included the significant differences in focus, the coordination of existing academic faculties and research institutions, and the level of readiness between the two universities in shaping a unique future identity for themselves.

“We take both universities’ students’ and staff's views on the matter seriously, and we looked at the implications of the merger, how it will affect the development of students in both universities, ” she said in a statement on Friday (May 22).

Noraini said the merge was also expected to incur high costs, and therefore, the government would not go ahead with it.

Last year, the Education Ministry announced that the two varsities would be merged.

The merger of UMT and UniSZA, Noraini said, would further undermine the success that both varsities had achieved in creating their identity.