KUALA LUMPUR: Universiti Tenaga Nasional (Uniten) Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Campus, Pahang, will not be ceasing operations, says Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir.
The Higher Education Minister said that he had not received any word of its closure.
"No, I did not receive the news. While I had heard about it from external sources, I want to clarify that I didn't receive any instructions, either directly or indirectly," he told reporters after the Higher Education Ministry’s Roadmap for 2024 event at Universiti Malaya on Friday (Jan 12).
Zambry was responding to the speculation about the future of the Uniten campus.
On Jan 10, the media had reported that the Pahang government had disagreed with the proposed closure of the university and had urged that the matter be reconsidered.
He said he had informed the Pahang Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail about the issue when he brought it up on Thursday (Jan 11).
"I had clarified that, according to the information that I had confirmed with my senior officers, there has been no instructions given to them," he said.
On a separate matter, Zambry said a discussion was held with the Investment, Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti) and the Science, Technology, and Innovation Ministry (Mosti) revealing the need for universities to produce graduates that match the needs of the market and the industry.
"For example, there is a large need for those in the semiconductor field, we need to think about how we want to produce technical graduates at the polytechnic, community college or university levels.
"Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz had informed me that there are more than 40,000 vacancies (in the semiconductor field) and if universities can only accommodate 5,000 (students) then a plan needs to be made," he said.
