On September 27 - 30, 2021 the Asia Pacific Accreditation and Certification Commission (APACC) conducted the online evaluation of Kolej Kemahiran Tinggi MARA (KKTM) Rembau. It is the second institution under the purview of Majilis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) to undergo online evaluation out of the five institutions that were lined up for evaluation for the fiscal year 2021-2022.
The activity commenced with the opening program which was attended by the KKTM Rembau team, key officials from MARA, and the APACC Team. KKTM Rembau Director, Pn. Suriani binti Ramli, headed the institution team. Along with her were Deputy Director for Academic Affairs, Pn. Rohayu binti Daud, Deputy Director for Administration and Student’s Affairs, Mr. Azar Harussani bin Mohd Lud, APACC Accreditation Team Leader Pn. Lowearness, as well as the working team leaders and members of each criterion committee.
Also, present during the opening ceremony to show their utmost support was MARA Director Mr. Mahzan bin Teh. During his welcome remarks, Mr. Mahzan ensured MARA institutions' commitment with APACC and looks forward to collaborating with APACC as well as other APACC-accredited institutions in terms of strategic values that they can bring into their system. Also present was Assistant Director for Technical Vocational Mr. Jaafar Sidek, among other key officials from MARA.
Meanwhile, the APACC team was spearheaded by the Lead Accreditor from Pakistan, Dr. Hazrat Hussain, along with the Member Accreditor from the Philippines, Dr. Luis Sorolla, Jr. During the opening ceremony, Dr. Luis Sorolla, Jr. in his special remarks, quoted William Foster, “Quality is always a result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction, and skillful execution. It represents the wise choice of many alternatives.” He also encouraged the attendees to never grow tired of pursuing excellence, and that the pandemic should not be allowed to be a distraction from the quest for educational quality and excellence. Meanwhile, Dr. Hazrat Hussain, in his speech, congratulated the KKTM Rembau team for taking the courage to present themselves for accreditation to validate their competence, achievements, and their march towards quality TVET delivery. He also emphasized that for the accreditation activity, there are no divisions between the institution and APACC teams but rather, both work as one team so that together, they can make it clear to TVET stakeholders that the quality is maintained and creativity, innovativeness, and development of the total human capital is continued.
The ceremony was also graced by the presence of the APACC President, Prof. G.L.D. Wickramasinghe. During his welcome speech, he stated that the accreditation process is not policing the programs but validating whether the presented information of the institution is factual. Moreover, he highlighted that KKTM Rembau is a unique institution since its programs are mainly in the creative industries areas and therefore creative industries need a creative approach for education. He then congratulated KKTM Rembau for their APACC application and expressed his wish to enhance the cooperation between APACC, CPSC, MARA, and Malaysian institutions.
After the opening program, there was the tour of facilities which was done virtually. It was immediately followed by the discussion and validation of evidence for the indicators of each of the seven APACC criteria namely: Governance and Management, Teaching and Learning, Human Resources, Research and Development, Image and Sustainability, Other Resources, and Support to Students.
The 4-day online activity was concluded with an exit program wherein the qualitative aspect of the evaluation report was presented by the lead accreditor Dr. Hazrat Hussain that included the commendations, affirmations, and recommendations for the institution.
