By G Vinod
PETALING JAYA: International University College of Technology Twintech's (IUCTT) accreditation issue in relation to its Bachelor of Optometry course will be resolved soon.This was the assurance given by its deputy vice-chancellor Zulkiply Omar, who said the university was working closely with the Ministry of Higher Education to look into the matter.
Some 156 students studying optomery at IUCTT’s main campus at Bandar Sri Damansara here have been facing uncertainty over the degree’s accreditation status.
Said Zulkiply: “We were hit by a sudden mass resignation of lecturers late last year. Suddenly, we did not have enough full-time lecturers as required by Higher Education Ministry.
“But we are resolving the problem. We have hired enough part-time lecturers to carry out the programme but it's just that we need to fulfil the 60% full-time lecturer quota.”
Earlier, the Malaysian Optical Council had informed the university that it was revoking accreditation from its Bachelor of Optometry programme as of June 30.
The decision came about after 10 of IUCTT's optometry lecturers resigned en masse for greener pastures, leaving the university with insufficient lecturers to carry out the programme.
Meanwhile, Zulkiply has advised students against seeking a transfer because of the accreditation issue.
"I won't advise this. For now, we are the only private university that offers an accredited optometry programme. I urge the students to be patient as we are going to get five new full-time lecturers in September, four from India and one from Nigeria,” he said.
Advisory capacity
The Malaysia Qualifications Agency (MQA) confirmed that Twintech has been working hard to ensure the accreditation issue is solved as soon as possible.
“We must give credit to Twintech for cooperating with us over the matter,” said its MQA’s chief executive officer Syed Ahmad Hussein.
Syed Ahmad said that MQA acted in an advisory capacity with the Malaysian Optical Council to address the matter.
“Twintech was affected by an external factor which was beyond its control.
“We must understand that for professional courses like medicine and optometry, we cannot compromise on quality as these are critical courses.”
“In that sense, the Malaysian Optical Council had advised the ministry to withhold the accreditation until the university gets enough lecturers.
“However, we cannot rush the university to get lecturers as well. For courses like optometry, we cannot get just anyone to teach as this is a professional course.”
When asked whether the university's second-year students will get an accredited certificate when they graduate, Syed Ahmad said:
“We will only decide to give accreditation for the courses when they are in their final year. We will talk to the students, check on the university's facilities, its student support structure and other things before giving accreditation,” he said.
He assured students that they will not be left in a lurch.
“MQA's primary concern is to ensure the students get what they have paid for. We will make sure their interests are taken care of first before anything else,” he added.
IUCTT started in 1994 with only one campus in Jalan Kelang Lama. Over the years, the university has grown and today has three branches. Currently, the university offers 62 different courses and is accommodating about 4,000 students.
Its new vice-chancellor, Dr Mohd Razali Agus, took over in June 2010 after the demise of its previous vice-chancellor Senator Prof Dr Ismail Md Salleh in August last year
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156 students in a bind after college loses accreditation
