Omani officials visit Curtin Sarawak

Miri – 6 July, 2011 – Three officials from the Ministry of Higher Education of Oman recently called at Curtin University, Sarawak Malaysia (Curtin Sarawak) for a familiarisation visit and to meet Omani students studying at the university.

They were Saeeda Abdullah Al Subhi, Consular Advisor to the Higher Education Minister; Musalam Taman Al Amri, Head of the Foreign Scholarships Department; and Ali Salim Al Farsi, First Researcher of the Sponsored  Student Affairs Department.

The purpose of their visit was to gather information about Curtin Sarawak, get acquainted with the university management and staff of its Marketing and International Office, as well as work on arrangements for the possible placement of Omani government scholars at the university in the coming year.

They also took the opportunity to meet with Omani students currently enrolled in various engineering, business and media, culture and communication programmes.

On hand to receive them were Deputy Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor Alistair Inglis; Chief Operating Officer James Ng; Marketing Manager Liew Mei Yin; deans and department heads of the School of Engineering and Science, School of Business and School of Foundation and Continuing Studies; as well as officers of the University Life Department, International Office and Housing Office.

At a briefing for the Omani delegation, Professor Inglis said Curtin Sarawak was proud to be among three foreign campuses in Malaysia being considered for the placement of Omani scholars by the Omani Ministry of Higher Education.

“We are proud to showcase our campus and academic programmes. This is a great opportunity for us to share our experiences and hopefully get more students from Oman,” he remarked.

Professor Inglis also gave the delegation some background information on Curtin Sarawak, such as it being Curtin University’s first and largest offshore campus established in 1999 at the invitation of the Sarawak state government and an opportunity for Curtin to internationalise its operations.

He added that Curtin Sarawak currently has over 3,000 students from over 40 countries at its campus in Senadin, which opened in 2002, and hopes to increase the number to 5,000, including a substantially larger number of international students, in the next five years.

Mrs. Saedah, meanwhile, said the Omani Ministry of Higher Education is looking to place up to 1,500 undergraduate scholars in quality yet affordable institutions of higher learning in selected countries and had singled out three foreign campuses in Malaysia, at which it hoped to place anywhere from 60 to 90 students. According to her, there are presently about 500 Omani students studying at public and private universities in Malaysia.

“We want to establish direct contact with the universities to ease the process of placing our students later,” she said, adding that the delegation was keen to know about Curtin Sarawak’s academic programmes, fees structure, enrolment procedures and campus facilities, as well as life in Miri and local immigration procedures.

Following briefings by the deans on their respective schools, Chief Operating Officer James Ng and Marketing Manager Liew Mei Yin on enrolment procedures, as well as officers of the University Life Department, International Office and Housing Office on facilities and services for international students, the delegation was brought on a tour of the campus. Before their departure from the campus, they were entertained to lunch by the university management.

For more information on Curtin Sarawak, visit its website at www.curtin.edu.my, call +60 85 443 939 or e-mail enquiries@curtin.edu.my.

Professor Alistair Inglis presenting a souvenir to the Omani delegation.

The Omani delegation touring the campus.