By: Azman Zakaria
SERDANG, March 19: Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) Tuanku Chancellor, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, said it is unreasonable for anyone to doubt the quality of UPM graduates based solely on the number of graduates.
His Royal Highness said he was confident that the graduates produced by UPM were superior and of high quality.
His Royal Highness added that they were guided by lecturers with integrity through an improved academic system.
"UPM always ensures all its graduates are of quality as required," said His Royal Highness in Session 1, 45th UPM Convocation Ceremony, at the Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Culture and Arts Centre, UPM, here today.
A total of 6,142 graduates, comprising 484 recipients of the Doctor of Philosophy’s (PhD) degrees, 1,611 Master’s degrees, 3,564 Bachelor’s degrees, and 483 Diplomas, received their scrolls at the Convocation Ceremony, which was held for six days.
While congratulating the graduates’ parents on the success of their children, His Royal Highness also thanked them for the trust given by choosing UPM as their prefered study destination.
His Royal Highness said graduates should be grateful for the blessings and advantages they have as UPM graduates, and he urged them to continue to uphold the dignity of parents, families and the country to a higher level with the knowledge learnt and be responsible citizens with integrity.
His Royal Highness said the university's role was not only to provide youths or graduates who could meet the job market but also to equip them with the skills needed to become active, responsible, civilised, trustworthy, and uphold humanely living standards.
"The success achieved is not only in terms of academics but also the personality of the graduates," he said.
His Royal Highness hoped the UPM Strategic Plan 2021-2025, launched in December last year, would be able to strengthen UPM's position and role as a “Tower of Knowledge” and further plan for a more glorious future for UPM.
His Royal Highness said the university management always makes continuous reforms and improvements to elevate UPM as a tower of knowledge by improving the community's quality of teaching, research, and professional services.
His Royal Highness also said although the impact of COVID-19 was huge on the Higher Education Institutions (IPT), including UPM, the university had put in tremendous effort to curb the spread of the pandemic as best as possible.
His Royal highness said various initiatives had been implemented in the aspects of risk management, crisis communication, digital teaching and learning, innovation, student welfare and public advisory services.
“This effort is done for the strength and continuity of the institution so that UPM firmly sustains as a “Tower of Knowledge” that is always competitive. In a situation where we are still facing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the issue of well-being is critical that needs to be solved together,” said His Royal Highness. - UPM
