Malaysia Assist In Boosting Education At University In Aceh

From Syed Iylia Hariz Al-Qadri Syed Izman BANDA ACEH, Dec 26 (Bernama) -- The Faculty of Nursing, Universitas Syiah Kuala, the only university in Aceh which is recognised for running a Masters degree programme in nursing, was initially an old single-storey building with 40 students annually in its early stages after it was established in 1999. Now, the faculty has six blocks of double-storey buildings equipped with laboratories, 16 lecture rooms and tutorial classes and could increase the number of its students to 120 up to 140 students after it was rebuilt with funds contributed by Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) with the collaboration of Mercy Malaysia after it was destroyed by the tsunami 10 years ago. The university is now among the top choice of Indonesians in continuing their studies, its dean, Hajjul Kamil told Malaysian reporters who are on a visit here, Tuesday. Hajjul said that in the initial stage of the implementation of the nursing programme in 1999, the number of applicants was only about 40 students a year, but now, with the new building, the programme received between 4,000 and 5,000 applications. However, only between 120 and 140 students could be accepted, he said. Since the new building called 'Gedung Petronas' began operations in 2006, the faculty could produce about 700 graduands at the diploma and bachelors' degree level. Meanwhile, a lecturer at the faculty, T Shamsul Alam said that the assistance from Malaysians in constructing the new building had been among the main contrubutions in the rise of the faculty until today. He said that besides raising the intake of students, the faculty had also gained recognition from the 'Badan Akreditasi Nasional Pengurusan Tinggi Republik Indonesia' (The National Accredition Body for National Management of the Republic of Indonesia) as having the best faculty for the nursing programme. "Through the existing facilities and accredited lecturers, the faculty is now qualified to provide education at the masters' level," he said. T Shamsul said the tsunami had killed 38 students and four staff members. Meanwhile, a third semester student at the faculty, Endang Sakinah Mohd Nasir, 20, said the nursing programme at the university was a popular choice among the people. -- BERNAMA