SERDANG: Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) became the first higher education institution in Asia to receive ac creditation for its teacher education programme from a Washington-based organization, the Teacher Education Ac creditation Council (TEAC) recently.
UPM vice-chancellor Professor Datuk Dr Mohd Fauzi Ramlan announced this in his speech during the breaking of fast and terawih prayers with the Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, who is also the UPM chancellor, here yesterday.
“This accreditation is an effort to increase the quality of UPM graduates which enables them to teach in any school in the United States,” he said.
The recognition had equalized the teacher education programme at UPM with other TEAC-accredited pro grammes at several well-known universities in the US, such as University of Virginia, University of Nebraska, University of Michigan, Temple University and Rutgers University.
Fauzi received the accreditation certificate in Washington from the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Prepa ration (CAEP) president James G. Cibulka.
Earlier, 38 UPM students comprising orphans, 'asnaf' (those deserving of tithes) and Muallaf received Hari Raya aid from the sultan of Selangor.
UPM Holdings Sdn. Bhd. Board of Directors chairman Tan Sri Datuk Dr Ahmad Tajuddin Ali, also handed over RM219,800 from UPM Holdings business zakat (tithe) for the year 2013.
Also present were Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim and two UPM Pro-Chancellors - Tan Sri Dr Nayan Arifin and Tan Sri Rozali Ismail.
