NILAI: The undergraduate law programme at Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) has long been certified and recognised by the country’s Legal Profession Qualifying Board (LPQB) and there should not be any confusion about its present status.
USIM deputy vice-chancellor (academic and international) Prof Datuk Dr Zulkiple Abdul Ghani today clarified that the certification was first made on May 5, 2015.
“Just because LPQB did a review recently, that did not mean that USIM’s undergraduate law programme is unrecognised,” Zulkiple commented, in response to a statement made in the Dewan Rakyat by Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Dr Mary Yap Kain Ching, earlier today.
“The interpretation by several parties that the law programme at USIM is not recognised is inaccurate.”
Earlier from March 6 to 8 this year, LPQB conducted a review on all the prerequisite criteria set by the board for a full recognition of a law undergraduate programme at a local university.
“As the most recent to add a Faculty of Law & Syariah in the country, USIM has uphold the responsibility of implementing all appropriate actions suggested by LPQB,” said Zulkiple, stressing that such actions (to fulfill the recognition criteria) were taken before and during the board review.
Among the initiatives USIM undertook was to convert the name of the programme from Bachelor of Syariah to Bachelor of Law & Syariah, which was approved by the Ministry of Higher Education, effective Dec 13, 2016.
To date, 338 USIM students have graduated with the degree, while another 358 are undergoing the five-year, or 10 semesters, programme.
The board’s assessment result will be made known seven months from the dates of the review.
