TWINTECH INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY COLLEGE GAINING BACK ACCREDITATION FOR BACHELOR OF OPTOMETRY (HONS).TWINTECH IS THE ONLY PRIVATE INSTITUITION IN MALAYSIA THAT HAS OPTOMETRY PROGRAMME BEING ACCREDITED BY MQA
Programme Bachelor Optometry (Hons) offered by Twintech International University College was given an accreditation by MQA effective 2March 2009 with Registration No A4796 and Serial No 03050 with the letter from MQA dated 15 September 2009, MQA (s) 10/13/1/1 Jld 23(25)
From September to March 2010: A total of eight (8) lecturers including the Dean of the Faculty Prof Azrin Esmady resigned from the Faculty Optometry Twintech International University College and join Faculty Optometry SEGi University College. Because of the total and sudden resignation of all the lecturers, the running of the Faculty Optometry Twintech International University College has to come to a sudden stop. Until December 2009, about three (3) batches of students (a total of 37 students) have graduated from Faculty Optometry Twintech University College as optometrists. During that period of turbulence there are about 137 students still studying at the Faculty of Optometry Twintech International University College from semester one to semester 8 with about 34 students in the final semester 8
From December 2009 to April 2010: Attempt was made by Twintech University College to find new lecturers and new Head of Programme. However all attempts to resuscitate the programmes failed because there is no person with the correct qualification and experience willing to become the Head of the programme. All attempts to start the course failed and this has caused anxiety on behalf of the students, their parents, Ministry of Higher Learning (KPT) and the management of Twintech. However the management of Twintech University continue to give hope to the students that the course will resume soon. Majlis Optik Malaysia (MOC) and Agensi Kelayakan Malaysia (MQA) with their latter in June 2010 have advised Twintech International University to recruit new Head of Programme and adequate number of lecturers to student’s ratio, to improve the teaching facilities, to improve student’s welfare and to improve the lecture time table. With the number of students available at Faculty Optometry at that moment Twintech was advised to recruit the minimum 5-6 full time lecturers including the Head of the Programme.
On 15 April 2010: Prof Dr Nasoha Saabin CLICK was appointed as Head of the Programme. His first task as Head of the Programme was to recruit new lecturers’ .All attempts to recruit full time lecturers from the local Malaysians have failed and in 26 June 2010 Prof Dr Nasoha Saabin and Assoc Prof Selva Nathan went to Elite School of Optometry, Chennai India to recruit lecturers. The students were call to resume their studies on the 25 April 2010 and most of the lecturers for optometry subjects are conducted using qualified part-time lecturers. On the 1st June 2011 until 31 September 2010 Prof Dr Norhani Mohidin joined to become a full time lecturer. Twintech manage to recruit four (4) full time lecturers from India and they came and joined the Faculty on the 10 September 2011 and one lecturer from Nigeria who came to join the Faculty on the 1st November 2010.
On 21 April 2010: members from MOC, MQA and MOHE or known as Joint Technical Committee (JTC) visited Faculty Optometry Twintech International University College. Beside, Prof Dr Nasoha as the Head of Programme, the Faculty Optometry at that time has no full-time optometric lecturers and some of the teaching facilities are not well maintained. During this time, the students who were mostly anxious about their future studying optometry at Twintech International University College, made almost daily complains to the Ministry of Higher Education about the Faculty and the management of Twintech. On many occasions Prof Dr Noridah who was at that time the acting Vice Chancellor was called to the Ministry of Higher Education for questioning. Because of the frequent complaints made by the optometry students of Faculty Optometry Twintech International University to the Ministry of Higher Education, the Ministry had asked the Dean of the Faculty to give daily reports to the officers of MOHE Putra Jaya.During that time, the officers from MOHE frequently visited the Faculty and request the management of Twintech to solve the student’s problem. In May 2010 about 20 students from semester two choose not to continue their studies at Twintech and some of them went to the press to launch a report about Twintech running a course without accreditation
On 12 August 2010: a latter came from Majlis Optik Malaysia and Agensi Kelayakan Malaysia MQA/A 4796(150) stating that the accreditation of the Programme of Bachelor Optometry (Hons) runs by Twintech International University College is temporarily withhold and it is effective from 3 June 2010
On September 2010: the fourth (4) batch students sit for their final clinical and theoretical examination and all the students pass .All the students have submitted their thesis and have passed their viva. In order to improve the student’s clinical training, after their final examination, the students were made in group of 12 and sent to Sankara Nethralaya Eye Hospital, Chennai India for another two (2) weeks of clinical training. Total clinical hours that the students manage to acquire during the clinical years is calculated to be six hundred and thirty three (633) hours
On 21-22 October 2010: Faculty Optometry, Twintech International University College, was again visited by the Joint Technical Group, headed by Dr Zainorah from Faculty Optometry National University of Malaysia. Following the visits JTC has made several suggestions and recommendations to Twintech International University College. In order to ensure the suggestions and recommendations are followed and done by Twintech; on 13-14 March 2011 another visit by JTC was made to Faculty Optometry Twintech International University College. One of the suggestion was the 34 students (4th batch) that has completed their studies and had pass their clinical and theoretical examination have to do another 167 clinical hours making the total clinical hours to be about 800 hours before the are allowed to graduate and given licence to practice by MOC.All of them have completed the extra 167 clinical hours and MOC in their letter dated 4th July 2011, have agreed to pass them and to give them, the licence to practice
23 November 2010: Vice Chancellor Prof Dato’Dr Razali Agus and Prof Dr Nasoha Saabin went to Sankara Nethralaya Eye Hospital, Chennai, India to sign a Memorundum of Agreement between Twintech International University College and Medical Research Foundation regarding four (4) months clinical posting of Semester 8, Twintech Optometric Students at Sankara Nethralaya Eye Hospital. Semester 8 students of the fifth (5Th batch) of 21 students, was the first batch of Twintech Optometry students that undergo four months clinical training at Sankara Nethralaya Eye Hospital .The period of their training was from Ist December 2010 to 31th March 2011.They have sat for their final clinical and theoretical examination in June 2011 and all of them have passed and graduate as Optometrists. The fifth batch will attend their convocation ceremony in December 2011
On 13-14 April 2011: another visit of the MQA panel committee(JTC) headed by Dr Zainorah of UKM was made to the Faculty Optometry, Twintech International University College .The Joint Technical Committee was satisfied with the progress made by the Faculty Optometry Twintech, International University College. All the suggestions and recommendations made by JTC to Twintech during the previous meeting has been followed and done satisfactory by Twintech. CLICK
On 9th August 2011: in a letter from MQA, MQA/A 4796 Jld 3(34) dated 4th August 2011, it was clearly mentioned that, the withheld of the accreditation of the Programme Bachelor Optometry (Hons) Twintech International University College is now cancelled.
Programme Bachelor of Optometry (Hons) Twintech International University College of is awarded back its accreditation by MQA in 4th August 2011.
Prof. Dr. Nasoha Saabin
August 2011
Dean of Faculty of Optometry
International University College of Technology Twintech
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
