By Nurul Haziqah Abdul Halim
Pix Abd Raai Osman

BANGI, 17 July 2014 – The Board of Architects Malaysia (LAM) today began its evaluation of The National University of Malaysia (UKM) architecture programme aimed at extending its accreditation.

The one and half day evaluation is being carried out by a five member panel from The Malaysian Accreditation and Architectural Education Council (MAPSM) of LAM headed by Assoc Prof Ar Mustapha Mohd Salleh.

The panel which also comprised Ar Abu Bakar Md Ali, Ar Wan Sofiah Wan Ishak, Ar Kamarul Bahrin Mohd Amin and Nur Santi Mohd Said were welcomed in a ceremony at the Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment (FKAB) today.

Mustapha said the panel is in the midst of evaluating all architecture programmes offered by both public and private universities in the country to ensure that they consistently keep up with the high standards of architectural education that is required by the Malaysian Qualification Agency (MQA).

The panel will evaluate the work of the Department of Architecture in FKAB, its staff and students to see whether what is offered continues to be consistent with the rules and regulation of LAM.

Mustapha said the evaluation is not to purposely find fault or error in the running or teaching of the architecture programme but rather to help improve and expand it so as to be of the best quality for both staff and students.

Architecture, he said, has become very popular in recent times and many public and private universities are setting up their own architecture departments.

“All of them are waiting to be evaluated, some for the first time, while others like UKM, are being re-evaluated. To make it easier for all these institutions to follow the rules and regulations of the board, LAM has produced an accreditation manual for the Architecture programme which can be referred to during preparations for evaluation,” Mustapha said.

The panel members were welcomed by Vice Chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Noor Azlan Ghazali who said that UKM always strives to maintain high levels of quality that is required by the MQA in order to produce well-rounded, well equipped and employable graduates.

He said UKM architecture students are taught niche architecture with national identity designs so as to produce graduates who are familiar with and will be able to uphold Malaysia’s cultural and national identity in their building designs mindful of its heritage when they become architects upon graduation.

Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic and International Affairs) Prof Ir Dr Riza Atiq Abdullah OK Rahmat; Dean of FKAB Prof Dato’ Ir Dr Abdul Wahab Mohamad; his deputy Prof Ir Dr Ahmad Kamal Ariffin Mohd Ihsan and Head of Architecture Department  Dr Nik Lukman Nik Ibrahim were on hand to welcome the panel members.

The Architecture Department has already signed a Memorandum of Understating (MoU) with LAM in Oct last year to incorporate national identity in architecture designs, plans and structures in Malaysia.