NILAI, Feb 12, 2017 –  Sixty-four students aged between 15 to 17 years old from the Islamic Studies Demonstration School (ISDS) of Prince of Songkla University (PSU) camped in College Permata Insan (KPI) in Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) for the Islamic Science Camp (ISC) 2017 programme.

The program that lasted for a week from 5 to 12 February 2017 was well received when all activities were successfully implemented. Among the activities were Silang Budaya, Explorace, Semaian Budi, Short Film Project, Stem, Rewang, and recreational activities. In addition, each student was assigned their respective “buddy”.

According to the Director of KPI, Dr. Hajjah Nik Salida Suhaila Nik Saleh, one of the objectives of this programme is to expose the students of ISDS PSU to effective learning strategies, which includes critical and creative thinking, problem solving, and the use of technology through differentiated learning.
Furthermore, it also helped the teachers of ISDS PSU to understand the characteristics of gifted and talented students, the effective and appropriate teaching methods for them, as well as having a sharing of ideas and knowledge networks among the students.

“The equipped facilities that are provided in KPI allowed the students to take up more advanced and challenging levels of difficulty that suit the mental capabilities of the students. Learning methods that are student-centred, learning-driven, experimental, and problem-based allows the students to be more creative, innovative, active, inquisitive, and with a highly stimulated mind to instil the elements of technology while thinking in a futuristic manner”, added Dr. Nik.

According to an escort of ISDS PSU, Teacher Ilham Zakariya, this was the first group and also the first exchange program organized by the PSU.

“We are familiar with USIM through an MoU agreement that was implemented between USIM and PSU, and we are interested with the on-campus school learning that is being organized in USIM”.

“We hope that the students were able to gain new experience, were familiar with the culture and society of Malaysia, as well as capable of renewing and exchanging ideas and opinions, although the majority of our students are not fluent in English,” explained Ilham.

Weishaan-Ismail Noipom, 17, from Pattani, Thailand, shared his interesting experience when he joined this programme, whereby all his acquaintance from KPI were helpful and friendly to each other, which made him feel comfortable. In addition, the participants were exposed to Quran memorization, as they only used to read the Quran. He also hopes to become a student in USIM one day.

 

Deeyana Muttasaewi, 16 from Yala, Thailand, who initially thought the program was boring, felt happy to be able to be part of it, because in addition to having new friends in Malaysia, she enjoyed the beauty of the atmosphere and the allure of the scenery, compared to Thailand where it is so crowded and noisy.

Rida Chema, 16, from Narathiwat, Thailand, also expressed his happiness to be able to adapt and mingle with new friends. At first he was shy and unfriendly, but after following this program and the various activities, such as group presentations, he was able to instil confidence and eliminate the feeling of shyness.

 

Afiqah Che Endut, 15, Vice President of KPI feels that such programs should be continued and encouraged because in addition to maintaining the ties of kinship between Thailand and Malaysia, this program improved the English language skills as the majority of participants were not fluent in English.

“We are pleased to be able to host and conduct joint activities, in addition to introducing KPI to outsiders,” added Afiqah.

The opening ceremony was officiated by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and International) Prof. Dato. Dr. Zulkiple Abd Ghani.

 

Prepared by:
Noorumaina Mohamed Yunus
Strategic Communication Centre (StraComm)
Level 1, Canselori Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM)
71800 Nilai, Negeri Sembilan
Tel : 06-798 8026/8027/6284 Faks : 06-798 8204