LEVEL UP: Empowering Individuals To Drive Their Professional Learning

The traditional educational landscape is changing. Emerging technologies and new ways of working are disrupting the labour market and impacting the skills required in the workplace. Learners are looking for quick ways to close the gap between what they have to offer and what employers desire.

In today’s job market, having a degree is not enough. Upskilling is seen as a continuous need to stay competitive, and hence apart from giving job applicants an edge over others in a recruitment line-up, lifelong learning by obtaining professional credentials can also help people already in the workforce to stay relevant. This is where Micro-Credentials come in.

Among the first in the country to offer a wide range of Micro-Credentials for those keen on upskilling minus the hassle and without breaking the bank, UNITAR International University (UNITAR) has so far launched 28 innovative and versatile Micro-Credentials to make it more accessible for anyone to attain a professional academic qualification within 7 weeks.

Instead of enrolling into a full academic programme, these 28 bite-size, modular versions of UNITAR’s accredited academic programmes, offered through a flexible and personalised approach, will allow graduates to choose a selected number of courses and will allow them to deepen their understanding of a subject, with the opportunity to earn a professional or academic credential, at their own pace.

From SPM leavers to working adults, UNITAR’s Micro-Credentials does not have a tight entry requirement as compared to traditional academic programmes, but offers a flexible and tailored solution to their learning and upskilling needs, allowing them to ‘stack’ credentials together and accumulate credits transferable to full academic programmes, such as UNITAR’s Master of Business Administration (MBA) and Master of Education (M.Ed).

Through these programmes, UNITAR’s Vice Chancellor Professor Emeritus Tan Sri Datuk Sri Ir Dr Sahol Hamid, shares that the University is aiming for a 100% employability rate for UNITAR students: “The industry wants students who can enter the job market and be ready to work. We are meeting the needs of the industry, with employers telling us the characteristics and skills that they need from future jobseekers; and the Micro-Credential programmes will cover those gaps.”

Those who are keen to further their education but lack academic qualifications can seek recognition of prior experiential learning through work experience. UNITAR is an accredited assessment centre for APEL (Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning) and therefore offers free APEL processing for candidates enrolling into any of UNITAR’s full academic programmes. The benefits include being able to obtain credit exemptions towards related programmes, thus reducing learning duration and cost and towards obtaining a professional qualification through these Micro-Credentials.

Currently the Micro-Credentials are available under innovative clusters of academic-backed, competency-based, and industry-competitive learning modules such as – Organisational Development, Business and Entrepreneurship, Education, Creative and Design; as well as Digital Technology.

In conjunction with its launch of the 28 new Micro-Credential programmes along with the festive national celebrations, UNITAR is offering 25% off programme fees for all 28 Micro-Credentials up till 30 October 2021.

For more information, call 03 – 7627 7200, WhatsApp 011 1051 2825, email enquiries@unitar.my, visit UNITAR’s website https://www.unitar.my/ or follow its Facebook and Instagram: @myunitar