TWI Malaysia introduces e-exams to the Government sponsored training at MARA institute
The Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA), or Council of Trust for the People, is a Malaysian government agency under the purview of the Ministry of Rural Development. The Council is responsible for developing, encouraging, facilitating and fostering the economic and social development in the federation, particularly in rural areas. Through its 25 vocational institutes and Technical Vocational Education, MARA contributes to the manpower needs of the Malaysian nation and industry.
TWI has been working closely with MARA since the year 2000, delivering various training courses in the inspection field. The training courses includes Visual Welding Inspector, Welding Inspector and Senior Welding Inspector. In the NDT line, Magnetic Particle testing (MT), Penetrant Testing (PT), Ultrasonic testing (UT) and Radiographic Interpretation (RI) as well as Painting Inspector courses are some of the other training that is provided to the candidates.
The collaboration started by realising the need for Welding Inspection experts back in the year 2000. The next phase of the project was improving candidate’s performance and passing rates. So, through a closer collaboration with TWI, in 2011, MARA started a special programme for training candidates on CSWIP 3.1. The training that TWI delivers for MARA is customised to the needs of candidates based on their background and level of prior knowledge. Courses are normally extended in duration to give candidates more time and flexibility to study and practice in order to sharpen their skills in preparation for the examination. The administrative process has also been enhanced and the enrolment procedure has become more systematic.
On a recent project that candidates undertook the CSWIP Welding Inspector course, the examination was done in an electronic format. Mr. Zulfakar, who is the program coordinator and a lecturer in MARA, believes that the electronic examination was a huge success as candidates had a better experience taking the exam with a higher level of concentration and more efficient way of timing their exam. Apart from the integrity of the examination, the turnaround time of result notices has also decreased dramatically. Candidates find it very useful to be able to receive their results in a much shorter period of time so as they could apply for re-examination or apply for jobs according to their certification.
He also highlights the value of CSWIP certification in industry and the value that it adds to student’s CV when applying for jobs, by getting them the opportunity of better job prospects, not only in Malaysia, but also all over the world.
Candidates who have undertaken training through MARA centres have reported better job opportunities and a clear improvement in their positions. Many of the candidates who complete their training leave our training centres as advocates and then introduce their friends and colleagues to attend training.
The collaboration of TWI and MARA will continue and TWI will do all the best we can in order to empower Malaysian citizens to upskill and serve their country better.
For more information on TWI’s collaboration with MARA, please contact kamariah@twisea.com