REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Four students were named the best graduates of Malaysia's Albukhary International University (AIU) in the 3rd AIU Invitation Ceremony at AIU Campus Hall, Alor Setar, Kedah, last weekend. Four of them are Indonesian students who received the Cendekia Baznas Scholarship (BCB), namely Gitok Sehandra (Bachelor of Business Administration), Arianta Rachmana (Bachelor of Elementary Education), Alifa Yulistiani Khairiyyah (Bachelor in Early Childhood Education), and Zaidan Mufaddhal (Bachelor of Computer Science).
In his speech, the Rector of AIU Malaysia, Prof. Muhammad Yunus, who is famous as a Nobel laureate for initiating the establishment of Grameen Bank, affirmed that AIU Malaysia is committed to creating an intelligent generation to face the era of globalization and technological progress. AIU Malaysia is also committed to creating a generation ready to create a new economic order.
“AIU continues to be committed to preparing the intelligent generation to conceptualize a new civilization so that it will benefit the wider society,” said Prof. Yunus, in a written statement, Monday (18/12/2023).
To realize this dream, Prof. Yunus conveyed the importance of the younger generation to make wise use of technology as a cornerstone of creating a golden era.
Meanwhile, Vice Rector of AIU Malaysia Prof. Datuk Emeritus Dr Abd Aziz Tajuddin revealed that 84 per cent of the 221 graduates confirmed in the ceremony were international students and the rest were local graduates.
“The total graduates come from 29 countries with different backgrounds. Please note, this event is also the inaugural invitation for two study programs at AIU, namely Bachelor of Computer Science (Honours) and Bachelor of Communication and Multimedia (Honours),” he said.
According to Prof. Aziz, graduates from these two fields receive attention from various institutions and industry players. In particular, he mentioned graduates from Indonesia and Myanmar.
“Two Bachelor of Computer Science graduates from Indonesia and Myanmar, for example, are currently pursuing Master's studies at one of the world's top 150 universities, namely Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China,” he said.
The chairman of Baznas RI, Rizaludin Kurniawan expressed his gratitude for the award given through the achievements of BCB recipient students who studied at AIU Malaysia. This becomes proof that BCB acceptance screening is on target.
“Currently, there are 134 students in grades 1-3 who receive the BCB-AIU scholarship program. At the same time, 38 students graduated from the first class,” he said.
In fact, Rizaludin added, two of the four students named as the best graduates at AIU Malaysia have been accepted as Masters students and received scholarships in China and Taiwan.
“Another good news, Alifa and Zaidan have been awarded S2 scholarships. Alifa will pursue a Master's degree at one of the universities in Taiwan and Zaidan will pursue a Master's degree at Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China,” he said.
Rizaludin expressed his gratitude to all the teams that have worked to find eligible students to receive the BCB program from Baznas RI. He hoped that the achievement would be proof of zakat's impact for the mustahik.
“We would like to thank the entire team whose daily work accompanies and fosters the fellowships of the scholarship recipients both at home and abroad. Hopefully this will be evidence of zakat that has an impact for the development of superior HR towards Indonesia Gold 2045,” he said.