Sharifah Hapsah: Inspiring Futures

Author: Rokiah Talib

Publisher: UKM Press

ISBN: 9789674122119

Pages: 408

Year: 2014

Weight:

Price: RM175

This book traces the journey of Sharifah Hapsah, a medical graduate who diverted from the usual clinical path into an uncharted journey of Medical Education where she found a new vocation in her professional career: assuring and ensuring quality education for her country and the region. She had the vision to go beyond the normal horizon and went and went deep into qjuality assurance. She began with the accreditation in education for Medicine, Nursing, Dentistry and Pharmacy. She first gained acceptance and prominence from her international foray, before her far-reaching ideas were accepted on home ground. Certainly her finest moment was when the Malaysian Qualitications Agency Act was passed, bringing to reality her hard work in preparing the Malaysian Qualifications Framework and procedures to ensure high standards in all higher education institutions in the country. With that she stamped her signature in assuring that Malaysia was shead in establishing itself as an education hub. Having established her credentials on home turf, she was later asked to lead several national committees fo further improve the quality or higher education, such as developing the National Higher Education Strategic Plan and the Critical Agenda Project on Good Governance in Public Universities. The climax of her career is when she was elevated as the Vice Chancellor of the national university, Universiti Kebangsaan Mlayasia (UKM). It is as a Vice Chancelllor that she unfurled her most innovative and creative thinking. The took the university to greater heights, including collaborative work with some of the top universities in the world. As the CEO of the national university, she created an ambience of inclusiveness, transparency and integrity not only in promoting academic excellence but also effective administration. In all her engagements, she leveraged on her NGO and academic networks that she nurtured over the years. Finally her penchant for quality education led her to be an important intellectual force when Datin Seri Tosmah Mansor, wife of the Prime Minister began to chanpion the cause of Early Childhood Education and children as PERMATA Negara.