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The establishment of the Â鶹ֱ²¥ (UUM) Waqf and Education Endowment Funds aims to help students from the B40 bracket in UUM to study in a calm manner enabling them to focus on their studies.

UUM Vice-Chancellor, Prof Dato' Dr Ahmad Bashawir Abdul Ghani said he was grateful to His Royal Highness Tuanku Chancellor and His Royal Highness the Raja Muda of Kedah , the Pro-Chancellor cum the President of the Kedah Islamic Religious Council for approving the establishment of the fund recently.

“The existence of the waqf fund will help the B40 underprivileged students who make up 60 per cent of the total number of the current students in UUM to continue their learning process in a more comfortable and safe manner in line with the recommendation of Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 'The Vision of Shared Prosperity 2030'.

"The Malaysian government during the tabling of Budget 2020 has also granted tax exemptions to donors as a step towards furthering the cause," he said at the third session of the 32nd UUM Convention at the Mu'adzam Shah Hall.

He added that the UUM Food Bank programme was launched by His Royal Highness Tuanku Chancellor with the hope of easing the burden of the B40 students.  They will receive food assistance and enjoy a more conducive learning environment.

In addition, he said, UUM had also achieved success in terms of ranking among the world's top 500 universities and ranked 101-150 in the world for universities under the age of 50 through the QS World University Rankings 2020 survey.

He also said that in Asia, UUM was ranked 128th and ranked 7th among local universities.

“In terms of academic programmes being offered, UUM has gained international accreditation namely AMBA, AACSB, EPAS and CEEMAN IQA. In addition to being recognised as the world's 76th best university in the UI GreenMetric World University Rankings 2018. These achievements further enhance the university's 'brand image' of global education.

"UUM's academic staff have also won several top national education awards such as the 12th National Academic Award, Malaysia's Research Star Awards 2018, YB Minister of Education Malaysia's Special Award: Curriculum Design and Innovative Delivery 2019," he said.

The Vice Chancellor said the success attained from the publication of scholarly articles in high impact journals with Quartile Q1 rankings broaden the results of high quality research conducted and the articles were accepted as a leading reference material.

In addition, he also congratulated all the graduates who received their degrees on that historic day.

According to him, the success of clenching a scroll was not something everyone can achieve because only those who worked tirelessly, burn the midnight candle, sacrifice their happiness and manage stress can face challenging journeys.

He said the struggle did not end with just a degree, as it was out there that a thousand more trials and tribulations await them as they make their journey in life.