The first Malaysian Information Technology Professional Examination (MITPE) was successfully conducted on 8 October 2005 at Universiti Malaya, coordinated by officials from Malaysian Examination Council (MPM) and METEOR. 181 candidates registered for the examination, which marked the beginning of another chapter in the history of IT certification in Malaysia. The candidates who came from various parts of Malaysia comprised of working adults and also students from institutions of higher learning. Top management and officers from Unit of IPT Management Department of Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE), MPM, METEOR and Open University Malaysia made an official visit to the exam hall to witness the first batch of MITPE candidates sitting for the examination. It was indeed a momentous occasion for those who were present and also for those who are involved in the implementation of MITPE in Malaysia.



En Ahmad Nazri Sulaiman, Senior Principle Assistant Director, from Unit of IPT Management Department, MOHE said that this examination is one of the steps towards qualifying IT professional skills at international level. The examination on 8 October 2005 was on voluntary basis and as such, the candidates could gauge the level of efforts required to ensure passing of the exams from their results. There is a good possibility of increasing the number of candidates from the government sector if a special incentive could be worked out to reward their passing the examination.

One candidate from India, who registered for the MITPE exam in October 2005 and was working as an IT Professional in Bangkok has this to say, “I feel that MITPE certificate is very helpful for my future career prospect. Nowadays, the Malaysian IT sector is booming and having a MITPE certificate will be beneficial in today’s competitive job market. Furthermore, the Malaysian Government recognizes MITPE certificate, so I feel it will definitely help national as well as international candidates to secure jobs in the private or public sector. "

He further shared his experience on the exams, “The questions are well set and interesting for IT professionals, but I feel the afternoon paper was more difficult than the morning one. The questions in the morning paper are about computer fundamentals, whereas those in the afternoon are related to day-to-day applications in industry”.

The second examination was conducted on 2 April 2006. This examination was conducted simultaneously with 9 other Asian countries. The total registered candidates for this intake increased to 192. We opened 3 examination centers and their locations are at University Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, KUiTTHO in Batu Pahat and University Sains Malaysia in Penang.

MITPE has created the IT Skill Standards and IT Common Body of Knowledge to ensure the standards of Malaysian national IT knowledge and skills are at par with other developed countries including Japan. Consequently, the Malaysia IT Skill Standards Committee was formed to develop the IT Skill Standards and formulate the examinations questions.



Future Scenario
The next Fundamentals of IT Professional Examination will be conducted in October 2006. With the cooperation from MPM, we hope that more IT Professionals will join the bandwagon and enrol for this prestigious examination. Many IT Professionals from around the Asia Pacific region have benefited from this examination and it is time that the Malaysian IT Community take advantage of MITPE and be further recognized globally.