# Sultan Idris Education University

Sultan Idris Education University (Malay: Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris; commonly abbreviated as UPSI; Jawi: اونيۏرسيتي ڤنديديقن سلطان إدريس) is a public university located in Tanjung Malim, Perak, Malaysia. Established in 1922 as a teachers' college, it is one of the oldest continuously operating higher education institutions in the country.

## History

The first teacher training center in Malaya was originally located in Taiping and was known as the Matang Teacher Training College. Opened in 1913, the house of the Malay noble of Taiping, Ngah Ibrahim served as the first teacher training college in Malaya until it was shifted to Tanjung Malim nine years later and given the name of the Sultan of Perak at that time. The history of UPSI as we know it today dates to 1922 when the university was then known as the Sultan Idris Training College (SITC). It was set mooted by the deputy director of Malay schools, R.O. Winstedt as a training college for Malay teachers. Named after the late Sultan Idris Murshidul Azam Shah, the 28th Sultan of Perak, the college was opened on 29 November 1922 by the chief secretary of the Federated Malay States, Sir George Maxwell.
The initial instructional regime required students to complete a three-year course of training where traditional skills and arithmetic were taught. With the adoption of the Education Ordinance 1957 based on the recommendations of the 1956 Education Committee Report (better known as the Razak Report), the training course was extended to five years and new subjects were introduced. SITC also came to be officially known by its Malay name, Maktab Perguruan Sultan Idris (English: Sultan Idris Teachers College) or MPSI.
In 1976, MPSI became co-educational with the admission of the first batch of 150 female students. In 1987, MPSI was upgraded and renamed Institut Perguruan Sultan Idris (English: Sultan Idris Teachers Institute) or IPSI and new courses were made available leading to a degree conferred by Universiti Pertanian Malaysia (today known as Universiti Putra Malaysia). In 1997, IPSI was upgraded into the present-day university and renamed Sultan Idris Education University.

## Campus

UPSI has two campuses, the Sultan Abdul Jalil Shah Campus (KSAJS) and the Sultan Azlan Shah Campus (KSAS). The main campus is on a 300-acre site in the town of Tanjung Malim that straddles both the Perak and Selangor state border. A new campus is on an 800-acre (3.2 km$^2$) site in the new township of Proton City, 5 kilometres from the current campus.

## Notable alumni

* Adam Adli (born 1989), Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports of Malaysia
* Zainal Abidin Ahmad (1895–1973), Malaysian academician and grammarian
* Abdul Ghafar Baba (1925–2006), former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia
* Suratman Markasan (1930-2024), Singaporean poet, novelist and literary pioneer
* Othman Bidin (born 1913), Bruneian educator and former legislative councillor
* Jamil Al-Sufri (1921–2021), former principal of the Brunei History Centre
* Pengiran Abdul Momin Othman (1923–2006), former ambassador of Brunei to Indonesia
* Salleh Masri (1919–1996), founder of Brunei People's Party
* Pengiran Muhammad Ali (1916–2005), former Deputy Menteri Besar of Brunei
* Pengiran Muhammad Yusuf (1923–2016), former Menteri Besar of Brunei and writer of the country's national anthem
* Marsal Maun (1913–2000), former Menteri Besar of Brunei and founder of Brunei Scout Movement
* Basir Taha (1913–1998), Bruneian educator and youth advocate
* Abdul Rahman Talib (1916–1968), former Minister of Education of Malaysia
* Ibrahim Yaacob (1911–1979), founder of Kesatuan Melayu Muda
* Husain Yusof (1918–2010), Bruneian educator