MyPUO

Ungku Omar Polytechnic was established in the year 1969 by the Malaysian Ministry of Education, aided by UNESCO. A total of RM24.5 million was allocated by the United Nation Development Programme (UNDP). UNESCO was assigned with the responsibility of planning and executing the polytechnic’s construction on an area of 22.6 hectars at Dairy Road, Ipoh. The polytechnic was named after the late Dato’ Professor Ungku Omar Ahmad, in recognition of his valuable contributions to the nation, especially in the field of medical research.

Initially, this polytechnic was housed at the Daily Training Centre (DTC), Ipoh building which came to be known later as Maktab Perguruan Kinta. For the first batch of 300 students, lectures were held beginning from 2 June 1969. At that time, the academic workforce consisted of 28 local lecturers, who were assisted by 14 volunteers from Canada, United States of America, Germany and Japan. Towards the end of 1973, the polytechnic shifted to its new campus and was officiated on 10 May 1974 by the then Minister of Education, the late Tun Abdul Razak bin Hussein.

This polytechnic was formed for the purpose of training school leavers, who possess Malaysian Certificate of Education (SPM) or Malaysian Certificate of Vocational Education (SPMV) to become skilled technicians in the field of engineering, middle executive officers and semi-professionals in the public sector as well as private sector.