Oct 10, 2005
KL wants 100,000 foreign students
Malaysia in race for education dollar as competition heats up in
region
By Leslie Lau
Malaysia Correspondent
KUALA LUMPUR - MALAYSIA is stepping up its drive to woo more
foreign students to the country as the race for the education
dollar heats up.
With an eye on competition from Singapore, Prime Minister Datuk
Seri Abdullah Badawi announced last week an ambitious target of
attracting 100,000 foreign students by 2010.
Government officials have also announced new measures even as they
acknowledged the failure to achieve an earlier target of attracting
50,000 foreign students by this year.
There are 40,000 foreign students in Malaysia - 32,000
undergraduates and 8,000 in secondary and primary schools.
The government said last week that it will allow 38 private
colleges to continue offering 'joint degrees' with foreign
partners, and plans to attract more universities to set up branch
campuses here.
Officials said the government would also consider applications from
nearly 500 private colleges which want to offer these 'joint
degree' programmes that can be completed fully in Malaysia.
Many private colleges here offer degree programmes that require
students to complete the final one or two years at the foreign
partner university, usually in the United States, Britain or
Australia.
These new moves are among a host of measures being introduced as
part of an ongoing review of higher education in Malaysia.
'We want Malaysia to be a regional centre of excellence for higher
education, but we have failed to reach our targets. More needs to
be done to attract foreign students, especially with competition
from Singapore,' a Higher Education Ministry official told The
Straits Times yesterday.
He said Malaysia wanted to make it easier for foreign students to
complete their studies while maintaining high standards, and to
make it cheaper for Malaysians too.
The official, who declined to be named, said attracting reputable
foreign universities to set up branch campuses in Malaysia remains
a major part of the government's strategy.
'If more established universities set up base here, it will make
Malaysia attractive as a destination,' he said.
Higher Education Minister Datuk Shafie Salleh said last week that
many foreign students found it tedious to apply for visas when
transferring their studies from Malaysia to another country.
'If more private colleges are allowed to fully conduct their
courses here, the number of international students can be
increased,' he said.
The Straits Times understands that Prime Minister Abdullah has
directed a comprehensive study of the education industry, and an
independent body has already made some recommendations to the
government.
The push to allow private colleges to fully conduct courses here is
one recommendation.
Education officials are also likely to be sent overseas to woo more
foreign universities to set up base here.
Recently, the University of Nottingham Malaysian Campus, built at a
cost of RM120 million (S$54 million) on a 41ha site, was officially
opened. It can take in more than 5,000 undergraduates.
Australia's Monash University was the first foreign institution
allowed into Malaysia. It set up its branch campus about 10 years
ago.
Other notable names like Curtin University and the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT) are also in the midst of setting up
programmes in Malaysia.
Prime Minister Abdullah had said that the government recognised
education as a major industry and would implement policies to
complement private education.
