Education is the responsibility of the Government and Malaysia is committed to providing sound education to all. The Malaysian education system encompasses education beginning from pre-school to university. Pre-tertiary education (pre-school to secondary education) is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education (MOE) while the tertiary or higher education is the responsibility of the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE). The vision of the Government is to make Malaysia a centre of educational excellence.
Malaysia’s international education sector has grown tremendously during the past decade and Malaysia is fast becoming a centre of educational excellence in the region. Malaysia currently houses more than 50,000 international students from more than 100 countries.
Malaysia is proud to be the choice of study destination that offers quality international education at affordable cost. Besides the affordable education cost, many of them choose to study in Malaysia because they recognize Malaysia as an ideal gateway to develop their Asian network and relationship as well as to learn from Malaysia’s great diversity, rapid economic development and people living in peace and harmony.
The country is set to welcome 100,000 international students in Malaysia by the year 2010. The higher education institutions in Malaysia are being provided by 18 public higher educational institutions (which include an international university), 27 private universities, 4 reputable foreign branch campus universities, more than 500 private colleges as well as various other higher educational institutions from the UK, US, Australia, Canada, French, Germany and New Zealand which offers twinning and franchised degree programmes through partnership with Malaysian colleges and universities.
The 34 international schools (American, Australian and British-styled) and 14 expatriate schools which include French, German, Japanese and Taiwanese schools have facilities for students from pre-school to upper secondary levels. They provide parents with many options of pre-tertiary international education at affordable fees. Local and foreign students in pursuit of higher education would be spoilt for choice by the wide range of study options and many selections of both local and foreign universities to suit individual preferences coupled with affordable education cost.
Poised as the centre of educational excellence in the Asia-Pacific region, Malaysia’s educational programmes offered by private higher educational institutions (PHEIs) are of excellent quality. These institutions of higher learning are governed by various acts such as the Education Act 1996, the Universities and Colleges (Amendment) Act 1996, Private Higher Educational Institutions Act 1996 and the National Accreditation Board Act 1996. English, an international lingua franca, is the medium of instruction making this a plus factor for students who aspire to succeed in their career.
Why Study in Malaysia?
Students and their parents always need to consider a lot when deciding on where and what to study. Among the reasons why Malaysia should be chosen are:
- International standard and high quality education, which is closely monitored by the Malaysian Education Ministries through their quality control authorities and appropriate legislation such as The Education Act 1996, The Private Higher Educational Institutions Act 1996 and The National Accreditation Board Act 1996.
- Competitive course fees and extensive selection of popular courses.
- Wide range of study options and many choices of universities and colleges to suit individual preferences.
- Twinning degrees & 3+0 degree programmes conducted in Malaysia offer a cost-effective route for quality education and qualifications from universities in the UK, USA, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and France.
- Foreign Branch Campus Universities which are operating in Malaysia enable students to acquire their prestigious university qualifications in a country that has a lower expenses.
- Wide usage of English language makes things easy for students who are proficient in English. At the same time, it also creates an environment for those who want to pick up the language.
- Experience in human diversity and harmony, whereby Malaysians of different races and religions live in peace and tolerance with each other.
- The existing 50,000 international students from more than 100 countries testify the world-wide acceptance of Malaysian education. An environmental-friendly nation is a favoured destination for further study.
- Hassle-free immigration procedures which enable foreign students to have easy entry into Malaysian educational institutions.
- Affordable living expenses as low as RM11,000 (USD2895) per year.
- International students are also allowed to work part-time for a maximum of 20 hours per week while studying full time in Malaysia, subject to immigration requirements.
- Economically sound and socially safe country, with a stable government and low serious crime rate.
- Geographically safe environment, as Malaysia is situated in a zone free from most natural disasters.
- Food paradise which caters to any and every taste-bud, from purely vegetarian to halal food, ethnic cuisines and western ‘fast’ food choices.
- Good transportation system for easy mobility, high level of development and interesting places to visit for relaxation.
Measures taken to increase number of international students In its effort to increase the number of international students studying in Malaysia, the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia is embarking on ongoing efforts and plans to further promote Malaysia as a centre for education by taking these measures:
- To concentrate on increasing promotional programmes based on hard selling, by prioritizing activities of recruiting international students, especially during education exhibition held overseas;
- To intensify education promotional programmes especially to target countries in the Middle East, China, Africa and Southeast Asia more than 60 times in 2007 to achieve the targeted number of 100,000 international students studying in Malaysia by 2010;
- To encourage the institutes of higher education including private institutions to be aggressively involved in various marketing and education promotional programmes together with the Ministry and organizing their education exhibitions overseas; and
- To encourage the establishments of branch campuses of Malaysian institutes of higher education located overseas in order to intensify the internationalisation of education programmes, chances and accessibility for internationalstudents to further their studies at Malaysian institutes of higher education located overseas. For your information, branch campuses of Malaysian institutes of higher education that have been established are:
University College Sedaya International (UCSI) in Indonesia; LimKokWing University in London and Botswana;
INTI International University College in Beijing; and Asia Pacific University College of Technology & Innovation (UCTI) in Lahore, Pakistan.
- To offer programmes variously, high in quality, at affordable costs and relevant to current interests, students or target countries;
- To unify marketing and education promotional activities with various public and private agencies until Malaysia becomes the major choice for foreign students to further their studies,
- To ease, quicken and smoothen the intake process and students’ welfare through a one-stop centre;
- To increase the recognition given by Ministry/Institutes of education and also educational cooperation with world renowned education institutions to establish high confidence among foreign students or countries;
- To increase the number of joint education promotional programmes/activities conducted by various public and private agencies in target countries, together with the Malaysian Education Promotion Centres (MEPC) (Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE); Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; Beijing, China and Jakarta, Indonesia). An example would be the International Exhibition and Seminar on Higher Education to be held in Dubai in October 2007;
- To organize and improve the single country exhibition internationally;
- To practice and upgrade the education quality control system that would provide ongoing high quality service based on the National Accreditation Board (NAB) Quality Assurance process;
- To establish a synergy between education and tourism that will widen and intensify the efforts to market and promote education;
- To increase the ability, skills and expertise based on the aspects of educators, courses, research and management, in order to intensify the efforts to attract international students to study in Malaysia;
- To conduct a fact-finding mission to identify new markets overseas for higher education, including Australia (e.g. Perth) and the Netherlands; - To strengthen the electronic distribution system of information on Malaysian education in order to promote education locally or abroad;
- To disseminate information regarding Malaysian institutes of higher education through word-of-mouth, for example by local graduates and alumni associations;
- To improve Edu-Tourism programmes/activities and seek the Cabinet approval to consider international participants taking short courses at Malaysian institutes of higher education as international students; and
- To disseminate information on educational opportunities in Malaysia through:
International Exhibition and Seminar on Higher Education held in the Middle East, Africa, Australia, North America and the United Kingdom; Information Kiosks at the Malaysian Students Departments (MSD) and Malaysian Education Promotion Centres (MEPC); and Mass media/major publications in Malaysia and overseas.
Strategies towards a global education hub
FE Team | Published: August 31, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00
Share if you like