Published: Wednesday October 29, 2008 MYT 3:54:00 PM
Govt plans to attract more foreign students
By SARAH CHEW
KUALA LUMPUR: The Higher Education Ministry has laid out plans to face the financial crisis, including attracting more foreign students and increasing graduate employability.
“We are intensifying our efforts to attract foreign students to study here, especially from Africa and the Middle East, since this contributes growth to our economy,” said Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin at the Regional Focal Points (Asia/Pacific) meeting opening ceremony on Wednesday.
He called it an “abundant opportunity for us” to expand the international student market since many are looking for cheaper alternative destinations for further study.
The ministry would also be working hard at making graduates employable to be able to secure jobs, he said.
He added that investments in the higher education sector will not be affected.
“Under the Iskandar Malaysia growth corridor, certain areas have been earmarked for foreign universities to set up their campuses here,” he said.
Mohamed Khaled said though there may be some repercussions of a recession on universities and colleges, students should not be too affected as there are many options to gain a tertiary education.
“Our net is very wide, if students cannot get into universities, they can still enrol in polytechnic institutions and community colleges.
“From past experience, we have seen a higher enrolment of students during an economic downturn so my department has told institutions of higher learning to be ready for an increase in enrolment,” he said.
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