Malaysia 9th preferred destination for education
KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 172,886 foreign students studied in the country from the international school level to the tertiary level last year, putting Malaysia on track to become an international education hub.
According to the National Transformation Programme Report 2016, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) had ranked Malaysia as the ninth preferred destination for tertiary education among international students in its latest International Student Mobility Survey.
This marks an improvement from the 12th-place ranking in 2014.
Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh said the number of international students in the country put Malaysia close to its goal of attracting 200,000 international students by 2020, as laid out in the Malaysian Education Blueprint (2013-2025).
To further support the country’s status as an international education hub, the government will facilitate Tier One institutions to establish foreign branch campuses locally.
There are 116 international schools in Malaysia, surpassing the initial target of 87 schools by 2020 as identified by the National and welfare, service quality and conduct.
The government was also working at making public transport an attractive option by adding 1,547 “Park ‘n Ride” facilities in Taman Paramount, Taman Jaya, Taman Key Economic Area.
However, the report stated that the initiative had yet to reach the target of 75,000 students as most international schools operated below capacity.
Other achievements in this National Key Results Area include improvement in the performance of students against international benchmarks, such as the Trends International Mathematics and Science study and the national preschool enrolment rate which increased to 85.56 per cent.
Education Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid said in the report that the foundation of the Malaysian Education Blueprint (2013-2025), which is approaching Wave 2, allowed the ministry to accelerate improvement towards greater transformation in education.
“On top of accelerating improvements made during Wave 1, Wave 2 will also focus on introducing structural changes.
“These are bold initiatives that include transforming teacher institutions to be on a par with higher-learning institutions, increasing level of higher order thinking skills in students’ learning process and also organisational restructuring of the ministry to boost its capacity and capabilities in delivery,” he said. Bahagia, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and Nilai.
The Land Public Transport Commission will launch the Journey Planner app this year so commuters can get real-time information on public transportation.