Students should pursue degrees locally
THERE is no need to send local students overseas to pursue their basic degrees when Malaysian research universities have made it into the Top 50 universities in the world.
Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh said: “There is no need to be spending four times more when we can get our students to do their studies here at a lower cost.”
“The quality of education in Malaysia keeps on improving,” he said after MAHSA University’s sports and recreation centre groundbreaking ceremony, last Tuesday.
He said that Malaysia’s research universities - Universiti Malaya, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia and University Kebangsaan Malaysia - have made it to the top of international rankings, including QS World
University Rankings, Times Higher Education Young University Rankings and the Academic Ranking of World Universities.
He added that this applies to both public and private higher education institutions within the country.
Idris also said that the Public Service Department has greatly reduced the number of students it sends abroad for their basic degrees.
However, he pointed out, these students should continue to be sent abroad for their Master’s and PhD degrees, instead.
Even then, he added, it should be to renowned international universities.
MAHSA University founder and pro-chancellor Prof Tan Sri Datuk Dr Mohamed Haniffa Abdullah said the new sports complex will house a football field, swimming pool, sports hall, and squash and badminton courts.
Construction of the 81,000 square metre facility is scheduled to begin in June and will take between nine and 12 months to complete.