DUBAI: Malaysia to boost Muslim progress through HE

For Malaysia's Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin, efforts to make Malaysia a regional education hub is more than just about attracting an increasing number of foreign students to its 60 or so public and private universities, reports Bernama.com. It is also about assisting developing countries, especially Muslim nations, to progress by equipping their people with relevant skills and knowledge.

"We're providing access to our higher education, places in our universities, because we believe that this is one way of contributing towards the development of our fellow Muslim countries," Khaled said in an interview in Dubai, disclosing that Malaysia is home to 60,000 foreign students, about 18,000 of them from the Middle East and North Africa region.

The countries include Yemen, Sudan, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Libya, Jordan, Oman, Palestine, Syria, Egypt, Turkey, Algeria, Bahrain, Lebanon, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
With about 43 million people in the age range eligible to be enrolled in tertiary education, Khaled acknowledged that the region held great potential for Malaysia in terms of attracting foreign students.

Khaled said the ministry was shifting its focus to government-sponsored students although private students would still be welcome to study in Malaysia: "Governments will only sponsor the best students and we need good students to help improve the rankings of our universities," he explained.
Full report on the Bernama.com site