Foreign students to make up 10% of college enrolment - The Star

KUALA LUMPUR: April 19, 2008

The Higher Education Ministry wants foreign students to make up 10% of student enrolment in both public and private higher education institutions.

Higher Education Management Department director-general Prof Datuk Dr Hassan Said said that this target had been set in the National Higher Education Strategic Plan 2007-2010.

“We want to encourage the internationalisation of Malaysia’s higher education environment by attracting overseas students equivalent to 10% of the total student population at all academic levels.

“We also aim to increase the enrolment of foreign students here from the current 50,000 to 100,000 by 2010,” said Prof Hassan in his speech at HELP University College’s 11th strategy seminar here yesterday.

He acknowledged that it would be difficult to achieve the target but the ministry was intensifying its promotion activities abroad and was seeking to raise the standard of Malaysian universities.
“The setting up of the Malaysian Qualifications Authority last year, which oversees both public and private institutions, would also ensure that quality is maintained,” said Prof Hassan.

Other goals set by the ministry include having at least two Malaysian universities among the best 200 universities in the world; developing at least 10 centres of excellence which are internationally recognised in terms of research output, and ensuring that at least 75% of lecturers in public universities, and 30% of lecturers in private and community colleges possess PhD degrees.