WASHINGTON, June 27— With a turnout of 150 university representatives from all over the United States, Education Malaysia Washington D.C successfully held its second “Malaysian Higher Education Showcase (MHES)” at the Embassy of Malaysia to showcase Malaysia’s higher education and universities. Malaysian universities that also participated in the event include Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP), and Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM).
Among the outcomes of MHES include that of establishing more academic exchanges, collaborations and partnerships between the two countries. This is a major step taken by the department to achieve the Malaysian government’s mission of making Malaysia the regional educational hub and center of academic excellence by 2020.
Since stepping in the office as the Director of Education Malaysia, Dr. Posiah Mohammad Isa has facilitated 21 collaborations between American and Malaysian universities in various academic exchanges, research collaborations, transfer programs, Nobel Laureate program, entrepreneurships, language teaching and medical research.
Although Malaysia is still among the largest sending nation of international students to the United States, the number of Malaysian students here has declined due to the arising number of universities and colleges in Malaysia. According to the World Education Services report, Malaysia is now ranked 11th for the number of international students studying in the United States.
“The decline in number of students in the United States does not mean that there is a decline in interest to build relationship with the Unites States”, said Datuk Othman Hashim, Ambassador of Malaysia to the United States of America.
Today, the higher education landscape of Malaysia includes 29 universities, 23 university colleges, 9 foreign university branch campuses and 411 colleges. The Ministry of Education aims to attract at least 200,000 international students to the institution of higher education by 2020.
Malaysia currently attracts more than 90,000 international students annually from countries such as Yemen, Maldives, and Somalia. These students see Malaysia as both a gateway to the West and as an alternative and a more economical option for overseas education.
-Lara Zaaba-
