Set up polytechnics, private varsities urged

KUALA LUMPUR: Private universities and university colleges have been encouraged to set up their own polytechnics offering engineering and technical programmes for international students.

Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said these institutions could use their entrepreneurial and creative abilities to develop the programmes.

“They must be willing to take the risk as we have found through our own studies that international students are interested in these programmes,” he said at a press conference during The Star Education Fair at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre yesterday.

Mohamed Khaled said local polytechnics could only cater to Malaysian students.

“More than 120,000 local students apply for around 30,000 places in polytechnics each year,” he said.

This, he added, was a unique opportunity for private providers to capitalise on and the minis-

try was willing to act as a facilitator.

Mohamed Khaled said the Government would look into providing incentives in the Budget for this purpose.

He said the ministry was looking at private universities or university colleges as they were in a better position compared to other colleges, which were smaller.

According to Unesco’s Global Education Digest 2008, approximately 2% of the world’s 2.5 million international students were studying in Malaysia.

Mohamed Khaled said the ministry was confident that its target to have 75,000 international students this year would be met.

According to the ministry’s data, five out of 10 students enquired about highly-specialised technical and engineering courses at the ministry’s overseas expos.

Source - The Star