Malaysia, the Fastest Growing Education Destination for International Students

Malaysia Records an Average 16% Annual Growth in International Student Enrolment in the Past Decade and its Academic Assets in Higher Education Continues to Rise as the Country Strengthens its Position as an International Education Hub

DAKAR, Senegal, May 9, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The Honourable Minister of Higher Education, Malaysia, Idris Jusoh, spoke on Malaysia's experience, strategy and transformation of the higher education landscape at the Forum of Higher Education Services in the OIC Member States in Dakar this morning.

"Over the past decade, Malaysia has become one of the fastest growing education destinations for international students, with an average growth of 16% annually. Malaysia has one of the highest proportions of international vs domestic students in the academic world, with nearly one international student for every 10 local students, creating a conducive and competitive environment for learning and the sharing of experiences," said the Minister.

"Our academic assets are rising, with stronger institution rankings, higher subject rankings, rising number of publications and citations as well as resilient academia. Five of our Public Universities are in the world's top 350 list, thirteen subjects are in the top 100 list. We rank 30^th in Development Studies and 37^th in Electrical & Electronic Engineering (both at Universiti Malaya), 46^th in Chemical Engineering (Universiti Sains Malaysia) and 45^th in Agricultural Sciences (Universiti Putra Malaysia), while Universiti Malaya's medical faculty's academic reputation ranks at 48^th. Our academicians have been recognised and listed in the 'World's Most Influential Scientific Minds 2015' by Thomson Reuters; 14 academicians are amongst 'top 1% most globally cited researches' by Thompson Reuters. Almost 41% of publications on Islamic Banking and Finance (2005-2014) originates from Malaysia.

"We are transforming our pedagogy for a holistic approach to learning, we are encouraging flexible education initiatives while expanding on industry linkages, practical knowledge, volunteerism and technology, all of which will lead us towards the development of balanced, universal and entrepreneurial graduates.

"In our dynamic landscape, we also have branch campuses of 10 world renowned universities, 3 of which are ranked top 100 in the world. We also recently established the Asia School of Business in collaboration with the top-ranked MIT Sloan School of Management to provide quality executive education. This provides convenient and affordable access to the best of American, British and Australian education.

"Clearly, Malaysia is a compelling education destination - for students from fellow OIC member nations and from all over the world. We have Education Malaysia Global Services (EMGS) as a one-stop centre for international student services and the global promotion of Education Malaysia. We strive to better serve the 122,061 international student community from over 160 nations in our colleges and universities. We appreciate the diversity they add to Malaysia's multi-cultural landscape. We currently stand as the 12^th preferred education destination in the world (UNESCO), and we will continue to build on our strengths and competencies as a global education hub," the Minister said.

For Media enquiries, please contact

Anita Daud Charles of EMGS at anita@educationmalaysia.gov.my, +60-136-033-855