Malaysia tightens screening of foreign students to protect higher education standards

Detailed summary

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 12 — The admission of international students to higher education institutions (HEIs) in the country continues to be subject to a stringent screening process to...

Higher Education director-general Datuk Prof Dr Azlinda Azman said particular emphasis was placed on cumulative grade point average (CGPA) and English language proficiency as key eligibility requirements to safeguard the quality of the country’s higher education.

“We want to ensure that quality standards remain at the highest level and not admit students indiscriminately, only for them to eventually create problems or become a burden to the country,” she told Bernama after officiating the Education Summit Kuala Lumpur here today.

Commenting on language requirements, Azlinda said all foreign students, including postgraduate students, were required to undergo a one-semester Bahasa Melayu course upon enrolment at local universities, particularly public universities (UA).

She said the measure would enable them to communicate in the national language in their daily affairs while fostering an understanding of the cultural diversity of the local community.

“Interestingly, most of these international students achieve excellent results in the subject because Bahasa Melayu is actually easy to learn,” she said.

Meanwhile, she said Education Malaysia Global Services (EMGS) and the NAMA Foundation were actively mobilising efforts to secure funding contributors to offer full and partial scholarship schemes for international students.

Azlinda said the funding initiative could help cover students’ living expenses while driving the target of attracting 500,000 international students by 2035 under the Malaysia Higher Education Blueprint (RPTM) 2026-2035, compared with approximately 170,000 currently.

She said student placements were also aligned with universities’ areas of specialisation, such as marine science at Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) and artificial intelligence (AI) at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) and Asia Pacific University (APU).

Meanwhile, Education Malaysia Global Services (EMGS) Chief Executive Officer Novie Tajuddin said Malaysia had made history as the first…

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