Malaysia a popular education destination

[Bengal_Tiger]

Malaysia a popular education destination


Good quality and cost-effective education has made Malaysia one of the most preferred higher edcuation destinations today

• By Tahem Veer Verma
• Published: 07:00 September 15, 2013
• 

• .ie8 { padding-bottom:0px !important; }
• Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on emailShare on printMore Sharing Services5
  
  

With world-class education being offered through a wide range of diverse and flexible options, education in Malaysia is one of the best developments in the academic world. In fact, Malaysia is rated as the 11th preferred destination in the world for education and is an increasingly popular choice for those looking for an excellent overseas learning experience.


Malaysia: the plus points

“
“The unique international qualifications that Malaysia provides will enable their graduates, to stand out and have an edge over their peers, having studied in and experienced the best of both worlds.” Tahem Veer Verma
”





A truly multicultural country, Malaysia extends a warm ‘selamatdatang’ to international students to its pioneering programs in the region. It is one of the safest and most peaceful countries in the world with a relatively low crime rate. Boasting of an excellent infrastructure, it provides a good quality of life while having the lowest cost of living among Asian countries. Malaysia, also known as ‘mini- Asia’, is a true melting pot of different cultures. The majority of the population comprises of ethnic Malays followed by Chinese and Indians. The local cuisine, therefore, includes not just local fare but also a rich variety of international flavors. With its rich culture and natural beauty, Malaysia regularly features among the top 10 travel destinations in the world.

It is interesting to note that English is widely spoken. In fact, it is the medium of instruction in private institutions and many government institutions. Therefore, applicants will need to have a good level of proficiency in the language in order to be able to study in Malaysia. Do not let this deter you, however, as many preparatory courses for globally recognized tests (such as the TOEFL and the IELTS) and internally accepted English proficiency courses are available at most institutions.





A cost-effective Option


In these tumultuous economic times, many students are attracted to Malaysia due to its cost of education. The estimated cost of a foreign university bachelor’s degree in the country is around $5,000 per year. The cost of living stands at a very affordable $4,000 per year and students can often choose between on-campus and off-campus living options. Moreover, student visa holders are also permitted to work under extremely lenient conditions. Little wonder then that Malaysia is rapidly emerging as a hot destination for international students. With huge investments being made by the government to enhance tertiary education options for foreign students, the next decade will witness Malaysia’s rise to the upper echelons of study destinations.



The education System


Malaysia’s higher education system comprises Public universities, Private Higher Educational Institutions (PHEIs) and Foreign University branches. Public universities (also known as IPTAs) comprise about 60% of all higher education institutions and are fully funded by the government. These include the University of Malaya, University of Science Malaysia and Putra University Malaysia. The IPTS (InstitutPengajianTinggiSwasta) or private universities are those that have been set up by and are funded by private companies. Foreign University branches offer internationally –recognized degrees in collaboration with universities abroad.

Additionally, one can also find Technical and Vocational colleges, Polytechnics and Community colleges. Polytechnic schools provide training courses through the Advanced Diploma, Diploma and Special Skills certificate to train school leavers to become skilled technical assistants, technologists and technicians in various engineering fields and trained personnel in commercial and service sectors. There are about 20 polytechnics in Malaysia that offer programs in engineering, commerce, food technology and design. Community colleges provide vocational and training courses within the Malaysian Qualifications Framework in a wide range of disciplines.


All the institutions are controlled and monitored by the Ministry of Higher Education. With increased emphasis on providing education that meets global standards and the introduction of the latest tools and technology, education provided by Malaysian institutions can be considered among the best in the world.



An international education


The highlight of the Malaysian Higher Education system is the Transnational Bachelor’s degree programs. Of those, the ‘2+1’ or ‘twinning’ degree opportunities available at most private universities is a huge draw for international aspirants. In this program, students complete the first part of their degree in Malaysia (typically 2 years) and the remaining part of their course at a partner university in another country. This provides an excellent gateway to a degree from well-known universities in UK, US, Australia and Europe, with the added benefit of being much cheaper. Additionally, students also get to live and experience different cultures and lifestyles.

A large number of US universities also have partner agreements with Malaysian universities. These are commonly referred to as American Degree Programs or ADP. The advantages of the ADP are that the system offers all the advantages of the American education system such as flexibility and all-round development but at a much lower cost. Students have access to a great educational system and an opportunity to progress to some excellent universities in the US through these partner agreements. For example, the ADP at Taylor’s University is well established and has been offering twinning programs for nearly 18 years. Students in the program study their freshman and sophomore years at Taylor’s and finish the remaining 2 years by transferring to one of the 50 different tier-one universities in the US.



The international spin


An extension of the twinning program is the ‘3+0’ degree through which a student can complete the entire foreign university course at their Malaysia campus. For example, students can attain a bachelor’s degree from Curtin University, Australia through LimKokWing University of Technology in Malaysia.

Yet another popular feature is the ‘Advanced standing’ facility where a student can pursue a course in Malaysia that has an ‘advanced standing’ arrangement with one or more overseas partner universities. Through this, the student can get credit exemption while applying for their bachelor degree program, allowing them to get into their second or third years of their programs at foreign partner universities.



A rich cultural experience


Apart from the obvious cost benefits, the advantages of studying on such transnational programs are many. This multicultural experience is not only personally enriching but also adds great value to one’s CV. Today’s multinational workplaces seek young graduates who are globally aware and capable of working in diverse environments, making such degrees extremely valuable. Studying in Malaysia acquaints one with the traditions and customs of its people and also an opportunity experience the different culinary delights and lifestyles of this Far East nation. Students from the Middle East will find Malaysia’s religious set-up similar to home and therefore, less daunting and more comfortable than many other countries.




A popular destination


Another factor that makes going to Malaysia attractive is that the country is a great travel destination in itself. Studying a course will present opportunities for travel within and around this magnificent country. From towering skyscrapers to tiny wooden houses on stilts, serene rainforests to adventurous river rafting rides, Malaysia is a land of amazing contrasts and beauty, and has something for everyone.


Currently, Malaysia boasts of more than 90,000 international students pursuing a range of quality programs across the country. University of Nottingham, University of Southampton, Swinburne university of Technology, Curtin University, Newcastle University and Monash University are just some of the universities that have campuses in Malaysia. Popular programs include Business, Engineering, Computer Science, Hospitality & Tourism and Health-related courses.



Scholarship programmes


The Malaysian government has also launched some scholarship initiatives to attract and retain academically superior and talented international students. The Malaysian International Scholarship (MIS), Malaysian Technical Cooperation Program (MTCP) scholarships and Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan (CSFP) are some scholarships that are offered to exceptional students.

With the creation of the Malaysian National Higher Education Strategic Plan Beyond 2020 that focuses on turning Malaysia into an academic hub by the end of this decade, the popularity and demand for educational programs in Malaysia will continue to grow. The unique international qualifications that Malaysia provides will enable their graduates, to stand out and have an edge over their peers, having studied in and experienced the best of both worlds.

(Tahem Veer Verma graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania. He is spearheading Intelligent Partner’s overseas foray and brings with him insight from the best of American education, as well as experiences as a lifelong international student. Intelligent Partners is an education consultancy based in Dubai and advises students on educational opportunities overseas.)

Fact Box

Visa procedures for International Students
All international students intending to study in Malaysia need to have a valid student pass and visa. Procedures for obtaining a visa for study are simple and clear-cut.
1. On receiving an offer from a higher education institute, the student will then have to obtain a student pass. The institution that has provided the acceptance will apply for the pass on behalf of the student.
2.The documents required for applying for a Student Pass are the Offer letter from the higher educational institute, Student pass application form, copy of the student’s medical report, 2 photocopies of passport/travel document, 3 passport sized photographs, evidence of financial support and a personal bond provided by the educational institute.
3. The institution then submits the application to the Immigration department in Malaysia, following which the department then issues a letter of approval for a student pass to the educational institution which is then sent to the student while s/he is still in the home country.
4.The student is then provided a visa on arrival with an endorsement on the passport. A representative from the university will be present at the immigration checkpoint to receive and assist the student. This special pass is valid only for 14 days during which the student pass and visa are processed by the Malaysian Immigration Department






http://gulfnews.com/life-style/educa...tion-1.1230803

[Khostai]

yeah what do you expect from a chinese and Indian population :P.

[Admin Khan]

Without a doubt, an American degree is the gold standard in education, but in this case I am certainly impressed with Malaysia.

[Bengal_Tiger]

Without a doubt, an American degree is the gold standard in education, but in this case I am certainly impressed with Malaysia.

Is an American degree more respected than a British one?

I sincerely don't know and am curious.

[Admin Khan]

Is an American degree more respected than a British one?

I sincerely don't know and am curious.

Both are respected, and highly regarded but America has an advantage where the U.K lacks, i.e funding and money. Put Cambridge, Oxford, London School of Economics, and the next 30 top U.K schools combined, and Harvard alone has more money to burn on its undergrads + research. Harvard has nearly $34 billion dollars in endowment, and the recruitment it gets is ridiculous. Now the U.S has at least 100 schools not like Harvard, but similar to it. Let's look at MIT, the world's number 1 school now(finally, that was long awaited I must say, it was almost an insult to say Cambridge is better than MIT), MIT Bengal_Tiger, is sort of like the global innovation powerhouse. Put it this way, when the U.K produces a great, great genius scientist, he usually leaves the U.K for the U.S since the U.S is more of an intellectual, scientific, Engineering country vs the U.K. Tim Berners-Lee, a Brit, who founded the world wide web, is now at MIT along with countless genius Englishmen.

Alan Turing, widely regarded as the founder of Computer Science, left the U.K for Princeton University. I mean think about it, because the U.S has much more companies than the U.K, and the U.S.A spends a ridiculous amount on its universities, the U.K simply can't compete with the U.S. In research, employment, the U.K is peanuts compared to the U.S; simply because the U.K does not have as much funding unfortunately. Put the Russell Groups' funding COMBINED, and that's still not close to Princeton's yearly budget. So this means a lot Bengal wrora, the U.K just simply does NOT innovate like the U.S.A, and that's in part due to its budget(which is shrinking I heard, to make matters worse). Also, the beauty of all this is America has the most generous education system on earth. If you attend a regular state school, not only is your University tuition $0, you get PAID nearly ~$5,000 per semester to buy nice clothes, a new laptop and just have fun and feel un-stressed, and not worry about finance. This is huge. The world's number 1 school, MIT, is FREE, if you come from a background where your income is less than $70K. I mean, not only MIT, but the top 100 of U.S institutions are on par with your Oxbridge, and each one is incredibly generous. Columbia has a similar policy, same goes for Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and don't get me started on UC-Berkeley, widely regarded as THE BEST PUBLIC UNIVERSITY ON EARTH!

To give you an example of what innovation is(aside from obvious U.S inventions), American Scientists at MIT, just came up with WIRELESS electricity. Watch this video:

Wireless Electricity - WiTricity Showcase TED 2009 (Edit) - YouTube


It is every U.K kid's dream to attend an American top notch school(rightly so, due to the prestige + opportunities + research budget + events of an American institution)while the reverse is hardly true. I mean, the government throws millions at you. I know a Bengali Professor that was recently awarded $2.3 million dollars to conduct research on parallelized algorithms. Do you think he could have had that much funding(with no implications by the way, if he fails, it's all fine)in the U.K? And this is just ONE grant, he has many.

There are THOUSANDS of Bengalis benefiting from an American education, and they return back to contribute. Most from my experience hail from BUET, and are very intelligent. They tell me that getting a degree from Columbia, Harvard, Yale, MIT(this is the real gold sticker), Georgia Tech, CalTech, Dartmouth, Brown, Rice, is considered amazing back home. Even a regular state school like Stony Brook(which invented the MRI), has an endowment equivalent to London School of Economics.

A regular school Bengal Tiger, University of Chicago, has more funding than again, the top 20-40 U.K universities(excluding Oxbridge) COMBINED!



This quote from the Brit sums it up:

"I have the opportunity to learn anything at a very high level and take advantage of professors, researchers and resources in any field – i.e. if I wanted to do some cancer research during uni but still want to be an English major, that's completely possible."

http://www.theguardian.com/education/2010/nov/15/british-students-american-universities

[Admin Khan]

Here is a better way to sum it up, scroll through this list and you will realize what the annual income of American universities are(largely due to patents, etc).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colleges_and_universities_in_the_United_States_by_endowment

For example Bengal wrora, American medical schools are regarded as the gold standard for medical education. There are certain diseases that are ONLY treated in the U.S.

The U.S.A has nearly 330 billion dollars for higher education Bengal wrora. Pause and think about that. $330 billion dollars for Universities. That's more than what the entire E.U + Majority of ASIA spends on higher education, let alone the U.K

[Bengal_Tiger]

Thanks for the detailed explanation. Just some thoughts of mine.

1. The US is a bigger country, a vast expanse of land. So when the European settlers came they did not feel mentally/physically hindered and felt there was physical and intellectual space to do new things and innovate.

I think the early European Americans had to be innovative to survive in their new homeland.

2. Britain is a small rainy island and people are more reserved and conservative, so perhaps less willing to experiment.

3. America is also bigger in the sense that everything is bigger. The cars, the portions of food, the motorways. People themselves are louder.

There is a confidence.

So it makes logical sense to realize that while the cars, food, etc are bigger in the USA so are the amounts of money willing to be spent on education.

There is simply no comparison between the US and UK, from what you have just told me.

[Maulik]

yeah what do you expect from a chinese and Indian population :P.

majority of western university are flooded with indian and chinese students. .one has to be inteligent enough to get the admision in quality university. .its not a matter of deriding any ethnicity.