Alien universities welcomed in KL

Alien universities welcomed in KL

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Malaysia is opening its doors to foreign universities in a bid to stop soaring education costs and thousands of students from going abroad yearly for higher studies, officials said yesterday.

"Appropriate conditions that are in line with the government's policies and the nation's needs will be imposed on foreign universities setting up branches here," Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad was reported saying in local newspapers.

Officials said the decision, to be implemented soon, will reverse a 24-year-old regulation which allowed only local universities to offer first degree courses in the country.

The Malaysian University and University Colleges Act 1971 was drafted basically to ensure protection of the native Malay language and other national interests in higher-education curricula.