KL out to lure more RI students
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Studying in Malaysia is a good option for Anidia Larasati, a 17- year-old final-year student at SMAN 70 public high school in South Jakarta.
"I would like to take a health and medicine degree in Malaysia. I'm still not sure whether I will go there for a bachelor's degree this year or follow it up with postgraduate study later, but I'm quite certain that I will do my postgraduate study there because I heard that the study program is better there," she said after attending the opening ceremony of the Malaysian Education Fair on Friday.
The fair, presenting 21 universities from Malaysia, was held from Friday to Saturday in Jakarta, and from Sunday to Monday in Bandung, West Java.
Currently, about 16,000 Indonesian students are pursuing their studies in Malaysia, making it the country second after China in terms of the total number of students from here.
About 36,000 international students are studying in Malaysia, and the Malaysian government hopes to increase that number by increasing Indonesia's share to 35 percent, up from 28 percent last year.
Malaysia's high standing in information technology, engineering, English and Mandarin has attracted around 8,300 post-graduate students, Malaysian Ambassador to Indonesia, Dato' Hamidon Ali, says.
"Some benefits for Indonesian students are the cheaper costs compared to other countries such as Singapore, the similarity of culture, Malaysia's national language, or Malay, and Malaysia's close proximity to Indonesia," he said.
He said the Malaysian government was in the process of drafting new legislation to allow students to work while they undertook graduate and post-graduate studies to lighten their financial load.
This year Malaysia expects about 14,000 Indonesian students to apply for higher education studies.
There are 21 private and 16 public institutions in Malaysia that offer international degrees through affiliations with foreign institutions.
The main target of the fair, according to Darsham Daud, the Education Attache at the Malaysian Embassy, is the post-graduate sector.
"We are not promoting public universities highly for bachelor degrees because there is only a 5 percent placement for international students in them due to the local demand, which we prioritize," Daud said.
He said the Malaysian government provided free education up to high school level and subsidized degrees in universities, which led to the high demand.
It had funded its generous education subsidies using about 25 percent of the state budget for many years, he said.
"We have been lucky to have a government that cares about education. Students are given books and in some rural areas, they are also given free uniforms and breakfast," Darsham said. (005)