Smoother admission aims to net more international students

Traditionally a major source of outbound students to Asia-Pacific countries, Malaysia is now seeking to reverse that trend through new government and institutional initiatives that aim to attract more international students in the region through streamlined and shorter admissions and approvals processes.

Malaysia’s Deputy Higher Education Minister Mustapha Sakmud told Malaysia’s parliament, the Dewan Rakyat, on 4 December the government is streamlining the centralised higher education admission system to better cater for international students.

The government is also drawing up a comprehensive 10-year higher education plan designed to consolidate its standing as a regional centre for higher education, he said.

Sakmud said centralised admissions will “improve efficiency, accessibility, transparency and competitiveness in attracting international students”.

The ministry will also streamline the processing of applications through Education Malaysia Global Services (EMGS) – the arm of the ministry dealing with international students – and reinforce the role of international student offices in every university as one-stop centres for welfare, housing, health matters and cultural activities, he added.

The system currently overseen by the Malaysian Qualifications Agency is regarded as lengthy and in need of improvement, according to the ministry, which earlier this year set up a committee to establish the best way to implement a new system.

This could include, for example, “advanced algorithms and blockchain technology, enabling instant verification of qualifications and certificates submitted by international students”, Zambry Abdul Kadir, higher education minister, told local media at the time.

“We will also collaborate with the respective countries of these applicants to ensure a smooth and secure admission process,” Zambry was quoted by national news agency Bernama as saying.

“We have the Malaysia Qualifications Framework to ensure global standards, and the Malaysian Qualifications Agency empowers and enforces this quality – a very tedious but necessary process,” stated Mohd Azizuddin Mohd Sani, deputy vice-chancellor of Universiti Utara Malaysia, speaking at a regional education conference organised by Professionals in International Education (PIE) in August.

“Because of this, you can see Malaysia rising in [international university] rankings like THE and QS. This traction is attracting students from everywhere, especially China”.

Speaking at the same conference, EMGS CEO Novie Tajuddin pointed to a 26% rise in applications to Malaysia from international students in the past two years. His office is streamlining the system to approve applications within two weeks, he said.

Data released by the ministry showed the country’s 20 public universities enrolled 53,322 international students last year. With the University of Malaya (UM), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) accounting for over half the number, predominantly from China, Indonesia, and Bangladesh. Among them, just over 39,000 were postgraduate students.

Acumen, an Asia-focused international education consultancy, noted in its 2024 Key Trends in Southeast Asia report that over 50,000 Malaysian students studied overseas in 2023, especially in China, Japan and Australia, and now Malaysia is targeting these same Asia-Pacific countries to attract 250,000 international students a year to its shores by 2030.

“With a surge in interest from international institutions seeking diversification across source markets, delivery models, subject areas, and study levels, Southeast Asia is in the spotlight, thanks to favourable demographics, a thirst for quality education and strong economic growth,” the report said.

Areas of potential growth

Sakmud also told the Dewan Rakyat that promotional efforts through Education Malaysia offices abroad were being stepped up, especially in West Asia, Africa and South Asia.

At the 10th annual Eurasia Higher Education (EURIE) conference held in Istanbul, Turkey, in April, EMGS’ Tajuddin said Central Asia and Africa held the biggest potential for growth in international student applications to Malaysia, but the biggest “prize” could be India, as Malaysia has its own ethnic Indian population.

“The biggest potential is India because the market is huge. The total number of higher education students in India is about 45 million. You just need 1%, maybe 1.5% or 2%, to bring to your country, depending on your strategy,” Tajuddin said.

However, when Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced during a local seminar organised by Chinese National Secondary School SMJK Yuk Choy in October that Malaysia is currently hosting 170,000 international students, making them the number one transnational education hub in the Southeast Asian region, he had to quickly assure Malaysians that expansion of international students will not be at the expense of local students whose education is subsidised by the government.

“We will prioritise Malaysians for university places,” he told the audience, adding: “Foreign students who come here pay fees – don’t block them – because their presence benefits us.”

Sakmud repeated the message about priority for local students on 4 December: “That is not something we will compromise [on]. We aim to expand international enrolment mainly at the postgraduate level, especially in research, where foreign expertise can add value. But for undergraduate or mainstream programmes, priority remains with Malaysians."

Preparing for a globalised workforce

In addition to the government’s plans, experts suggested Malaysia could do more to attract international students, especially postgraduates.

A Filipino professor who did six months of postgraduate research in Malaysia told University World News on condition of anonymity: “If Malaysian universities encourage internships, they could attract postgrad students, in particular, for short-term research or [exchange] internships,” she said.

Lim Kooi Fong, a Malaysian AI-driven education innovator and CEO of Bodhi Vision, said Malaysian universities and technology companies were well equipped to offer a “top class” tertiary education experience to overseas students, especially from the Asian region, noting a higher number of international students would assist Malaysian universities in rising up the global university rankings.

“Malaysian universities are undertaking diverse, application-orientated AI research projects, often in collaboration with industry partners,” he told University World News.

“Enrol[ling] a record high number of international students primarily as a strategic initiative to develop the nation into a regional and international education hub provides significant economic benefits and enhances the global standing of local universities,” Lim said.

It will also equip Malaysian graduates with “the intercultural competencies and global mindset needed to compete in a globalised workforce”.

“Malaysia can leverage its existing advantages, such as affordable, high-quality English-medium education, a multicultural and safe living environment, and geographical proximity to other Asian countries, to appeal to students from target markets,” Lim added.

However, universities also need to be AI-savvy and do innovative research work in order to attract international postgraduate students, according to Lim, who noted Malaysian universities are increasingly collaborating with industry to develop AI-assisted applications.

As examples of such innovations, he referred to projects by Monash University Malaysia and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) which are developing machine learning models to predict mortality risks in COVID-19 inpatients, and a separate project by UTM to identify signs of depression from Malaysian social media use through a spatiotemporal analytical model to aid early detection of mental health issues.