JEDDAH, 11 November — There is an increasing trend among Saudi and other Arab students to discontinue their studies in the West and look for "safer" destinations in the Far East, especially Malaysia.
At the ongoing International Trading Expo at the Alhamra Commercial Center, Corniche, stands of Malaysian colleges and universities have been receiving an increased number of inquiries from Arab students and parents, especially Saudis, for admissions to undergraduate and postgraduate studies. The two-week expo ends on Thursday.
"Students and parents visiting us have been mostly inquiring about the facilities available in our country for undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD courses. A few parents have evinced keen interest in transferring their children who are already through the first year of the college education in the US," Sheeda A. Bawthan, chief executive officer of International Expo Management Services, and manager international sales at Eaglesham SDN. BHD, said here last night.
Bawthan, who is leading a group of Malaysia’s public and private universities, colleges and technical and management institutions to the expo, said her country had been attracting many overseas students over the years, much more so in the post-Sept. 11 situation.
"Parents planning their children’s education in the US no longer wish to send them there nor to Britain. That’s how Malaysia has become a preferred destination for them," she said.
"We’re delighted at the prospects as our country has already become a popular destination for tourists from this part of the world," Bawthan added.
She said Malaysia had a dozen leading universities, both in the private and public sectors, including International Islamic University, Multimedia University, University Putra Malaysia, Limkokwing Institute of Creative Technology and Binary Business School.
While Putra Malaysia is 50 years old, University Selangor was the first private university established 10 years ago. University Tenanca is another recent private university. The country also boasts an international college of music, and a technology and design center.
The country has 20 private colleges, all conducting courses with English as the medium of instruction in different fields including business, accounting, IT, engineering and medicine. The Malaysian France Institution offers technical courses including automotive, on a diploma basis, according to Bawthan.
She added that overseas students, especially from this part of the world, would find education Malaysia cheaper than in the West. For instance the tuition fee for an 18-month master’s degree course in economics costs SR3,000. A four-year engineering degree course costs $13,000 inclusive of all fees and living expenses, while a three-year degree in business studies could cost $1,000 less.
