Malaysian colleges woo Qatar students

By Joey Aguilar

Staff Reporter

 Qatari students who want to pursue their college education in Malaysia can expect quality education in terms of hosting, Islamic values and environment from premier universities, ambassador Ahmad Jazri Mohamed Johar has said.

Speaking to Gulf Times at the start of the two-day “Education Malaysia Open Day” held at the Malaysian Trade Centre at the Gate Mall yesterday, the ambassador stressed that his country offered “quality and affordable education” for Qataris and other students in the Middle East.

Four of the top universities from Malaysia are participating in the event. They are Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Sunway University, Asia Pacific University and MultiMedia University. Representatives of these institutions have also visited various schools in Qatar to present their programmes.

“The environment provides you a multinational and multi-racial Islamic environment,” the envoy said. “You do not have problem with food, accommodation and many other things.”

Malaysian universities and international university branch campuses offer more than 3,000 programmes and specialisations such as IT, engineering and medicine. This included prestigious universities from the UK, the US, Australia, and India.

The Southeast Asian nation now hosts more than 120,000 international students and around 25,000 are from the Gulf countries studying in 100 private universities and colleges.

Besides emerging as the world’s top Muslim-friendly holiday destination in a survey released in early 2013, Johar noted that Malaysia also ranked 11th as the most preferred study destination.

He said that one of the factors that made Malaysia a favourable education destination was due to the affordable tuition fees and cost of living. “Parents only pay a fraction of the cost  compared to premier schools in the West.”

For a full degree (three to four years) programme, tuition fees in universities in Malaysia range between $3,000 to $10,000 (depending on the course) – a third of the costs in the US, Britain and Australia.

Johar cited the case of a Qatari businessman who preferred sending his two sons in Malaysia to study instead of sending them to a country in the West.

“There are many options in the world now but Malaysia stands up in terms of consideration for Qataris and other Muslim countries in this region to go and send their children there,” he said, pointing out that the education sector received the biggest funding from the national government every year.

It also formed the Education Malaysia Global Services to serve as a “one-stop shop” to promote its education internationally and to manage international student services such as visa processing and renewals.

In applying for a student visa, the ambassador explained that a “genuine student” will not experience any inconveniences but they must understand the procedure. He urged applicants to apply early, submit necessary requirements and get in touch with the people in the university where they will study.

Johar urged students to spend three to four years in Malaysia for them to better understand the working values and ethics of the locals.

He also said that Malaysia’s Minister of Tourism and Culture, Dato Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz, who visited Doha last month, recognised the great potential for the  development of tourism from Qatar to Malaysia.

The minister noted that about 7,264 tourists from Qatar visited Malaysia in 2013 - a year in which as many as 324,437 West Asian tourists visited the country.

“Tourists from Qatar tend to spend longer a period of time than other tourists and also spend more. So obviously, we would like more and more people from Qatar to visit us,” he had said.