KUCHING – The Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) and Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus recently discussed collaboration in promoting Malaysia as a higher education destination to Australian students.
MOHE Director General Professor Dr Rujhan Mustafa and his entourage met with the Pro Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive of Swinburne Sarawak, Professor Helmut Lueckenhausen, to set the stage for the university to play a significant role in the government’s plan to attract more Australian students to the country.
The MOHE delegation included Datin Professor Ir. Dr Siti Hamisah Binti Tapsir, Chief Registrar, and Dr Zubaidah Binti Aman, Deputy Registrar from the Ministry’s Private Higher Education Institutions unit.
“We are here to learn more about Swinburne (Sarawak), and we chose Swinburne because it is a major player in the private sector,” said Dr Rujhan, referring to the university’s reputation as a provider of private higher education in the country.
Swinburne Sarawak was awarded self-accreditation status by the Malaysian Qualifications Agency last year and rated Tier 5: Excellent in the MQA’s Rating System for Higher Education (SETARA) in 2009.
The discussion between the two parties centred primarily on attracting Australian students to Malaysia and how this could be enhanced by both countries, including the contribution of Swinburne in this endeavour.
Professor Lueckenhausen said Swinburne Sarawak is supportive of the Malaysian Government’s intention of seeing more Australian students coming to its shores to pursue tertiary education.
“Australian students who come here through the University’s student exchange program enjoy their experience in Kuching and consequently some extend their stay here,” he said.
Annually about 40 Australian students spend a semester or two at the Sarawak campus through the exchange program, while others come for a shorter period under the university’s winter semester program.
The visit to Swinburne Sarawak by the MOHE delegation followed the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Malaysia and Australia to strengthen education and sports, in Canberra earlier this month.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who witnessed the signing of the MoU with Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, had said that Kuala Lumpur would like to see more Australian students study in Malaysia, adding that their number was relatively small at the moment.
Australia is the most popular destination for tertiary education among Malaysians. Currently, there are more than 20,000 Malaysian students studying in Australia and of this number about 6,000, are in the state of Victoria.