KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia can play an important role in capturing demand for primary and secondary education from overseas markets such as China, Myanmar, Vietnam, Bangladeh and Pakistan, according to an education specialist.
The domestic market itself was currently worth a few hundred million ringgit with the potential to grow by multitudes, said Dr Vincent Chian, who is the principal of Fairview International School here.
The main reason was the country's competitive cost, academic excelence and stability, Chian added.
Fairview International School recently emerged as the best academic achiever for schools, with a fee base of US$10,000 and less in Southeast Asia.
The school was also one of three Malaysia-based international schools that made the Top 80 best Baccalaureate world schools list sanctioned by the International Baccalaureate Organisation.
"We made the list for the second year running and we also have students this year who emerged with perfect scores in the IBDP (International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme) examinations, placing them at top of the list in the world. I am sure the other schools to have their own sucess stories to tell. We need to group all these narratives and speak in one voice to the world," Chian told the New Straits Times.
The country's higher education is partially supported by EMS, a company under the purview of the Ministry of Higher Education.
EMS acts as a one-stop centre for international student services pursuing higher here.
"We need such as entity for primary and secondary recruitment and promotion abroad too," Chian said.