KUALA LUMPUR: Academicians from University of Malaya (UM) welcomed the government’s move to place five per cent of foreign students in public universities for medicine, dentistry and pharmacy courses to increase local universities’ financial revenue.
UM vice-chancellor Tan Sri Professor Datuk Dr Mohd Amin Jalaludin said currently only three per cent of UM’s undergraduate are international students but the oldest university in the country has plans to push it up to 10 percent in the future.
“As of now, 25 percent of UM’s postgraduate students are international students. This figure is expected to rise to 30 percent in the future.
“The government’s move is timely as this will liberalise our education sector thus enhancing its appeal worldwide,” he said.
He said with the introduction of this ruling, the university expects to see a substantial increase of income from student enrollment with each student expected to spend approximately USD150,000 (MYR665,325) in student fees.
“The management would like to reassure the public that this move will not deprive deserving local students of pursuing their degrees in critical courses.
“The entry and requirement standards will also be maintained to ensure the quality of education is top notch and meet the global standards,” he said.