Major boost for higher education

NST: This is the news that Malaysian parents have been waiting to hear: Malaysia is going to be home to a top-class medical university and business management institution, modelled on the famous Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Besides providing more places for locals otherwise forced to venture abroad, these two institutions will also give the country’s ambitions of becoming a regional education hub a major fillip.
It also signals a move by the administration to aggressively chase tie-ups with brand- name foreign universities.
Special Envoy to the Higher Education Ministry Datuk Seri Effendi Norwawi said the Government planned to set up a business management institute and a medical university.
He said the medical university could be a collaboration with the Royal College of Surgeons and the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland. The college of surgeons dates back to 1784 while the college of physicians was established in 1654.
Effendi said a team from the ministry visited Ireland recently and he had several discussions with Irish ambassador to Malaysia Daniel Mulhall on the matter.
"All I can say now is that it has been very encouraging," he added.
A top-class medical university would satisfy the twin needs of meeting the demand for places to study medicine for Malaysians and also attracting students from Indonesia and other countries in the region to study here.
At present, Malaysian students wanting to obtain a medical degree from a reputable university in Britain or Ireland have to spend up to RM1 million.
Effendi said the business management institution will involve a tie-up with Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania, one of eight Ivy League nstitutions in the United States.
"We need an institution to develop human capital here which will not only serve the private but the public sector as well... the business institution will be an independent body and Wharton School will be one of our partners," he said, adding that he is personally looking into the setting up of the institute.
One of his chief tasks as a Special Envoy is to persuade top-notch universities to either set-up branch campuses here or work with other institutions here.