OVER 16,200 MIDDLE EAST, NORTH AFRICAN STUDENTS NOW IN MALAYSIA

By Muin Abdul Majid
DUBAI, Oct 3 (Bernama) -- The number of students from Middle East and North African region in Malaysia reached 16,299 as of July, this year, said Dubai-based Malaysia Education Promotion Centre (MEPC) regional director Shushilil Azam Shuib.

He said this had surpassed the revised target of 15,000 students by 2010,
set by Malaysia's Ministry of Higher Education.

Iran topped the list with 4,878 students, followed by Yemen (2,688), Sudan
(1,600), Iraq (1,400), Saudi Arabia (1,271), Somalia (1,231), Libya (975) and
Jordan (561).

According to the list, the United Arab Emirates has 11 students in
Malaysia, a Southeast Asian nation of 27 million which aims to become a regional
education
hub.

Altogether, 25 countries in the Middle East and North Africa have sent
their students to Malaysia.

Shushilil Azam said when the ministry decided to set up MEPC Dubai, there
were only about 3,000 students from this region studying at Malaysian
institutions.

"From the start in 2004, our office undertook many promotional activities
and the outcome had been positive as by the end of that year, we managed to
enrol almost 4,700 students," he told Bernama.

Spurred by this development, the ministry went on to set a target of
10,000
students to be enrolled at Malaysian education institutions by the end of
2010.

"It was a real challenge for our office. However, we took it seriously by
embarking on aggressive promotional campaigns across the region," said Shushilil
Azam.

According to him, after just three years of operation, MEPC Dubai crossed
the target, attracting over 11,400 students by the end of last year.

"Since we achieved the target ahead of time, the ministry revised its
target to 15,000 students by 2010," he said of the new target which had since
been achieved.

-- BERNAMA