More than 3,000 programmes and specialisation being offered in the network of public and private higher education institutes (HEIs) in Malaysia is set to attract students from Oman at a leading education exhibition in the Sultanate this month.

The Global Higher Education Exhibition (Ghedex) will run from April 20 to 22 at the Oman International Exhibition Centre.

Umardin Hj Abdul Matalib, the Malaysia Ambassador to Oman, said: “Malaysia presently hosts over 120,000 international students from 144 countries in our schools, colleges, universities, language centres and training institutes throughout the country. From this, 25,000 are from the Gulf countries.”

One of the factors that make Malaysia a favourable education destination is the very affordable tuition fee and cost of living., said a statement.

There are over 100 private universities, university-college and colleges to choose from, and over 3,000 programmes to specialise in.

The Malaysian participation at Ghedex 2015 includes both government and private universities from the country namely Education Malaysia Global Services (EMGS); University of Malaya; Universiti Malaysia Pahang; Universiti Kuala Lumpur; HELP University; Taylor’s University; Limkokwing University of Creative Technology; UCSI University; and Swinburne University of Technology, Sarawak Campus.

“Malaysia hosts branch campuses of prestigious universities from the UK, US, Australia, India and students pay only a fraction of the cost when studying in Malaysia compared to what they need to pay in the main campus,” said Mutalib.

“In private universities in Malaysia, tuition fee for a full degree programme runs for 3 or 4 years, depending on the course. Tuition fees are between $3,000 to $10,000 a year - a third of the costs in US, Britain and Australia, with the programmes providing the same students’ learning outcome” he said.

Over the years, Malaysia’s education sector has been receiving the biggest allocation from the annual national budget from Malaysia’s government – a display of Malaysia’s commitment to enhancing the infrastructure and quality of education at all levels- and improves accessibility as a global education hub, said the statement.

Additionally, the government recently formed Education Malaysia Global Services (EMGS) to serve as a one-stop-centre to promote Malaysian education internationally and to manage international student services such as visa processing and renewals, it added. - TradeArabia News Service