Malaysian and Indian universities explore long-term tie-ups in education, research

A three-day Malaysia-India Higher Education Forum began in the city on Monday, bringing together universities from both countries to explore possible long-term collaborations in education and research in business and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) subjects.

A total of 17 universities of Malaysia and 26 from India will independently explore collaborative ventures in higher education and research, such as dual degrees, joint PhDs, and joint research and publication.

The Forum is organised jointly by Education Malaysia Global Services (EMGS), the marketing arm of the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education, entrusted with promoting Malaysia as an educational hub, the Consulate General of Malaysia in Chennai, the Association of Indian Universities (AIU), and Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences.

While potential collaborations was one of the objectives, the platform also sought to showcase Malaysia as an educational destination for Indian students, especially in medical, paramedical, and technology fields.

K. Saravana Kumar, Consul General of Malaysia to South India, who inaugurated the event, said the education sector in Malaysia was robust with government institutions, private institutions, and branch campuses of foreign universities offering a wide variety of opportunities for students from India. “We are also looking at how universities in India can gain from these collaborations, such as exchange of students, academicians, collaborations on areas of research, talent development, and help both countries prepare future manpower for the world,” Mr. Kumar added.

Novie Tajuddin, CEO, EMGS, said while most current collaborations between Malaysian and Indian universities were on short-term programmes, the focus was now on building bridges between institutions of the two countries to offer dual programmes or even facilitate opening offshore campuses in both nations.

Vinay Kumar Pathak, president, AIU, said engineering, management, and infrastructure development could be some of the areas where universities could have collaborative programmes. “Our first highway under the Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) model was built by Malaysian companies. They also have lots of skyscrapers giving their cities a modern touch, which is the need of the hour for our metros. Joint research publications, which carry a lot of weightage in QS and Times university rankings, was also a low-hanging fruit,” he added.

Pankaj Mittal, Secretary General, AIU, said about 15 to 20 foreign universities were all set to establish campuses in India, while 10 to 12 Indian universities had set up campuses abroad. “Letters of Intent from the foreign universities have been received. That is a big leap forward,” she added.

N.M. Veeraiyan, Chancellor, Saveetha Institute of Technical and Medical Sciences, and Ashwani Kumar, Vice-Chancellor, Saveetha Institute of Technical and Medical Sciences, spoke at the inauguration.