Education Minister, Dr Maszlee states that three Japanese universities have plans on establishing branches in Malaysia.
According to him, one of the oldest and most comprehensive research universities in Japan, Tsukuba University is one of the three, the other two being Nippon Designers School and Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University.
“Tsukuba University is estimated to start its operations in 2020 while Nippon Designers School may start as early as next year,” he added in a statement yesterday (7 Nov).
The education ministry is already on the search for potential locations for the new universities and will help ease the process of establishment, registration and the student intakes.
These plans are in line with Dr Mahathir’s Look East Policy, which started in the early 1980s.
He added how establishing Japanese universities is important for us Malaysians as it enables us to not only learn their values and work ethics, but to also be exposed to their education system and culture.
Apart from that, Dr Maszlee announced the plans of the ministry to provide free breakfast for the B40 group in hopes of creating a culture of cleanliness and discipline among students from pre-school to those in higher education.
“This is the result of my three-hour-long visit to Itabashi Daiichi Elementary School, a public school located in Tokyo, which allowed me to see first-hand Japan’s education methods which produces youngsters with good character,” said Dr Maszlee who visited Takeshi Sakamoto, the mayor of Itabashi City Hall on Monday, according to The Star.
“Sakamoto expressed enthusiasm to strengthen the relationship and cooperation between the two countries, especially in tourism and education. He is also keen on having sister city status.”
“He hopes to have more exchange programmes where Japanese students would stay with foster families in Malaysia to experience the uniqueness of Malaysian culture,” said Dr Maszlee.
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