MARA to expand strategic cooperation with overseas universities - Mahdzir

KUALA LUMPUR: Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) plans to expand its strategic cooperation with foreign universities in new fields of study for its sponsored students.

Rural Development Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid said the strategic cooperation would involve highly rated universities like the University of Manchester (UoM) United Kingdom (UK), which is now ranked 35 in the world, fifth in the UK and eighth in Europe

"The student population of this university (UoM) is more than 40,000 and more than 25 per cent are foreign students including from Malaysia," he said in a statement today.

Mahdzir is now in the UK for a seven-day official working visit beginning yesterday, accompanied by the ministry's secretary-general Datuk Ramlan Harun and MARA director-general Datuk Azhar Abdul Manaf.

He has met the top management of UoM led by its vice-president of Learning, Teaching and Student Affairs Professor April McMohan.

The meeting was held to discuss and exchange views on new fields of study that MARA-sponsored students can explore at UoM.

Mahdzir said MARA made the right decision in choosing UoM as the destination for 229 students it is sponsoring based on the university's ranking, teaching faculty and excellent campus environment, and other facilities.

To date, Mahdzir said, MARA has 3,391 sponsored students abroad, with the largest number being in the UK at 1,422 students.

-- BERNAMA