The Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) in Malaysia is considering the creation of a specialized polytechnic for the country's first artificial intelligence (AI) program. Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir mentioned discussions with the Polytechnic and Community College Education Department about collaboration with the University of Tsukuba in Japan, a leading research university with an AI research center. The collaboration involves sharing skilled personnel and technology transfer in the field of AI. Malaysian universities, including Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, will participate.
Zambry highlighted that Malaysia is chosen for the University of Tsukuba's branch at Universiti Malaya, attracting more foreign students and enhancing the country's economy. He also suggested implementing a 'Social Implementation Education' program in Malaysian higher education, inspired by Japan's National Institute of Technology's approach, fostering creativity in students to address societal problems.
Furthermore, Zambry announced a new collaboration between MOHE and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) focusing on funding Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET). This collaboration aims to explore TVET areas more extensively in Malaysian universities and polytechnics affiliated with MTUN.
Additionally, there is an agreement to explore collaboration in IoT, AI, and ICT between Tokyo University of Science and local universities and polytechnics. MOHE will encourage both public and private higher education institutions to attract more Japanese students to study in Malaysia. Currently, there are 1,262 Japanese students in Malaysia, and 849 Malaysian students in Japan.
