Japanese Varsities Eye Presence In Malaysia - M'sian DPM

From Abdul Muin Majid NAGOYA, Nov 11 (Bernama) -- Several Japanese universities are keen on establishing a presence in Malaysia and their requests will be duly evaluated, said Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin. He named one of them as Tokyo University of Science. "We'll look into their proposals. I don't see any hindrances for them to do so," he told Malaysian media after attending a bilateral meeting with Japan's Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Minister Hakubun Shimomura here Monday. The talks were held on the sidelines of the 2014 Unesco World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development where the Malaysian delegation was led by Muhyiddin who is also Education Minister. He further said that both sides were working on the final draft of a memorandum of understanding in the field of basic education that would complement the one already signed on higher education. Muhyiddin noted that Malaysia had immensely benefited from cooperation in the field of education with Japan which saw, among others, Japanese language teachers being dispatched to Malaysian schools. Muhyiddin also touched on Malaysia's intention to be part of the Unesco executive board for the term 2015- 2019. Unesco stands for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation. He noted that Malaysia had always wanted to play a bigger role in fields which came under Unesco's purview. Since becoming a member of Unesco in 1958, Malaysia has sat on the board for four times - 1978-1983, 1987- 1991, 1999-2003 and 2007-2011. Muhyiddin said Malaysia all this while had played an active role in Unesco, including in terms of providing funds to assist other countries in need. "If we're chosen, we'll enhance this aspect of helping fellow members in Unesco further," he said. He is scheduled to leave for Australia Monday night for a three-day working visit to Canberra and Perth. --BERNAMA