DOHA: There are plans for Malaysian academicians and lecturers to publish international journals in three major specialisation fields that could potentially put the country’s education on the world map.
Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik (pix) said the three fields are Middle Eastern Studies (areas studies), International Relations and Foreign Services, and Islamic Thoughts and Contemporary Islamic studies, which the ministry would focus on by starting a partnership and collaboration with Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q)
“Being one of the leading universities in the United States, and now a campus of Georgetown University in Qatar, I think it is the right time to have a strategic collaboration between Malaysian universities and academicians with GU-Q.
“I see that GU-Q is leading in these three areas and it is my aim to put Malaysian academicians and lecturers on the map of the world specialising in these three years,“ he told Bernama after visiting GU-Q at the Education City in Al Rayyan City on the outskirts of Doha.
Education City is an initiative of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development.
Maszlee, who was welcomed by the university’s Dean Dr Ahmad S. Dallal, said he has received verbal agreement on the smart partnership for a collaboration that covers mobility among professors and students from GU to Malaysia and vice versa.
“We are also keen on research collaboration and the push to publish our journals internationally by working closely with the university. For that, we will focus on new and young lecturers as well as post-graduate students to get more exposure from the prestigious university.”
During the 30-minute meeting, Maszlee said, he also initiated a partnership with GU-Q for Malaysian researchers and universities to access and share their online repository which offers more than two million scholarly resources but further discussions are necessary. Meanwhile, Dallal said the remarkable transformation of Malaysia’s higher education sector and the impact of that growth on the nation’s human development is a testament to the integral role of research and education in society.
“It was an honour to have the opportunity to discuss these shared values, and to explore the possibility of future educational collaboration between the education hubs for Qatar and Malaysia,“ he said.
Later, Maszlee was taken for a tour around Georgetown University in Qatar by the university’s marketing director Waleed Khan.
The minister also visited the Housing and Residence Life (student hostel), a green building designed with a capacity of 1,200 students. — Bernama
