Japan Launches Its First Overseas University Campus in Malaysia

By Vaidant September 18, 2024
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Tsukuba University’s branch campus in Malaysia represents a significant step in the internationalisation of Japanese higher education institutions. Located in Kuala Lumpur, this campus is the first Japanese degree-granting branch campus established abroad.

Officially named the School of Transdisciplinary Science and Design, the campus was inaugurated on 2nd September 2024, within the University of Malaya.

“This campus is the first to award Japanese academic degrees overseas, marking a groundbreaking development in the history of Japan’s higher education,” stated Mr Ikuya Sugisato, an official in the international affairs department at the Ministry of Education (MEXT).

Sugisato expressed optimism about the campus’s potential to attract Malaysian students and enhance educational exchanges between Japan and Malaysia, emphasising the importance of quality assurance in these initiatives.

Starting from the academic year 2024/2025, the branch campus will offer four-year undergraduate degrees in Japanese, English, and Malay, as endorsed by MEXT. The first degree to be awarded will be a Bachelor of Arts and Science, making it a pioneering qualification in Malaysia.

The establishment of this campus has been six years in the making, initially proposed by former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in 2018.

The Kuala Lumpur branch aims to foster exchanges between Japanese students and researchers from Tsukuba University, encouraging Malaysian students to pursue postgraduate studies in Japan, as outlined by MEXT.

The emergence of Japanese branch campuses aligns with the government’s efforts to promote internationalisation, with a goal of attracting 400,000 international students to Japan and sending 500,000 Japanese students abroad by 2033.

According to Sugisato, such branch campuses will contribute to the development of skilled human resources capable of making a positive impact globally, while also enhancing the visibility of Japanese education and advancing the internationalisation of universities across Japan.

Source: THE PIE NEWS

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