PENANG, September 2015 – Emphasis should be given on the need to share knowledge and expertise at the global level, as well as cooperation between educational institutions and their partners to ensure a future for the betterment of all.

Such was the request of the Education and Students Welfare Section Counsellor from Nigeria, Adeniyi Oyemade representing the Acting High Commissioner of Nigeria, Janet Bessong Odeka while giving a speech in conjunction with the USM 2nd Ambassadors Summit 2015 here recently at Dewan Budaya USM.

Adeniyi said, USM and the universities in Nigeria could work closely together in areas of socio-economic development and science and technology; to ensure its implementation, certain rules and requirements would need further reconsideration. Among them would be the education standards set by the universities in Nigeria, No Objection Certificate from the Nigerian government and the capacity of the partnering educational institutions to deliver knowledge at the desired levels.

“There is also a big possibility of conducting postgraduate student exchange programmes in areas of mutual interest, and I would like to forward a suggestion for an exchange programme between the staff of USM and Nigeria to be done in the near future,” said Adeniyi.

Added Adeniyi further, there would also be various cooperation for multiple- and joint-degree programmes to ensure that the standards of education would be maintained between the two parties, which would not be sufficient only with the signing of MoUs, as further steps need to be taken effectively and efficiently to achieve the desired impact.

“MoUs between USM and universities from the African nations need to be increased in number too as Malaysia and Nigeria have similarities in being members of Commonwealth and the United Nations (PBB).

“Among the obstacles hampering efforts to establish such cooperation are the competition among the educational institutions, rankings and the exclusivity of an institution; however the Nigerian embassy in Kuala Lumpur has given the assurance that they will provide all the necessary assistance to USM to forge partnerships with institutions in Nigeria on a continuous basis,” stressed Adeniyi.

Adeniyi also disclosed that the number of students coming from Nigeria to Malaysia has decreased due to the lengthy time and complex process of acquiring a visa, as well as the current policies to acquire visas as managed by the Education Malaysia Global Services (EMGS) which need to be reviewed.

Translation: Mazlan Hanafi Basharudin

Text: Teks: Hafiz Meah Ghouse Meah