UK-Malaysia Higher Education Roundtable
9.30am to 1.00pm
Attendees - Higher Education stakeholders, policy makers and institutional leaders

Time

Agenda (tentative)

0930 - 1015

Arrival of invited attendees

Networking Refreshments

1015

Welcome Remarks

Her Excellency Ailsa Terry CMG, British High Commissioner to Malaysia

1025

Opening Address

Yang Berhormat Dato' Seri Diraja Dr. Zambry Bin Abd Kadir, Minister of Higher Education, Malaysia (tbc)

1035

Keynote - Context on UK-Malaysia Higher Education Collaborations

Jazreel Goh, Director Malaysia, British Council

1045

Opening Plenary - Reflections from the experts

“Reinvigorating Partnerships, Building Ambition” – The way forward for UK-Malaysia HE collaborations

Tertiary education has always been one of the most important pillars in the bilateral relationship between Malaysia and the United Kingdom with shared aspirations to enhance human capital and continuously improve the quality and relevance of higher education. However, recent years have seen a decline in the number of Malaysian students pursuing UK higher education both overseas in the UK and in-country, and there is currently a sluggish trend in driving new higher education collaborations across TNE, research and mobility between the UK and Malaysia, with a shift in interest and focus on the more rapidly developing markets in the SEA region. This panel will explore the following questions:

  • Why do both UK and Malaysia need to invest in redesigning innovative higher education partnerships to maintain our competitive edge?
  • How can we arrest this complacency and jumpstart innovative collaborations that look beyond merely teaching transactions and recruitment?
  • Where can we find supportive policies, platforms and resources that can drive these ambitions?
  • When does all this need to happen, and what is commitment needed from the various stakeholders in the sector?

The expert panel includes institutional leaders from UK and Malaysia as well policy makers.

1130

“Re-building our joint ambitions”

Context setting followed by four facilitated discussions on specific areas of shared importance.

In January 2024, the Minister of Higher Education announced five areas of focus for higher education: developing the best talent, strengthening the research and innovation ecosystem, implementing a new approach to knowledge transfer and sharing programmes, internationalising higher education and strengthening enabling ecosystems.  These are all areas that align with the aspirations of the UK’s International Education Strategy and hence offer opportunities to leapfrog UK-Malaysia collaborations.

The roundtable discussions will discuss and unpack some of the key questions around four thematic areas:

Areas:

  1. Enhancing student and academic mobility
  2. Developing centres of excellence
  3. Driving innovative TNE partnerships
  4. Building capacity for research

Questions:

  •  What is the current status, and where do we need to be to reinvigorate partnerships and accelerate impact in these areas?
  • How do we adapt a knowledge economy framework to drive innovative UK-Malaysia HE collaborations in these areas?
  • Who are the stakeholders involved and what are their roles?
  • What are the recommendations to build a sustainable plan of action through talent development, enabling systems and innovation?

1230

Group summaries and feedback

1255

Closing remarks

Prabha Sundram, Head of Education, Malaysia, British Council

1300

Networking Lunch

UK-Malaysia Patnership Showcase
2.30pm to 4.45pm, followed by Networking Reception until 6.00pm
Open to all higher education stakeholders

Time Agenda (Tentative)

1430

Arrival, registration and networking

Partnership poster exhibition, video, music performance

1500

Welcome Remarks and Roundtable recap

Jazreel Goh, Director Malaysia, British Council

1510

UK Malaysia University Consortium Highlights

Professor Jin Wang, UK-Malaysia University Consortium Chair, Liverpool John Moores University

1525

Celebrating UK-MY Institutional Partnerships: Highlighting achievements, Sharing learnings

Moderator: Prabha Sundram, Head of Education, Malaysia, British Council

Format: 2 panels, 5 minutes per project followed by Q&A

Panel A – Enhancing Employability

  • i-Digitics: An International Partnership for Graduate Digital Future Work Skills in Data Analytics (LJMU/UTM/UPM)
  • Health Professionals/STEM Graduates Without Borders: Engineering Employability and Career Mobility into Academic Programmes Through Capacity Building (University of Surrey/UNIMAS)
  • Partnership for Innovation in Employability (PIE) Programme for Women in STEM (Cardiff Metropolitan University/University of York/UM/ University of Malaysia Pahang, Kuantan, Universiti Teknologi MARA)
  • The Entrepreneurial University Programme (University of Suffolk/Universiti Malaya)

Panel B – Addressing Global Challenges

  • Promoting Global Health in a Linguistically Diverse Population: Connecting Health Professionals, Education and Society (UEA/UKM/SEGi)
  • Women in Sports Leadership (UM-Wolverhampton) (tbc)
  • Sunway-Lancaster partnership - TNE and FCRI (tbc)
  • Reading-UTAR partnership - Newton (tbc)

1630

The UK-Malaysia University Consortium: Moving Forward (2024-2027)

Dr Julia Wang, UK-Malaysia University Consortium Co-Chair, Liverpool John Moores University

1640

Closing Remarks

  • Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia (tbc)
  • British Council

1645 to 1800

Networking Reception