Malaysia, Iran to Enhance Education Ties

Malaysia and Iran will enhance cooperation in the education sector by introducing various programs to attract and encourage more students to pursue higher education in both countries.

Iran’s Ambassador to Malaysia Marzieh Afkham said plans include courses offered in universities and professor exchange programs that could benefit the students.

“Currently, there around 4,000 Iranian students pursuing their tertiary studies at various universities in Malaysia. Many Iranian researchers are also based in your universities, at the same time, we offer Persian language course at Universiti Putra Malaysia,” she said, Malaysiandigest.com reported.

“Malaysians opt to study in Iran because our universities’ ranking is getting better,” she added.

Afkham was speaking to reporters on Monday after launching the translated version of one of the well-known Persian classics titled ‘Golestan’ (Persian for flower garden), by famous poet Sa’di Shirazi, at the National Library.

A great Iranian poet during the medieval period, Sa’di was born in 1210 in Shiraz.

PNM collaborated with the Cultural Centre of Islamic Republic of Iran through the Iranian embassy to introduce some of Iran’s most renowned works.

The Iranian Embassy contributed 500 copies of ‘Taman Mawar’ (Malay for Golestan) to library, which will be distributed to libraries in Malaysia while the public can purchase it in book stores across the country soon.

Meanwhile Datuk Nafisah Ahmad, director of the library, said there are about 622 items related to Iran in the library’s collection comprising books, periodicals, journal articles, videos and maps. “These items have been acquired through purchases and gift exchange programs with the National Library of Iran and other agencies,” she said.

She also welcomed other countries’ cooperation to work together to disseminate information on their respective cultures through various activities such as art exhibition, cultural events, book launch and professional talks.