With the current higher education plan expiring next year, Zambry said Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had instructed the ministry to conduct a review of the existing system.

He said the prime minister wanted the higher education system to be in line with current developments in technology, particularly in artificial intelligence and technical and vocational education and training.

“Therefore, we are preparing to reform the higher education (system) through the next higher education plan that starts in 2026.

“The country needs to keep up with current developments to ensure that it is able to compete in the competitive world we are in today,” he told reporters after visiting Limkokwing University in Cyberjaya here.

Meanwhile, Zambry said the country is set to take in an additional 100,000 foreign tertiary students, including from Iraq and Libya.

Currently, Malaysia has about 200,000 foreign students.

“I would like to stress here that there’s high demand from foreign students to study here. Countries like Iraq and Lebanon need more human capital to redevelop their countries.

“When I was the foreign affairs minister, they had voiced their interest in sending thousands of students here,” he said.