Its chairman Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki said Mara is currently conducting research in terms of the costs involved, selection criteria as well as the fields of study that would help the country over the next five to 10 years.

“We will launch this special project aimed at highlighting our outstanding students for admission to prestigious universities around the world, such as Cambridge, Oxford, and Harvard,” he said, according to Utusan Malaysia.

“This will be our focus next year. We had other initiatives this year, but they were not so structured. We intend for this (special project) to be structured,” he told reporters after an event in Kota Bharu, Kelantan.

Asyraf also thanked Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim for significantly increasing the budget allocation for Mara this year, which has enabled the special project.

He stressed that Mara is committed to ensuring that the benefits are extended to the nation’s youth through high standards of governance and integrity.

“We will ensure that every sen of the public’s money is not wasted and is managed appropriately,” he added.

Asyraf also said that Mara had sent a total of 4,577 students to pursue studies abroad this year under an annual budget of RM2 billion.

He said they were pursuing courses that would benefit the country in the future.