May 26, 2026
KUALA LUMPUR – Taiwan is expanding its student recruitment drive in Malaysia beyond Chinese independent school graduates to include students from national schools and vernacular schools (SMJKs).
Lien Yu Ping, the Representative of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Malaysia, said the expansion is to attract more Malaysians to study in Taiwan.
In the past, the recruitment efforts had primarily targeted independent Chinese secondary school graduates, but the focus would now be broadened, as national and Chinese-medium secondary school graduates outnumber their independent school counterparts by two to three times, she said.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 2026 The Federation of Alumni Associations of Taiwan Universities, Malaysia on Sunday, Lien said both national and Chinese independent school students are welcome to study in Taiwan, but students from national schools have previously been a largely overlooked group.
“Therefore, we will begin reaching out to them from now, with the hope they will become another key pillar of students pursuing education in Taiwan,” she said.
According to a report released by the federation in April last year, the number of Malaysian students in Taiwan for the 2023-2024 academic year stood at 9,686, a drop of 8.2% from 10,553 in the 2022-2023 academic year.
The report also noted that the number of Malaysian students in Taiwan has declined for three consecutive years, by approximately 21.9%.
In 2024 alone, the number of Malaysian students enrolling in Taiwan dropped from 3,000 in 2023 to 2,500, a decline of about 16.7%.
Lien expressed hope that more Malaysian students would choose Taiwan to pursue higher education, giving the new generation to know Taiwan better.
She also noted that the federation, founded in 1974, has spent more than 50 years steadily championing its members’ interests.
Graduates from Taiwan universities carry the imprint of Taiwan wherever they go and will always serve as a bridge connecting others to Taiwan.
Pang King Hoe, president of the federation, said the federation’s secretariat would continue to promote higher education in Taiwan.