The Higher Education Ministry will study the proposal to offer permanent resident (PR) status to foreign students to encourage them to work in Malaysia upon graduation.

Its minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin said the offer, however, would only be opened to those pursuing studies at the post-graduate and doctorate levels and sponsored by the ministry.

"Maybe we will offer them to serve as lecturers or researchers. The offer will not be opened to all foreign students, but only to those who are highly creative and skilled," he told reporters in Putrajaya today.

He said apart from luring local students abroad to return, foreigners could also be encouraged to work locally.

"We cannot stop Malaysians from working in other countries, we just have to play the game by recruiting foreign talents," he said.

Earlier, Mohamed Khaled presented scholarships to 125 students to pursue studies at public institutions of higher learning.

He also said that the move to give scholarship to foreign students could also attract them to work in Malaysia.

So far, the ministry had given scholarships to 363 students from countries like China, Indonesia, Iran, India, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Bangladesh.

- Bernama