By Petronella Sibeene WINDHOEK While education remains one of the priority sectors calling for stronger partnership, the Malaysian Binary University College has extended five post-graduate scholarships to Namibians. The N$330ÃÆ’Æ‘ÀÃ…ÃÆ”šÃ‚ 000 scholarships will enable five Namibians to study M.A. in Business Administration and M.A. in Science and Information Technology. The Malaysian Binary University College specializes in master degrees in tourism, logistic management and telecommunications. Malaysian Minister of Higher Education, Mustapa Mohamed, said during the official hand-over ceremony last Friday that the offer would cement the current bilateral relations between the two countries and enhance education development of Namibia. Mohamed noted that the Malaysian-Namibian cooperation in Education stems from earlier discussions held between Prime Minister Badawi, President Hifikepunye Pohamba and Foreign Affairs Minister, Marco Hausiku. Other possible agreements for consideration include a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that entails possible coordination in vocational education, the exchange programme for Namibian teachers and lecturers to be attached in Malaysia for a certain period, as well as possible collaboration between Malaysian and Namibian institutions of higher learning. The MoU is still in its draft stage and, according to Mohamed, relevant officials from his country will communicate through the Malaysian High Commission in Namibia to ensure that this cooperation becomes a reality. “These scholarships will serve an important role of collaborating with Namibian universities as we already have Namibian students studying in Malaysia. We want to do more and explore other areas of education with Namibian institutions; for instance, we are open to embarking upon a research on marine study. Your country is rich in fish and other marine products,” Mohamed said. Last year, there were eight Namibians studying in Malaysia in different fields. Three of these graduated early this year. Vice-Chancellor of the Binary University College, Professor Joseph Adaikalam, said his institution saw the need to extend scholarships to help Namibian students to further their various programmes at his institution. Minister of Education, Nangolo Mbumba, expressed gratitude to his Malaysian counterpart, adding that Namibia and Malaysia should look at further possibilities of expanding relations as far as scholarships are involved. He urged those tasked with the role of advertising for scholarships at his ministry to ensure that they provide the public with all the relevant information that would result in deserving applicants getting the offers.