Educating Asia: English-Language Higher Ed Spurs East Asian Growth
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24 September, 2009. By David Caploe PhD, Chief Political Economist. In many ways, globalization is not just a cliché but an inaccurate term for the world in which we live today.[br]
24 September, 2009. By David Caploe PhD, Chief Political Economist. In many ways, globalization is not just a cliché but an inaccurate term for the world in which we live today.[br]
24 September, 2009. By David Caploe PhD, Chief Political Economist. In many ways, globalization is not just a cliché but an inaccurate term for the world in which we live today.[br]
There is, however, one large – and growing – area of economic activity in which the term really is accurate: what we call “consciousness industries” – be they in IT / all forms of media, both mass and niche / and, interestingly enough, education, especially higher education.
The predominance of English – in one variant or another – as the lingua franca of the global media society has made it the language of ALL global business, since, no matter what the specific sector, all components of the supply chain depend, to a greater or lesser extent, on information technology / communications media / and a highly-educated workforce.
This is true even in a world-wide recession such as the one we are experiencing now. Indeed, it is a truism that one of the few – relatively – recession-proof industries is education, especially higher education and, even more, education and training for adults.
[ Full Disclosure: I have been involved in adult education, in one form or another, since the mid-1990s, and am the Founder of a soon-to-launch PhD / MA Program in Critical Thinking, designed for working adults, called The Minerva School.]
It was therefore not surprising to me, but might be to others, to find this well-done article in the New York Times, describing the role of English-language higher education as a significant driver of economic growth in East Asia in general, specifically Singapore and Hong Kong, as well as, somewhat surprisingly, to an increasing extent, Malaysia.
First, the essential facts and figures:
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In 2007, more than 2.8 million students were enrolled in higher education institutions outside their country of origin, a 53 percent increase since 1999, according to a Unesco report released in July. While the United States, Britain and other Western countries continue to draw the most Asian students, the report also showed that Asian students were increasingly attending universities within their own regions. In East Asia and the Pacific, 42 percent of students who left home remained in their region in 2007 compared with 36 percent in 1999, according to the 2009 edition of Unesco’s Global Education Digest. Unesco officials attributed this in part to the growing local availability of higher education. Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong all want to attract thousands more international students. Malaysia wants 100,000 foreign school and university students by next year, compared with 71,000 enrolled in the current academic year. Singapore hopes to attract 150,000 by 2015, up from 97,000 in 2008. Hong Kong has not set specific targets, but it recently doubled its quota for non-local students in its public universities. All three are attempting to capitalize on the fact that they can offer a university education in English, and often for considerably less than more expensive Western nations can, but each has its own selling points. |
Let’s start with Singapore, my own home for the past two years and foreseeable future.
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The government, which hopes to increase education services’ share of the gross domestic product to 5 percent in 2015 from 3 percent in 2007, boasts that [its strategy] enables Asian students to get a degree from world-renowned universities without leaving Asia. Toh Wee Khiang, executive director for human capital at the Singapore Economic Development Board, said the government aims to attract, develop and retain talent. “The war for talent is at the heart of economic growth, and education plays an important part in creating and sustaining talent in Singapore,” he said, adding that another government agency was linking graduating students with Singaporean employers in key growth industries. |
Indeed, post-secondary education at all levels has been a major feature of Singapore’s national economic development strategy since its independence in 1965.
The experience of Hong Kong points out how intricately – despite the increasing importance of on-line delivery systems – education is tied to, interestingly enough, real estate.
|
Hong Kong might be [well] placed to cash in on international students, with three of its institutions ranked in the world’s top 50 universities in the Times Higher Education rankings for 2008. Still, in the 2008-09 academic year, Hong Kong enrolled only about 8,400 non-local students, up from about 3,700 in 2003; more than 90 percent of those came from mainland China. The Hong Kong government imposes a quota on non-local students in public universities, which it increased last year to 20 percent from 10 percent. It has also relaxed employment restrictions and now allows students to remain in Hong Kong for 12 months after graduation, which the government hopes will help enhance the quality of the workforce. In a statement, the Hong Kong Education Bureau said Hong Kong needs to “nurture and attract” talent to sustain its economic and social development. Cheng Kai-ming, professor of education at the University of Hong Kong, said that Hong Kong suffers from severe space constraints, limiting the abilities of schools to build or expand campuses. “There is always an argument within the government that land is precious and is one of the biggest sources of income for revenues,” he said. “Hence, unless higher education is given priority in allocating land, there is practically no space for developing any new institutions.” |
Which is hardly the case with Malaysia, as anyone who’s ever driven along that country’s outstandingly well-designed highway system can readily attest.
Indeed, one of the pleasures of visiting Malaysia from densely-populated Singapore is the luxuriant sense of wide-open spaces you experience almost immediately on crossing the Causeway.
Unfortunately, though, Malaysia has other problems that impact on its ability to develop its economy through higher education.
|
Although Malaysia’s schools are not well known internationally, the country has made progress toward meeting its goal of attracting 80,000 foreign university students and 20,000 secondary and primary school pupils by next year. Most of the 71,000 foreign students now enrolled are in private institutions, because of a 5 percent cap on foreign undergraduates in public universities. Since Malaysia liberalized its education sector in the 1990s, allowing the establishment of more private institutions, the number of providers has expanded to 20 public universities, 36 private universities and 5 foreign branch campuses. |
So then what’s the problem for Malaysia ??? Its old bugaboo of ethnic preferences in all public institutions, not just education.
The article cites Morshidi Sirat, director of the National Higher Education Research Institute at the Universiti Sains Malaysia, as noting that “thanks to the removal in 2004 of a quota system that had favored ethnic Malays and indigenous groups … more Malaysians of Chinese and Indian ethnicity can enroll in public universities,” which is a very positive development for inter-communal relations in that country.
But it’s had an unexpected economic effect: “local enrollments have declined slightly at private institutions. [Consequently,] private schools have been trying to attract more foreigners to take their place.”
Even so, space-rich Malaysia can still offer much cheaper prices for its English-language higher education than either land-poor Singapore or Hong Kong.
But, as always, suppliers that want to depend on price alone have to be wary of potential competitors, in this case Thailand and Vietnam, although their own relatively low levels of English-language capability make them a more long-term, rather than immediate, threat to Malaysia.
So where does that leave traditional spots for Asians seeking English-language higher education?
|
Of the more established providers, Australia, which counts education as its third-largest export after iron ore and coal, may have more cause for concern than others. Its reputation as a safe destination offering high quality education took a battering this year after what many have dubbed “racist attacks” on Indian students in Melbourne and Sydney. But Chris Nyland, a professor of international business at Monash University in Melbourne, said an increase in the countries pushing for foreign students did not necessarily mean Australia’s share of the market would decline. “There are more suppliers coming into the industry,” he said, “but there are more and more people in China and India who can afford higher education.” |
And that, of course, is the real point: the exponentially-increasing numbers of Chinese and Indians who want – and can pay for – quality English-language higher education.
David Caploe PhD
Chief Political Economist, EconomyWatch.com
President, Minerva School / ACALAHA
[ Full Disclosure: I have been involved in adult education, in one form or another, since the mid-1990s, and am the Founder of a soon-to-launch PhD / MA Program in Critical Thinking, designed for working adults, called The Minerva School.]
It was therefore not surprising to me, but might be to others, to find this well-done article in the New York Times, describing the role of English-language higher education as a significant driver of economic growth in East Asia in general, specifically Singapore and Hong Kong, as well as, somewhat surprisingly, to an increasing extent, Malaysia.
First, the essential facts and figures:
|
In 2007, more than 2.8 million students were enrolled in higher education institutions outside their country of origin, a 53 percent increase since 1999, according to a Unesco report released in July. While the United States, Britain and other Western countries continue to draw the most Asian students, the report also showed that Asian students were increasingly attending universities within their own regions. In East Asia and the Pacific, 42 percent of students who left home remained in their region in 2007 compared with 36 percent in 1999, according to the 2009 edition of Unesco’s Global Education Digest. Unesco officials attributed this in part to the growing local availability of higher education. Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong all want to attract thousands more international students. Malaysia wants 100,000 foreign school and university students by next year, compared with 71,000 enrolled in the current academic year. Singapore hopes to attract 150,000 by 2015, up from 97,000 in 2008. Hong Kong has not set specific targets, but it recently doubled its quota for non-local students in its public universities. All three are attempting to capitalize on the fact that they can offer a university education in English, and often for considerably less than more expensive Western nations can, but each has its own selling points. |
Let’s start with Singapore, my own home for the past two years and foreseeable future.
|
The government, which hopes to increase education services’ share of the gross domestic product to 5 percent in 2015 from 3 percent in 2007, boasts that [its strategy] enables Asian students to get a degree from world-renowned universities without leaving Asia. Toh Wee Khiang, executive director for human capital at the Singapore Economic Development Board, said the government aims to attract, develop and retain talent. “The war for talent is at the heart of economic growth, and education plays an important part in creating and sustaining talent in Singapore,” he said, adding that another government agency was linking graduating students with Singaporean employers in key growth industries. |
Indeed, post-secondary education at all levels has been a major feature of Singapore’s national economic development strategy since its independence in 1965.
The experience of Hong Kong points out how intricately – despite the increasing importance of on-line delivery systems – education is tied to, interestingly enough, real estate.
|
Hong Kong might be [well] placed to cash in on international students, with three of its institutions ranked in the world’s top 50 universities in the Times Higher Education rankings for 2008. Still, in the 2008-09 academic year, Hong Kong enrolled only about 8,400 non-local students, up from about 3,700 in 2003; more than 90 percent of those came from mainland China. The Hong Kong government imposes a quota on non-local students in public universities, which it increased last year to 20 percent from 10 percent. It has also relaxed employment restrictions and now allows students to remain in Hong Kong for 12 months after graduation, which the government hopes will help enhance the quality of the workforce. In a statement, the Hong Kong Education Bureau said Hong Kong needs to “nurture and attract” talent to sustain its economic and social development. Cheng Kai-ming, professor of education at the University of Hong Kong, said that Hong Kong suffers from severe space constraints, limiting the abilities of schools to build or expand campuses. “There is always an argument within the government that land is precious and is one of the biggest sources of income for revenues,” he said. “Hence, unless higher education is given priority in allocating land, there is practically no space for developing any new institutions.” |
Which is hardly the case with Malaysia, as anyone who’s ever driven along that country’s outstandingly well-designed highway system can readily attest.
Indeed, one of the pleasures of visiting Malaysia from densely-populated Singapore is the luxuriant sense of wide-open spaces you experience almost immediately on crossing the Causeway.
Unfortunately, though, Malaysia has other problems that impact on its ability to develop its economy through higher education.
|
Although Malaysia’s schools are not well known internationally, the country has made progress toward meeting its goal of attracting 80,000 foreign university students and 20,000 secondary and primary school pupils by next year. Most of the 71,000 foreign students now enrolled are in private institutions, because of a 5 percent cap on foreign undergraduates in public universities. Since Malaysia liberalized its education sector in the 1990s, allowing the establishment of more private institutions, the number of providers has expanded to 20 public universities, 36 private universities and 5 foreign branch campuses. |
So then what’s the problem for Malaysia ??? Its old bugaboo of ethnic preferences in all public institutions, not just education.
The article cites Morshidi Sirat, director of the National Higher Education Research Institute at the Universiti Sains Malaysia, as noting that “thanks to the removal in 2004 of a quota system that had favored ethnic Malays and indigenous groups … more Malaysians of Chinese and Indian ethnicity can enroll in public universities,” which is a very positive development for inter-communal relations in that country.
But it’s had an unexpected economic effect: “local enrollments have declined slightly at private institutions. [Consequently,] private schools have been trying to attract more foreigners to take their place.”
Even so, space-rich Malaysia can still offer much cheaper prices for its English-language higher education than either land-poor Singapore or Hong Kong.
But, as always, suppliers that want to depend on price alone have to be wary of potential competitors, in this case Thailand and Vietnam, although their own relatively low levels of English-language capability make them a more long-term, rather than immediate, threat to Malaysia.
So where does that leave traditional spots for Asians seeking English-language higher education?
|
Of the more established providers, Australia, which counts education as its third-largest export after iron ore and coal, may have more cause for concern than others. Its reputation as a safe destination offering high quality education took a battering this year after what many have dubbed “racist attacks” on Indian students in Melbourne and Sydney. But Chris Nyland, a professor of international business at Monash University in Melbourne, said an increase in the countries pushing for foreign students did not necessarily mean Australia’s share of the market would decline. “There are more suppliers coming into the industry,” he said, “but there are more and more people in China and India who can afford higher education.” |
And that, of course, is the real point: the exponentially-increasing numbers of Chinese and Indians who want – and can pay for – quality English-language higher education.
David Caploe PhD
Chief Political Economist, EconomyWatch.com
President, Minerva School / ACALAHA
