Borderless Higher Education: Challenges Ahead

The case of Malaysia

REGIONAL HIGHER EDUCATION CONFERENCE

3rd - 5th December 2007Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre,

Malaysia.

1. On the eve of a new century, there is an unprecedented demand for and a great diversification in higher education, as well as an increased awareness of its vital importance for socio-cultural and economic development

UNESCO, ‘World Declaration on Higher Education’ (9 October

1998), Preamble.

2. The growth in internationally-traded education services is likely to have a profound impact on the higher education system of some countries and the economics of education.

WTO Secretariat for the Council for Trade in Services, S/C/W/49 (1998), para. 34.

J Knight - Intl Educator March/April 2006

The total number of worldwide tertiary enrolments is 40% higher

than seven years ago.

We have passed the 100 million in 2004 and are now rushing towards the 125 million students by 2020.

UNESCO says there were 2.5 million students studying in a country other than their own in 2004.

Global demand for international higher education is set to exceed 7 million students by 2025

This represents over four times the global demand in 2000 .

(Böhm, Anthony (2003) Global Student Mobility 2025: Analysis of Global Competition and Market

Share, IDP Education Pty Ltd).

Global HE Market

Who will be the learners?

Most learners will be people for whom HE was previously an unattainable aspiration.

They see HE as passport to improve their livelihoods.

The second group will be the Life Long Learners.

Global HE Providers

• The Major Players: the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia;

• The Middle Powers: Germany and France;

• The Evolving Destinations: Japan, Canada and New Zealand; and

• The Emerging Contenders: Malaysia, Singapore and China.

Veronica Lasanowski, Line Verbik, Observatory on Borderless Higher Education, September 2007.

Malaysia as a HE destination

Malaysia in 2006 enrolled approximately 44,390 international students ~ 2.5% of global market from over 110 countries

Source Countries with Over 1,300 students

Source: MOHEIPTA – Public UniversitiesIPTS – Private Universities Jum - TOTAL

Malaysian Students Studying Overseas

Attractiveness of Malaysia

• Malaysia is planning to enroll 100,000 students by 2010 • ,

– Well regulated HE system– well-priced tuition fees– low living costs.– quality education– pluralist culture and cultural similarities– geographic location and attractive tourist

destinations– multilingual provision esp. for non-english

speaking students– Politically stable– Personal safety– Good infrastructure and student support

GATS and Malaysia as a Higher Education Cross Border provider

• Mode 1 - Cross-border supply focuses on the service crossing the border, which does not require the consumer or the service provider to physically move. Examples in higher education include distance education (OUM) and e learning (AeU)

• Mode 2 - Consumption Abroad refers to the consumer moving to the country of the supplier which in education means students taking all or part of their education in another country.(~54,000)

• Mode 3 - Commercial Presence involves a service provider establishing a commercial facility in another country to provide a service. Examples in higher education include branch campuses or franchising arrangements.(INTI, MMU, Limkokweng etc)

• Mode 4 - Presence of Natural Persons means people traveling to another country on a temporary basis to provide a service, which in education would include professors or researchers.

Types of Cross Border provisions in/by Malaysia

• Branch campuses – Well renown universities are invited to open branch campus

• Corporate universities - established by large corporations that organise their own institutions or study programmes and which are not part of a national education system.

• Distance learning institutions – learning where learners and teachers are separated, and the institution may or may not be located within the originator country’s education system.

• Franchising – where a whole course/programme from an institution in one country is licensed and delivered entirely by staff in an overseas institution..

Types of Cross Border provisions in/by Malaysia

• Programme articulations – inter-institutional arrangements, whereby 2 or more institutions define a joint study programme in terms of study credits and credit transfers (e.g., twinning).

• Validation – institutions in one country awarding their degrees for a course designed entirely by a partner institution..

• Virtual universities - institutions whose only contact with students is by remote means

Recent Steps Taken At National level• National Framework for high quality HE

– HE Strategic and Action Plans, – Clear policies on becoming HE hub– MQA, MQF, etc– Increasing to 5% of foreign students for UG– Strengthening HEIs– Improvements in the MOHE delivery systems– Establishment of foreign University Branch

campus

• Education Promotion Centers (Dubai, Beijing, Jakarta, Ho Chi Minh)

• Streamlining Immigration and visa requirements (I kad)

• Permitted to work 20 hrs/week • Establishing Asia e University as a collaborative

Asia wide venture

OBHE September 2007

1. A key challenge is to bridge the gap between age participation rates (APRs) in HE of less than 30% to 60% matching developed nations.

2. Opening up access to almost 2 million new students (including foreign students) over the next 3 years requires radical cuts in the cost of higher education.

3. Making Malaysian HE accessible, affordable, appropriate, accredited and accepted.

4. Developing more Public-Private partnerships such as, Open university Malaysia, Asia e university in order to meet the 5As.

5. A regulatory and quality assurance regime that is transparent and clear about responsibilities for quality assurance.

Challenges to Malaysia

6. Controlling ‘Borderless’ institutions access to students without the knowledge and control of national bodies

7. The impact of closer regional integration (such as the European Union) and its effect on transnational provision and international collaboration

8. Measures to address fraudulent institutions9. Clear ‘rules of engagement’ for all providers10. Competition from other emerging providers

such as Singapore and China.

1. Governmental Policies2. National Interests 3. Institutional Policies

Challenges to the Malaysian Institutions

Standardisation in Pedagogy

Recognition & Accreditation

Languageissues

Assessment & Evaluation

Appropriate use of blended pedagogyeg e-Learning

Infrastructure – eg technologyCross-cultural Differences

Cost – to provider and user

Challenges to the Malaysian Institutions

Accessibility

Skill Sets

Intellectual Property

Challenges to the Malaysian Institutions

Thank you for your kind attention

president@aeu.edu.my

ansary@aeu.edu.my

www.aeu.edu.my