Malaysia’s international education sector has grown considerably during the past decade, driven on by its fast developing economy and relatively high quality, low cost education. The country welcomed 86,000 international students in 2010 to its universities, colleges and language schools.
It has also pioneered “twinning” (bringing foreign education onto home soil), with a growing number foreign universities setting up branch campuses or teaming with Malaysian institutions to deliver franchised degree programmes.
With such growth under its belt, it has naturally set it sights higher, aiming to become an international centre of higher educational excellence by 2020. Achieving this would mean being able to deliver higher education on a par with international standards and increasing international student numbers to 200,000 – no mean feat given the development challenges its HE system still must overcome and the growing competition it faces from other study destinations.
Can Malaysia meet these goals? The yay-sayers believe the country’s attributes could make an increasingly easy sell in the coming decade. The most powerful of these is its location – in the midst of South East Asia, the world’s biggest international student market, and in the orbit of fast-rising markets of the Middle East and Central Asia.
The breakdown of international students it attracted in tertiary education in 2010 reflects this, with more than 25,000 coming from the Middle East, 13,000 from African countries, around 10,000 students from China and Indonesia each, and 6,000 from Bangladesh, India and Pakistan.
With its five foreign branch campuses (their number is set to grow) and improving homegrown universities, Malaysia could offer international students quality on their doorstep for far less than found in Europe, Australia or North America.
This is both in terms of fees, with courses ranging from M15,000 to 20,000 ringit per year ($4,700 – $6,300), and living costs, which the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) estimates at M12,000 to RM17,000 ($3,430 – $4,860) per year.
Professor Ian Pashby, CEO and Provost of The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus (UNMC) says that the campus attracts international students who would not have had the opportunity to study in the UK. “Programmes offered at UNMC, although identical to the ones offered in the UK, cost approximately 30 per cent less in tuition fees. This is… whilst enjoying the lower living costs in Malaysia as compared to the UK.”
“Programmes offered at UNMC, although identical to the ones offered in the UK, cost approximately 30 percent less”
The widespread availability of English-medium education in Malaysia is another reason not to go West. Reflecting this, the country’s English language school market is growing and becoming more competitive.
“Many international students come to Malaysia with minimal English proficiency and therefore need to brush up on the language to gain entrance to universities,” says Sean Chee, director of ELS Malaysia which now runs its Certified Intensive English pathway programme (recognised by 25 Malaysian universities) in five locations across the country.
“International pathways have always been a driving force of the education market for students seeking to use Malaysia as a stepping stone to other destinations.” [more>>]
In addition to these fundamentals, Malaysia boasts low crime rates, first-world standard health and infrastructure, and the cachet of being a melting pot of three Asian cultures. It also has the advantage of over its closest competitors, Thailand and Singapore, of being a predominantly Islamic country, which explains its large appeal in the Middle East.
But while this all spells clear potential, lingering obstacles could scupper Malaysia’s plans. Despite its lofty goals, recruitment growth isn’t moving as fast as expected. The MOHE says the country is not likely to reach an initial target of 150,000 students by 2015 and is hoping more realistically for 100,000.
This may owe to several factors. First, Malaysia faces considerable competition from near neighbour Singapore – a smaller but richer country with more quality universities. China is also rising quickly while Australia, which also orbits Asia, remains a market leader.
To change this Malaysia needs to raise its reputation for quality of its higher education. “We aspire to become an education hub in the region, but to do that we have to work on our fundamentals,” says Mira Aisa, special officer to the director general at MOHE. “People choose the UK and US because their universities have built up their reputations, research over many years. We have some way to catch up in that respect.”
While a number of Malaysian universities are said to compete on a par with the country’s branch campuses, none make the Time Higher Education’s top 200 list. This compares poorly with three such universities on the Chinese mainland, three in South Korea, two in Singapore and one in Taiwan.
The idea of a new cultural embassy akin to the British Council is being floated
Despite the obstacles, those involved in Malaysian international education remain hopeful that the country will realise its ambitions in time. The MOHE is working to develop Malaysia’s academics to bring up the quality of universities while marketing abroad continues apace, with the idea of a new cultural embassy akin to the British Council being floated.
Foreign interest is also growing, with Newcastle University opening a medical campus last month and Herriott Watt set to open a site in the next few years. A ranking system that benchmarks branch campuses against domestic universities will also help sell homegrown universities abroad in time.
“Malaysia has a great potential to grow and explore in higher education,” says Pashby. “The country is a new emerging economy and there is current a strong global focus on Asia. Malaysia is also benefiting from the global attention.”
