10/4/2012

Australian International Education Conference 2012

www.aiec.idp.com 1

Transnational Education and its

impact upon local development:

A case study of the UK-Malaysia

Relationship

Dr Christopher Hill

Director Graduate School

University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus

Historical Background

Historical Development

• 1950s drive was skills based

and vocational growth

• Growing country needed

development in this area

• Lack of government oversight

• 1960s and 70s were the

developmental decades

• why can’t we reduce the

south-north trend and

create south-south activity

and reduce brain drain?

Supply and Demand

• Demand far outweighed supply

• UM was Malaysia’s only

university until after the race

riots of 1969 when UKM, USM,

UPM etc were created

• Private and Public:

• To encourage regional

movement, government

allowed for private sector

development

• Public couldn’t meet demand

of numbers or direction

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The Development of Malaysian HE

Strategic Aims

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Government Aims and Objectives

(2008)

• In 2008 there were 8000 PhD holders in Malaysia

• Government set target of 100,000 by 2020

• Under MyBrain15 initiative Government reduced target to 60,000, due

to unrealistic expectations

• Government was sponsoring 3914 PhD students

• 39.4% were pursuing their studies locally

• 30/1% in Britain

• rest in countries such as Australia,

New Zealand and the USA

(figures quoted in STAR from government

press conference in Putrajaya 26/9/08)

Growth

• Varying reports on exact numbers but growth is underway:

• HE Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin stated that the

current number of PhD holders in Malaysia is 12,096 and the

enrolment for PhD studies is 16,947 (speech made 2/12/10)

• December 2010 Director General MOHE, Dr Radin Umar Radin

Sohadi stated that number of PhD holders had risen by 133% from the

2005 number of 6000 to the 2010 number of 14000 (data taken from

Bernama in speech made 5/12/10))

• Of this new number, 60% were in science fields

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Investment

• Malaysian Government allocated RM 2.7 billion (572 million

pounds) over the 10th Malaysia Plan period to promote post-

graduate studies

• MyMaster

• MyPhD

• Industrial PhDs

• 2010 – 2015 the Government is targeting:

• 40,000 MyMaster graduates

• 5000 MyPhD graduates

• 500 Industrial PhDs

2010 MOHE numbers

• 15,000 Malaysian students in

UK HEIs

• 45,000 Malaysian students

studying for UK degrees in

Malaysia (source British

Council)

• Aim to increase number of

international students to

200,000 by 2020 from 90,000 in

2011.

• Increase in numbers would

equal additional RM600 billion

(GBP 120 billion) to economy

(source: Education Minister Tan

Sri Muhyiddin Yassin)

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Australian International Education Conference 2012

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Changing Patterns of TNE

Malaysia as an ideal breeding

ground

Different Approaches to TNE

• Branch Campus – University of Nottingham

• Fly-in Teacher Programmes – Manchester and Warwick MBAs

• E-learning and fully online – University of Liverpool MBA and

RCN/City/Leicester/Ulster health

• Independent and locally supported distance learning – Heriot Watt and

Leicester MBAs

• Twinning and Franchising agreements – Sheffield Hallam University

• EduCity

• Newcastle, Southampton, Reading

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TNE Malaysia: Policies,

Regulations and Guidelines

TNE Partnerships

• Programmes (not partnerships) regulated by MOHE

and MQA through approval, provisional accreditation

and accreditation

• No provisions on the selection of TNE partners.

• QA duplication by home HEI and MQA, also by

professional body (e.g. JASB) and QAA UK.

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Regulating TNE

For Quality

• Balancing (1) control and institutional autonomy, (2) developmental against regulatory

• National QA system - sufficiently ready and has the capacity to QA TNE

• rigid, moderate and liberal

• compliance-based system - ticking of boxes

For National Needs

• Bringing in the ‘best’ –

relative ‘pile high, sell low

concept in HE’

• Meeting the varying

demands for HE

• Need for Science &

Technology – higher

operating cost/capital

• Commodification of

education

Realities of TNE development

in Malaysia

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How UK Partners have been selected

• Personal contacts

• Post-colonial legacy

• Premium on British

qualifications - historical

connections and local

counseling

• British Council has strong

presence

Knowledge of local system, processes,

regulations

• QA Agencies - MQA, QAA

• definitions and terms e.g. learning hours, semesters

• Variation in approach: ‘compliance’/‘just follow only’ in

contrast to ‘autonomy’, staff qualifications

• Curriculum: foreign as against local content

• Jurisdiction – QAA oversees quality of UK partner

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Management of TNE in Malaysia

Type of PHEI Tuition Fees set by

PHEI

Examinations set by

UK HEI

Allowing Curriculum

variation by

Malaysian PHEI

Tuition Provider 2.7 2.3 3.8

Joint/dual degree 3.8 2.2 3.6

Franchise

programme

3.3 2.3 3.0

Branch Campus 2.0 2.0 4.0

Average 3.0 2.2 3.6

Reality vs. Perception: The

legacy of foreign development

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�Perception of Quality

International vs. Local

• Local products viewed as

inferior to international ones

• Historically, international links

existed to enable issuance of

degrees, now it is to ‘promote

and ensure’ quality

• Issue of quality is very real as

local and certainly international

students will not buy local.

• Private sector UG degree is

RM 72,000 and local is RM

6000 (11 times more

expensive)

Future?

• SETARA rating of 5 stars

allows for self-accreditation of

programmes

• Prevents good centres from

self-accrediting in areas of

expertise when they do not

have full score in all areas.

• Government is working to gain

recognition for local

universities to be on par with

international ones

• Malaysia used as stepping

stone to test the bigger market

– China

Reality vs. Perception

Perception that quality/recognition is better for foreign

programmes rather than local

o Curriculum design

o Teaching strategies

o Assessment

o Staff qualification and experience

o Management

o Quality assurance

o Non-registration of some local tuition providers

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Student Views attending PHEIs

Type of PHEI I chose to do a

foreign

qualification

because I will earn

a higher salary

than with a local

qualification

I chose to study at

this PHEI because

the institution is

recognized

internationally

I chose to study at

this PHEI because

it is more

prestigious than a

Malaysian public

institution

I would prefer the

UK HEI to be

responsible for

the quality of the

programme

Tuition provider 3.0 2.9 2.6 3.3

Joint/Dual

degree

3.0 3.4 3.2 3.3

Franchise

programmes

2.7 2.9 2.9 3.0

Branch

Campus

2.5 3.7 3.2 3.5

Average 2.8 3.2 3.0 3.3

Response

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Greater Involvement or Control?

• Regulation of incoming partners and of programmes on offer

• Clearer structure of development

• Programmes delivered in line with national objectives?

Rankings

• No Malaysian university currently in Times Higher Education 400 Top

World University Ranking 2011/12

• Monash University – 117

• University of Southampton – 127

• University of Nottingham – 140

• Newcastle University – 146

• Malaysian SETARA Rankings: Curtin University of Technology,

Monash University Sunway College, Swinburne University of

Technology, University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus all ranked in

Tier 5 – Excellent Category – with Public Universities

• No institution was awarded Tier 6 Outstanding

10/4/2012

Australian International Education Conference 2012

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Future of Education in Malaysia

• Plans to become a tertiary educational hub for the region

• World leader in many fields

• Attract world class institutions, develop national institutions to world

class status and dramatically increase number of international

students

• Playing the number game in places

• Increase in quantity must be supported by increase in quality

• One of most prolific nations in TNE programmes.

• Why?

• Cost? Access? Opportunity? Security? Quality?

Conclusion

• Strong historical relationship between Malaysia and UK

• Increase in number of providers and development of mode of delivery

• Increased government interaction and drive

• Change in home structure creates opportunities for external

development

• Increase in competition, both from foreign and domestic providers

• Wealth of opportunity but much more closely regulated and governed

than in the past – a good thing