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Education goldrush in Singapore and Malaysia
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Intra-Asian study is a trend that has been capitalised on by Singapore and Malaysia, both of which are positioning themselves as regional hubs for high quality higher education. Jane Vernon Smith reports.
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Higher education institutions in Singapore and Malaysia have been enjoying spectacular success of late in attracting overseas students onto their degree programmes. While some students attend for just one or two years of their degree programme, others attend for the entirety of their course, and, according to local institutions in both countries, lower costs are a major influencing factor, alongside high academic standards.
Tuition fees in Malaysia stand at around 50 per cent less than in the UK, notes Govindan Nair of the University of Nottingham’s Malaysia campus. Meanwhile, as Melisa Khew of the International College of Music (ICOM) in Kuala Lumpur points out, the cost of living is also low by comparison with many other countries. Hence, ICOM’s transfer programme, in association with Berklee College in Boston, USA, offers “the opportunity to study at a world-renowned contemporary music college at a fraction of the cost”, with participants studying for two years at ICOM before receiving a full credit transfer to Berklee College for the final two years of their course.
Singapore offers a similar chance for students to obtain an internationally recognised education at a much lower cost, according to Mark Chua, Manager for Marketing and University Collaborations at East Asia Institute of Management (EASB) in Singapore. With its central location, excellent facilities and a bilingual system of education, it provides a range of additional advantages for international students, and, as a result, is frequently used as a bridge to begin a degree that will be completed in another country. For others, meanwhile, Singapore is chosen for a full-term degree and may be considered to offer a better environment in which to find employment opportunities upon completion. Chua says this is a compelling factor for the recent “huge influx” of students from developing countries, such as China, India and Vietnam.
According to the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), in 2008 the country hosted 97,000 students from 120 different nationalities, up from 61,000 in 2003. China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Myanmar represent the top five source countries. Meanwhile, Nair cites approximately 70,000 international students from more than 150 countries currently studying in Malaysia.
While agents play a major role in recruitment, both countries are active in promoting themselves as a study destination. The Malaysian government’s Malaysian Education Promotional Unit (MEPC) organises frequent overseas exhibitions for potential students, and the STB also works closely with Singapore education institutions and education agents through a range of platforms, including roadshows, education fairs, PR and advertising.
The institutions themselves have also been proactive in promoting themselves directly, with tangible results. As a newcomer to the market, the University of Nottingham – a UK institution that opened its Malaysia campus in September 2000 – reports that growth came slowly at first, but has since grown “by leaps and bounds”, following relocation to its present 125-acre campus south of Kuala Lumpur city centre in 2005. “The university aims to grow to 6,000 students by the year 2012 and, by 2015, to be 10,000 students strong. Of these figures, 40 per cent…are international students,” notes Nair.
To meet its aim of becoming the regional centre for both teaching and research in higher education, the university acknowledges its dependence on the international market. The majority of its international students come from countries in South Asia and Africa, where English is the language used in formal education. However, it expects to see an increase in numbers from the Middle East and Central Asia once English professional programmes are introduced on campus. With its three campuses in the UK, China and Malaysia, the University of Nottingham is strongly committed to the concept of transnational education, and part of its strategy is to promote studying part of a degree programme in each of the three campuses.
For ICOM, meanwhile, growth in international student numbers is currently around 10 per cent per year, and the aim is to increase this to 20 per cent per year. In order to support such development, the university has plans to establish an International Student Affairs Office by the end of 2009 to look after the interests of international students, including, at this music college, a brief to “look into how to infuse their culture and music into the mainstream of the college body,” Khew reports.
Student services are also an important part of the efforts of Singapore’s PSB Academy to develop its international student population. Here, one initiative has been to create sports and cultural clubs and counselling services covering academic, career and personal matters, as well as investing further in orientations, student exchanges, job posting and internship programmes. PSB’s international student numbers have increased year-on-year by as much as 30-to-50 per cent from certain countries in the region, according to Vice President, Steve Lee. China, Indonesia, Myanmar, India and Vietnam represent the major source countries here, while preferred programmes include engineering, tourism, management and marketing, he notes.
At EASB, the emphasis is on providing a holistic approach to education – including an industry-relevant curriculum that incorporates additional features such as personal grooming, social etiquette, time management and team-building sessions – with relevance to both local and overseas students. International students currently represent 80 per cent of the institute’s total roll of 4,000, but with a strategy of growing its overall student numbers to 10,000 by 2012, international student numbers are projected to rise to between 6,000-to-7,000, Chua reveals. With China, India, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Myanmar currently its primary source countries, the institute will be looking to continue to build bridges and inroads into these markets, as well as looking to other countries, including South Korea, South Africa, Nigeria and Russia for expansion.
In terms of programmes, in Malaysia, Nair reports that business and engineering attract great interest, because of the country’s location at the heart of the region’s developing nations. The profile in Singapore is similar, with Lee noting that engineering, tourism, management and marketing are among the top programmes enrolled in by its international students. At EASB, comments Chua, “We are regarded highly amongst international students for our Hospitality & Tourism Management degree and related courses, with more than 40 per cent of our students in [this] programme.” The programme is highly attractive, he adds, due to its six months’ paid internship in 4-star to 6-star hotels. Other programmes in which it is experiencing a rising trend are business-related or Event Management, Casino Management, Art & Design, Health Sciences and Logistics, while there is also “huge demand” for MBA and specialised MBA education, he notes.
The optimism of educators in both countries is tangible, as they work towards their goals.
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