TRADE IN EDUCATION SERVICES IN SOUTHEAST ASIA OPPORTUNIES

TRADE IN EDUCATION SERVICES IN SOUTHEAST ASIA OPPORTUNIES AND CHALLENGES

WTO GATS TES Trade in Education Services

EDUCATION One of the least committed sectors Less than one-third of the 147 WTO’s members states have made commitments Most WTO members have put more limitations on trade in primary and secondary education than higher and adult education

MODES OF SUPPLY • Cross-border-supply • Consumption abroad / Movement of consumers • Commercial presence • Presence of natural persons / Movement of service providers

CATEGORIES OF EDUCATION SERVICES • • • Primary Education Secondary Education Higher Education Adult Education Other Education

• TES is already a major business in some countries. The largest share of international TES takes the form of students traveling to study abroad. • Since 1995, the importance of TES has grown dramatically. • There has been an explosive growth in international TES, covering all modes of supply including cross-border e-learning activities and the establishment of campuses and teaching facilities abroad.

SOUTHEAST ASIA REGION -? population 540 million

POPULATION • • • Brunei Cambodia Indonesia Lao PDR Malaysia Myanmar Philippines Singapore Thailand Vietnam 343, 653 12, 491, 501 228, 437, 870 5, 635, 967 22, 229, 040 41, 994, 678 82, 841, 518 4, 300, 419 61, 797, 751 79, 939, 014

WTO Members Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Myanmar, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand Observers Cambodia, Lao PDR, Vietnam

General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) Member Thailand (Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Lao PDR, and Vietnam)

Even though most of SEA countries have not made any committments to GATS, since the governments are free to liberalize unilaterally without committed to the GATS there has been a growing international TES in SEA. Singapore and Malaysia are major importers of transnational education.

TES in SEA • Consumption Abroad (Australia, Canada, USA, Europe, New Zealand, Asia, etc) • Presence of commercial ( establishment of local branch, satellite campuses, representative offices, twinning partnerships, franchising arrangements) • Movement of natural persons (professors, teachers, researchers, principals traveling to SEA to provide service) • Cross Border Supply (distance education, elearning, virtual universities, education software)

SINGAPORE • Two types of transnational education : external DE and foreign university branch campuses. • Enrollment grows from 13, 900 students (1997) to 25, 400 (1999). • In 1998 55 % enrolled in degrees courses awarded by British institutions and 40 % by Australian institutions( UKOU, Univ. of London, RMIT, Monash Univ. , Curtin Univ. ) • Cross-border DE programs and online courses that do not have a local presence do not require approval. • Bilateral agreements were made with countries providers.

MALAYSIA • In mid 1990 s 7, 2 % university student age were enrolled in local university. Majority of the rest went abroad. • Many colleges offering 1+2 , 2+1 or 3+0 twinning programs with foreign universities. • New private universities and branch campuses of foreign university may only be established following an invitation from MOE. • Invited foreign universities must establish a Malaysian company with majority Malaysian ownership to operate the campus. • National language, Malaysian studies, moral and Islamic studies are compulsory subjects for those universities.

MALAYSIA Twinning Programs : • KL Infrastructure Univ. College – New Zealand Institute of Highway Technology and China University of Geosciences (Beijing). • Inti College offers 2+1 program in collaboration with Univ. of Leeds, Univ. of Northumbria and Univ. of West England; and 1+2 program with Univ. of Hull and Univ. of Cardiff. • Nilai International College with Univ. of Northumbria, Univ. of Central Lancashire and La Trobe University. • Taylor’s College with Univ. of Sheffield, UK.

MALAYSIA • Bellerbys College-Queens Campus, UK, sent its Senior Principal to do interview sessions. • University of Nottingham, Malaysia Campus welcomed its first students in 2000. • Trinity College provides foundation studies as pathway to the Univ. of Melbourne. • Univ. of Leichester, Malaysia, offoring Ed. D and MSc.

THAILAND Twinning programs • Kasetsart University – Victoria University (Melbourne); • King Mongkut’s Univ. of Technology – Univ. of Regina (Canada) and Univ. Missouri (Columbia, USA). A free promotional seminars were held in Bangkok by Hotel Institute Montreux, Switzerland Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (26 and 28 August 2004). Interview session were done in Bangkok by University of New South Wales and University of San Francisco.

INDONESIA Twinning programmes • University of Indonesia - Queensland University of Technology, Monash University, The University of Queensland The University of Melbourne, Australia. • Trisakti School of Management - One Learning Place, Singapore. • Institute of Technology Bandung (ITB) University of Al-Azhar.

178 INTERNATIONAL SCHOOLS • • • Brunei Darussalam Cambodia Lao PDR Indonesia Malaysia Myanmar Philippines • Singapore • Thailand • Vietnam - 5 5 1 45 24 4 18 21 47 8

OPPORTUNITIES • Quality and Equity in education are top priorities • Great demand – globalization • Big, diverse and growing market • Potential partners • The increasing use of ICTs for domestic and cross border delivery of programs

CHALLENGES • Education is treated purely as a commercial and tradable commodity. Trade will overshadow and dominate international academic relations of countries. • Recognition of degrees and qualifications, and transfer of credits. • Restrictions on commercial presence or investment, use of internet or educational materials. • Quality assurance and accreditation – malpractice. • Visa requirements, employment rules. • Limited budget or lack of political will to allocate funds. • Competition between public and private providers. • Homogenization of culture – potential threats to cultural values and national traditions.

TES will almost certainly continue to grow in SEA as governments and societies put more premium on human capital enhancement as a source of development as a means of better equiping individuals and societies to confront, adjust to and take advantage of the demands arising from closer economic integration.

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