Friday 29 Mar 2024
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This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on February 7, 2017.

 

It is well known that Malaysians value an overseas education. Chances are, you would have a family member or know of someone who has studied abroad, especially in English-speaking countries like the UK, Australia or the US.

This is no surprise considering that Malaysia is always in the top five sending countries for the UK according to figures from the UK Higher Education Statistics Agency — recently published figures showed a total of 17,405 Malaysian students enrolled in the UK in the 2015/16 academic year, moving two notches up from No 4 to No 2 on the list of the top sending countries to the UK.   

Official figures extracted from the Australian Department of Education and Training website listed 14,531 students enrolled in higher education as of September 2016, making Malaysia the No 3 country on the list.

At the last count, there are over 30 UK universities with a regional office presence in Malaysia covering the Asean region. Add the 10-plus Australian universities with offices here, the growing number of US institutions setting up recruitment points, and the few Irish ones that have been making inroads via local representation in recent years,  the field is extremely crowded and competitive.

Despite this, there are still foreign institutions eager to join the fray.

“We see an increasing number of UK universities expressing interest to come and set up a recruitment base for Southeast Asia here in Malaysia. Up till about five years ago, there were fewer than 20 UK universities with a base in the region, but the number totals more than 30 now”, says Jessie Teo, director of the Southeast Asia office of the University of Sheffield, one of the first few UK institutions to set up a base in Malaysia over 15 years ago.

 

Challenges in 2017

This year will be an interesting one to watch to see how the university offices position themselves in relation to each other, particularly in the light of global developments — for instance, the UK has Brexit, the US a new president and Australia a tepid economy.  

In the UK, international student numbers are classed under the overall migration figures, an area the current UK government is keen to reduce. Tougher student visa policies and restrictions are being mulled as part of the government’s plans to reduce net migration figures. The negativity surrounding this news is not good at all for UK universities and they must ensure that they continue to be seen as welcoming to international students.

Brexit also means UK universities will be fighting to keep their share of European Union students, who currently enjoy attractive “home” fees but are likely to have to pay full fees after Brexit.

These developments in the UK have seen UK universities embarking on a strategic push in a bid to maintain, or even improve, their international student numbers. For starters, there is a higher demand for staff with good international recruitment experience and track records, and more universities are firming up plans for a regional presence.

In the US, Donald Trump became president on Jan 20 and his stand on illegal immigrants and extreme vetting of visa applicants has made the higher education sector very nervous. Universities there are striving to ensure that the US remains a destination of choice for higher education.

Even before Trump, US institutions were already gearing themselves up to recruit more international students. Now, they will probably double such efforts. An increasing number of universities are signing up private pathway providers to develop programmes targeting international students, and also to extend their recruitment footprint via these providers.

Under these arrangements, pathway providers will run a foundation or first-year programme conducted within the university’s campus, with guaranteed progression to first or second year of the university’s degree programme. Additional student support and language classes are available alongside these programmes to ensure a smoother transition to the university’s programmes.

The Australia economy is projected to be tepid this year and public universities there are bracing themselves for further cutbacks in funding in 2017 and 2018. This will create challenges on the research front, and in relation to investments in learning and teaching at the tertiary level.

Australian universities will now have to work doubly hard to attract more students so as to mitigate the impact of the impending funding cuts. They have been more active in engaging recruitment agents, and it is foreseen that they will increase their budget for marketing and recruitment.

More likely than not, this will be a year of significantly increased competition among the incumbents to enhance/increase their market share against a negative backdrop of unwelcome news,  with arrivistes squeezing in to exploit any gaps that they can find in their quest to recruit students from Malaysia and Southeast Asia. The battle is starting to get a lot more complex and costly for overseas universities and their offices here.  

“The challenges for universities keen to establish a presence in this part of the world are really about being flexible in approach and being able to adapt quickly to the intense competition. Adjust your tactics dynamically and always look for areas you can build a niche in. Always remember that the students here have a smorgasbord of choices and a lot of outreach activities have to be done to build your brand profile,” says Teo.

 

Little effect on numbers

In spite of developments on the global front, overseas education numbers are not expected to take a significant dip in the short and medium terms. While education is a need, it could be argued that an overseas education, apart from being viewed as an investment, is a luxury. And Economics 101 tells us luxury items tend to be price inelastic.

I have met parents worried about the gloomy economic outlook and weakening ringgit, but still determined to send their children abroad. At a recent education fair, one told me she was planning to send her daughter to the UK later this year after her A-levels. “With the weakening ringgit, I’ll just have to tighten my belt to save up for her studies there. I’ve told her she will probably have to look for part-time work to supplement her living expenses. I’ll do whatever it takes to ensure she gets a high-quality overseas education!”

We can expect to see students from Malaysia and the region continue the trend of heading overseas for studies. To best benefit from this, institutions yet to have a base locally should, therefore, start developing their brand and presence with a clear international strategy while those already here must look at ways to build on what they have already achieved.


Richard Teng ([email protected]) is a higher education business development consultant who has worked for both private and public institutions of higher learning in Malaysia, Singapore and the UK. He is a firm believer in this quote from Nelson Mandela: “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

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