Higher Education in South-East Asia
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Higher Education in South-East Asia i Higher Education in South-East Asia. Asia-Pacific Programme of Educational Innovation for Development, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Bangkok: UNESCO Bangkok, 2006. viii + 254 p. 1. Higher education 2. Higher education reforms 3. Higher education institutions 4. Access to higher education 5. Public higher education 6. Private higher education 7. South-East Asia ISBN 92-9223-084-0 ©UNESCO 2006 Published by the UNESCO Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education 920 Sukhumvit Road, Prakanong Bangkok 10110, Thailand Printed in Thailand The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout the pub- lication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNESCO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning its frontiers or boundaries. ii PREFACE South-East Asian countries share many commonalities, yet their political, cultural, socio-economic and environmental conditions are also rich in diversity. Likewise, higher education in the region stems from different historical backgrounds and has undergone various kinds of challenges and various stages of development. The rapid expansion of student enrolment, the knowledge explosion, advances in information and communication technology, globalization, economic restructuring, and financial constraints have all contributed to higher education reforms in these countries and resulted in varied outcomes. Based on a sense of “unity in diversity,” many higher education policy makers and practitioners in the region believe that their higher education systems can benefit from closer cooperation and exchange of lessons learned. To facilitate and enhance this process of sharing and learning, UNESCO Bangkok and SEAMEO RIHED carried out a joint research study and seminar on “A Situational Analysis of Higher Education Reforms in South-East Asian Countries” in 2005. This collaboration reflects UNESCO Bangkok’s commitment to support educational development in the region, and SEAMEO RIHED’s dedication to foster higher education cooperation and development among South-East Asian countries. The research used case studies from eight countries (Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam) to provide an in-depth analysis of their higher education systems. The respective national researchers addressed several issues, including higher education reform, access and diversification; governance and management of higher education institutions; faculty and academic programmes; research capacities; private higher education; the internationalization of higher education; accreditation and quality assurance; and challenges for the future. These case studies were presented to policy makers, university administrators and faculty members at the seminar held in July 2005. Based on the discussion, feed- back and recommendations from participants, the case studies were revised and are now available in this publication. iii It is a pleasure for UNESCO Bangkok and SEAMEO RIHED to present and share these findings with you. We would also like to express our gratitude to the organizers, authors, participants and other collaborators for their hard work in producing this book, which we hope will be used by many others in their efforts to develop and improve higher education systems in this region and beyond. Sheldon Shaeffer Supachai Yavaprabhas Director Director UNESCO Bangkok SEAMEO Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau Regional Centre for Higher for Education Education and Development iv CONTENTS page 1. Higher Education in South-East Asia: An Overview 1 Molly N.N. Lee and Stephen Healy 2. Cambodia 13 Chealy Chet 3. Indonesia 35 Nizam 4. Lao PDR 69 Khamphone Xay Som Phou 5. Malaysia 101 Morshidi Sirat 6. The Philippines 137 Andrew Gonzalez FSC 7. Singapore 159 Jason Tan 8. Thailand 187 Varaporn Bovornsiri 9. Viet Nam 219 Ngo Doan Dai About the Authors 251 v List of Tables page Table 1: Expansion of higher education as measured by gross enrolment ratios (%) 4 Table 2: Distribution of higher education institutions by parent ministry and agency 20 Table 3: The Quality Undergraduate (QUE) funding project 40 Table 4: Gender distribution by type of programme 45 Table 5: Development of higher education institutions, 1996 - 2001 46 Table 6: Statistics of the Open University (Universitas Terbuka – UT) 47 Table 7: Study programmes and new intake in public universities 48 by fields of study Table 8: Distribution of staff with PhD, 2000 57 Table 9: Distribution of students in public and private institutes 62 Table 10: Enrolment for academic years from 1996-1997 to 2004-2005 75 in NUOL Table 11: Student graduates from academic year 1996-1997 to 2003-2004 75 Table 12: Student enrolment for academic years 1996-1997 to 2004-2005 in 76 private colleges Table 13: Student enrolment for academic years from 1996-1997 76 to 2004-2005 in teacher training colleges Table 14: Student graduates for academic years from 1996-1997 77 to 2004-2005 in teacher training colleges Table 15: Higher education students classified by institutions in charge, 77 2000 to 2005 Table 16: Upper secondary school leavers, 2001-2005 77 Table 17: Programme levels available in higher education in Lao PDR 80 Table 18: NUOL faculties and foundation studies 83 Table 19: Cooperation between NUOL and overseas institutions 91 Table 20: International Students in the period of years 2000 to 2005 92 Table 21: Objectives and strategies for higher education development 95 Table 22: Enrolment in public higher educational institutions, 2000-2005 107 Table 23: Enrolment in private higher educational institutions, 1998-2005 108 vi List of Tables page Table 24: Faculties and academic programmes at the undergraduate level in 115 public higher educational institutions, 2004 Table 25: Survey of research and development in Malaysia, 2004 118 Table 26: Public higher educational institutions: research grant from 119 Intensification of Research in Priority Areas (IRPA), 2004 Table 27: International students and academic staff in public higher 124 educational institutions, 2003/2004 Table 28: Top ten private colleges with international students, 2001 125 Table 29: Enrolment by region and institutional type, 2003-2004 140 Table 30: Enrolment by programme level and gender (public and private), 141 2003-2004 Table 31: Graduates by discipline group (public and private), 2003-2004 142 Table 32: Number of foreign students per academic year in the Philippines 146 Table 33: Private higher education institutions granted autonomy by the 148 Commission on Higher Education Table 34: Private higher education institutions granted deregulated status 150 by the Commission on Higher Education Table 35: Highest educational qualifications and gender of faculty staff 154 (public and private), 2003-2004 Table 36: Higher education enrolments, 1960-2000 177 Table 37: Student enrolment in higher education institutions, 1999-2003 189 Table 38: Components of the central university admission in 2006-2008 191 Table 39: New enrolments in higher education institutions, 2003 197 Table 40: Total enrolments in higher education institutions, 2003 197 Table 41: Number of graduates in higher education institutions, 2002 198 Table 42: Government research budget allocated to Commission on Higher 202 Education, public universities and institutes, and public autonomous universities, 2005 Table 43: Number of international students by institution 207 vii List of Tables page Table 44: Number of international students by nationality 207 Table 45: Students studying abroad and in Thailand under the supervision 208 of the Civil Service Commission (CSC), Thailand as of April 1, 2005 Table 46: Number of Institutions and percentages of external quality 213 assessment by level of education as of June 1, 2005 Table 47: Public expenditure on education and training (US$ millions) 229 Table 48: Newly established higher education institutions in three zones 231 Table 49: Student enrolment at tertiary institutions by year and 233 programme level Table 50: Student enrolment of different kinds of higher education 243 institutions List of Figures Figure 1: Distribution of private establishment by year 26 Figure 2: Higher education expansion in Indonesia, 1975-2003 36 Figure 3: Flow of students from elementary to higher education 43 Figure 4: Disparity of access to education 44 Figure 5: Typical organization structure of a legal entity university 54 Figure 6: Comparison between the number of new in-country and 57 overseas PhD graduates Figure 7: Academic Staff in Public Higher Educational Institutions: 121 By Gender 2000-2004 Figure 8: Academic Staff in Private Higher Educational Institutions: 121 By Gender 2001-2004 List of Diagram Diagram 1: Pathways to higher education in Malaysia 106 viii Higher Education in South-East Asia: An Overview HIGHER EDUCATION IN SOUTH-EAST ASIA: AN OVERVIEW Molly N. N. Lee Stephen Healy INTRODUCTION South-East Asia is a region of vast developmental diversity, from wealthy Singapore to the much poorer Greater Mekong Sub-region countries. This continuum provides a great opportunity for analyses of many themes and issues, for lessons learned to be shared across borders and for mutual cooperation to enhance the presence of South-East Asia within the global community. Higher education is one area where people aspire to advance themselves. In South- East Asia, it started from different historical backgrounds and has undergone