Higher Education in ASEAN © Copyright, The International Association of Universities (IAU), October, 2016 The contents of the publication may be reproduced in part or in full for non-commercial purposes, provided that reference to IAU and the date of the document is clearly and visibly cited. Publication prepared by Stefanie Mallow, IAU Printed by Suranaree University of Technology On the occasion of Hosted by a consortium of four Thai universities: 2 Foreword The Ninth ASEAN Education Ministers Qualifications Reference Framework (AQRF) Meeting (May 2016, in Malaysia), in Governance and Structure, and the plans to conjunction with the Third ASEAN Plus institutionalize the AQRF processes on a Three Education Ministers Meeting, and voluntary basis at the national and regional the Third East Asia Summit of Education levels. All these will help enhance quality, Ministers hold a number of promises. With credit transfer and student mobility, as well as the theme “Fostering ASEAN Community of university collaboration and people-to-people Learners: Empowering Lives through connectivity which are all crucial in realigning Education,” these meetings distinctly the diverse education systems and emphasized children and young people as the opportunities, as well as creating a more collective stakeholders and focus of coordinated, cohesive and coherent ASEAN. cooperation in education in ASEAN and among the Member States. The Ministers also The IAU is particularly pleased to note that the affirmed the important role of education in Meeting approved the revised Charter of the promoting a better quality of life for children ASEAN University Network (AUN), better and young people, and in providing them with aligned with the new developments in ASEAN. an opportunity to participate in and benefit The AUN and IAU have been collaborating as from the realization of a prosperous ASEAN partners in advancing the role of education Community 2025. They highlighted the need regionally and worldwide by building a to deepen the scope of education partnership committed community of learners. Both among ASEAN Member States towards the associations are aware of the importance of development of a more coordinated, cohesive the various networks and projects that exist in and coherent ASEAN position and contribution the region, including: AUN Southeast Asia to global education issues. The ASEAN Work Engineering Education Development Network Plan on Education 2016-2020 which they (AUN/SEED-Net), ASEAN-EU Cooperation on adopted hopes to unify all collaboration efforts Education: EU Support to Higher Education in on education with ASEAN Dialogue Partners ASEAN Region (SHARE), GIZ Regional and international organizations and other Cooperation Programme to Improve the entities that support ASEAN. Training of TVET Personnel (RECOTVET), Fulbright U.S.-ASEAN Initiative, and The ASEAN Work Plan on Education focuses on Connecting the Mekong through Education and eight areas: Training (COMET). ASEAN awareness through strengthening With this inaugural publication which attempts Southeast Asian history and indigenous to provide as much information as possible knowledge about the higher education systems and quality and access to basic education for all institutions in the ASEAN region in a especially the marginalized groups comprehensive and reliable manner, IAU information and communication hopes to help facilitate deeper education technologies in education cooperation on the basis of accurate data. It is significant and timely to celebrate 2016 technical and vocational education and as the first year since ASEAN became a training (TVET) and lifelong learning Community, and concomitantly the first year Education for Sustainable Development for the implementation of the ASEAN Vision (ESD) 2025. We congratulate the emerging ASEAN higher education development and quality Community, in particular the education sector, assurance mechanisms and thank all partners and universities for university-industry partnership making this unique and historic publication capacity building for teachers and the possible. education community. The International Association of Best wishes and warm regards, Universities (IAU) shares several of these focus areas, notably the focus on indigenous Dzulkifli Abdul Razak knowledge, quality, access and ESD among others. The Association also applauds the IAU President promotion of academic mobility and the Ministers’ endorsement of the ASEAN 3 Myanmar Lao PDR pp 40—43 pp 32—35 Vietnam pp 68—71 Cambodia pp 20—23 Thailand pp 64—67 Brunei Darussalam Malaysia pp 16—19 pp 36—39 Singapore pp 60—63 Indonesia pp 24—31 4 Contents 3 Word from the IAU President 6I IAU and its World Higher Education Database (WHED) 8 Key facts on ASEAN and Overview of the HE Systems 12 IAU Members and Supporters in ASEAN 16 ASEAN countries’ HE system and list of Philippines Institutions by location pp 44—59 72 Host Universities of the IAU 15th General Conference 74 References 75 Acknowledgements 5 The International Association of Universities exemplified in this publication) to make it available in the World Higher Education Database (WHED). IAU engages in capacity building through its twice-yearly professional development programme “Leading Globally Engaged Universities (LGEU) and offers policy advice as part of the IAU programme for advancing internationalization: ISAS 2.0 (Internationalization Strategies Advisory Service). As a global platform closely linked to UNESCO and other UN agencies, IAU is deeply committed to mobilizing higher education institutions to play their full role in addressing sustainable development and to be active in the new 2030 Development Agenda. The Association’s Portal on Higher Education for Sustainable Development (IAU-HESD.net) is a virtual meeting place of experts and actors where they can share information on their actions to realize sustainable development through curriculum, research and outreach. Always staying on top of the most pressing developments in higher education around the IAU’s Vision is: world, IAU also undertakes other projects and activities in line with its principles and values To be the most representative and and responding to the Members’ needs. Yet, as influential global association of diverse regional integration and regional community higher education institutions and their building takes on increased relevance, IAU also organisations, promoting and advancing focuses on the specific issues and interests of various regions, bringing to the regional focus the dynamic leadership role for higher the global perspectives and more than 60 years’ education in society. experience in the field. IAU promotes collaboration among its Members by articulating the fundamental values and principles that underpin the pursuit, HIGHER EDUCATION IN ASEAN dissemination and application of knowledge. The Association advocates for higher education The IAU publishes Higher Education in policies that respect diverse perspectives and ASEAN on the occasion of its 15th General promote social responsibility. It encourages Conference, taking place in Bangkok, Thailand, innovation, mutual learning and cooperation in order to showcase the ASEAN institutions and among institutions. systems of higher educations. Under the broad theme Higher Education: A catalyst for IAU serves the needs of its Members in various innovative and sustainable societies, the ways. It convenes truly global conferences, 15th IAU General Conference will focus on meetings and seminars; acts as the voice and sharing strategies and practices that advocator for higher education in international demonstrate how higher education institutions settings (e.g. UNESCO, OECD, World Bank, contribute to innovation and etc.); conducts research and publishes original sustainability. Equally important, the research through its quarterly journal Higher Conference will determine what more HEIs can Education Policy; provides information on do, especially through IAU, to become true scholarly publications through the interactive catalysts for change. bibliographic database (HEDBIB) and collects information on higher education systems, institutions and qualifications (as 6 World Higher Education Database Since the creation of the IAU in 1950, the Higher Education in ASEAN is based, to a Association has acted as a global repository and large extent, on data found in the WHED and clearing house of information on higher provides information on the ten countries that education worldwide. Starting more than six form ASEAN: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, decades ago with only a small booklet Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, containing information on the few universities Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. in the world, today IAU maintains the World These nations differ in size, history, language Higher Education Database (WHED) which and tradition, yet they share a strong includes close to 18,000 higher education commitment to education. There are 2,328 institutions (HEIs). HEIs in ASEAN (May 2016) and while they are by no means distributed evenly among the ten The importance of knowledge in today’s society nations, almost in all countries, the numbers and economy is clear from the exponential rise are on the rise. in the number of HEIs around the world as well as from the attention decision-makers pay to The HE systems of the ASEAN Members are reforms of the HE systems in an on-going effort also different, and in addition to listing all of the to make them more productive and effective.