>> MIM Speaks
SHAPING A CENTRE OF EDUCATION EXCELLENCE
SEPT 15, 1996 -
THE STAR
By Dr Tarcisius Chin
THE writing is on the wall. The private sector is called upon
to develop the education industry and to turn Malaysia from a
RM2.5-billion foreign exchange consumer to a regional centre
of education excellence.
Already, several public-listed companies have responded to the
call and many more private sector firms have expressed
interest to move into the education industry.
There is a feeling of euphoria about this challenge which is
read as a potentially-rich opportunity for corporate
investments. Those untutored in the field of education tend to
associate private education as a business with the prospect of
profits.
Certainly, in specific commercially-driven disciplines
requiring low investments coupled with assembly-line
operations to maximise student intakes, some profits can be
generated. But the concept of a campus-based private
university with a portfolio of faculties requires the
commitment of enormous capital expenditures.
This, coupled with high expected operating costs of faculty
plus R & D support, will dim the prospect of education as a
potentially lucrative business opportunity.
For an intelligent assessment of the prospect of developing
the education industry, let us examine some of the facts and
fallacies.
The facts
1. The primacy of quality. The survival and reputation of a
university is the quality of its education. Oxford,
Cambridge, Harvard and Stanford are internationally-recognised
for the uncompromising quality of the faculty, R& D support
and mentor-student interaction.
The distinction has to be made between education and
qualification. Getting a qualification is easy enough- seeking
education as well is more difficult as it builds within us the
capacity to think, reason and behave.
A qualification loses its currency over time; education is
enduring and will always be our companion throughout life.
2. The need for focus. Our recent experience with university
education suggests expansion away from core competencies.
Universiti Pertanian Malaysia, for example, is founded on the
core discipline of agriculture, but recent developments have
changed the character of the institution.
Nowadays, it is becoming increasingly difficult to
differentiate between the nine state universities. Adding on
new faculties takes away the funds needed to strengthen
existing faculties, vitally needed to make them centres of
educational excellence.
We are generalising the specialist universities and,
unwittmgly,eroding the original attractiveness of these
centres of excellence.
3. The prerequisite of a strong research component to support
academic teaching. Virtually all private colleges are
concentrated on the teaching end of education. This is
defensible if twinning arranger ments can draw on the research
support of the overseas parent campus, but cannot be neglected
in the case of private universities.
The world of knowledge is changing rapidly and the business of
selling knowledge is dependent on its' currency and
applicability to support professional development. It has been
academic tradition to bestow considerable recognition upon
academicians with proven research and publications record.
The age-old dictum "publish or perish" is a view subscribed to
by many universities, and professors are appointed on the
strength of this record.
4. The appreciation that education can never be equated to a
normal business opportunity. Properly done, education is a
social responsibility which attracts not financial returns but
image and goodwill.
The best private universities in the developed world prosper
because of philanthropic sponsorships. Harvard, for instance,
charges student fees equivalent to 40 per cent 'of actual
costs Much support comes from its alumni.
In the UK, a British businessman based in California, who was
a Cambridge undergraduate only fourteen years ago, has
recently pledged œ1 million (RM3.9 million) to his old
university to help establish its mathematics department as the
world leader. At the age of 35, Nick Corfield is the youngest
of the select group of œ1 million donors to British
universities.
The fallacies
1. The education business can be easily created. Nothing can
be further from the truth. Apart from providing physical
infrastructure, designing and installing educational
programmes and courses is a field requiring specific academic,
professional and technical inputs.
Issues of entry levels, equivalency, objectives, content,
assessment, appeals and awards need to be carefully structured
for. Then follows the tedious process of obtaining
accreditation which will eventually lead to approval by the
Ministry of Education.
Once approval is obtained comes the issue of bringing together
qualified teaching resource to manage and implement the
programme. The business end of promotion, admissions and fees
only begins to move when all relevant and appropriate inputs
have been installed.
2. The education business can be easily bought, sold or
terminated. Recent experience has shown that private colleges
have changed hands, listed on the Second Board and liquidated,
much like other businesses. But unlike other businesses,
education has a long maturity cycle, usually three to four
years for a degree programme.
At any one time, there will be students at varying points in
the programme. To change the programme or, worse still, to
abandon or terminate it for business reasons, is just not on.
Students have every right to expect and demand that they will
have all opportunities to complete the programme as
advertised. Against these expectations, managing a
public-listed private college with shareholders' demand for
satisfactory dividends is likely to compromise quality
standards.
3. There will always be enough students to make it viable.
Granted that 50,000 Malaysian students overseas as well as the
present low percentage of high school students seeking
tertiary education does suggest enormous potential, the
explosion of providers will introduce competitive intensity
that will surely make it difficult for some private colleges
to recover costs.
Ten years ago, there were about 30 private educational
institutions today the number is closer to 300. The strategy
for the private college has to be quality and affordability.
For a private college governed by profit considerations, the
strategy is going to be difficult to follow through.
4. The myth of the regional market. It is a long way to
develop the reputation of Monash, British Columbia or
Manchester as meccas for overseas students.
Granted we do have some regional students in our private
colleges but these are seeking a US, Australian or British
qualification via the half-way house of a Malaysian twinning
programme.
Local private universities will have the uphill task of
developing a market niche that will attract overseas
interests.
Unless we have something extraordinary to offer, the choice of
options to-the foreign student is really global.
Understanding the special character and requirements of the
industry is the first step in our quest to develop this
service sector.
Strategies of collaboration rather than competition, focussed
discipline excellence rather than random expansion, and
uncompromising standards rather than economic prudence should
be the guideposts in shaping the growth and development of the
industry.
Dr Tarcisius Chin, MlM's CEO and Director of Studies, sent
this article from Bath, England, where he is leading a group
of MBA students (Intake 9) for their residential at the
University of Bath.
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