A recent visit by the Malaysian Prime Minister and Education Minister to Japan has revealed a plan for Malaysia to host Japanese universities’ branch campuses in Malaysia. It is reported that three Japanese universities, namely, Tsukuba University, Nippon Designers School and Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University have started discussions; with one planning to start operations as early as next year.
Since the ‘new’ Malaysian government took helm, education stakeholders in the country have been calling for major reforms after having for decades received flak on the sector’s declining quality. The poor performance of Malaysian students in international assessments such as the PISA and TIMMS and high percentage of youth unemployment were largely attributed to the poorly-run education system in the country. The same report which highlights the widening gap between the rich and poor also highlighted Malaysia’s gap between actual schooling years and quality-adjusted schooling years – 3.1 years – compared to the Asian Tigers Japan (0.8), Hong Kong (0.6), or South Korea (0.4).
The invitation to Japanese Universities to set up branch campuses in Malaysia is a basis to revive and enhance the previous ‘Look East Policy’, first developed in 1982 to move the nation away from looking at Western countries as a role model but shift towards the East where several nations have achieved remarkable success. Japan has been a key driving force in this policy and Education Ministry will be studying the Japanese education system, from kindergarten to higher education. Other plans include ‘the deepening exchange in education, expanding human resource development and promoting science and technology transfer’.
Commentary by Jennifer Wan, British Council Malaysia
The revival of the Look East Policy might impact UK higher education institutions intending to recruit or develop partnerships in Malaysia. Although it is too early to conclude if there will be negative impact, the Look East Policy was reportedly an incarnation of the Buy British Last policy in 1981, also a call launched by Tun Dr Mahathir, the current (and then) Malaysian Prime Minister.
The setting up of Japanese branch campuses in the country will provide Malaysians with even more options to complete their studies locally, in addition to the existing 12 branch campuses. Although it was previously announced by the previous administration that there will be a moratorium on new branch campuses and private higher education institutions until 2020, this does not seem to apply with the Japanese universities.
Since the development of the Look East Policy, there has also been gradual changes in the provision of government scholarships to Malaysian students, with more scholarships being provided for Engineering studies in Japan, Korea, France and Germany compared to the UK and other English-speaking countries. If the bilateral discussions between Malaysia and Japan go well, we might see more scholarships being offered, collaborations developed and student and academic exchanges set-up.