Higher Education in Asia: The Changing Landscape and Governance Challenges

With the experience of waves in the South-East Asian region for rapid change at a time when countries are moving toward greater liberalisation in social and economic activities, bringing closer interdependence in different locations at international levels, there is a need for higher education and governance changes. If we talk about today's changing higher education landscape is primarily focused on massification, diversification, marketization, and internationalisation. There is a demand for higher education, which has manifested the three norms in many student populations, where higher interest is determined by cross-border knowledge and experience, and where there is a need for a greater variety of academic programmes.

As a result, governments in various countries have built higher education institutions, allowing the private sector to play a larger role while also providing greater autonomy to public universities. The restructuring of higher education in a number of South-East Asian countries resulted in the establishment of autonomous and other types of higher education institutions.

Higher Education and Governance Challenges

While different governance models exist, institutions are generally endowed with a stronger executive body and a new governing board. Along with increased independence and responsibilities in financial, human resource, and academic management for nearly two decades, it has been almost the default position of the most ambitious and talented Chinese and other renowned Asian students with the means to contribute to the solutions. The same is heading to the West to finish their education.

In most cases, there has been a stay for not only bringing resources in the shape of hefty tuition fees and bolstering the research ecosystem for Western institutions. The changing pandemic with China, in particular, seeking in attracting back research stars, and change has accelerated the COVID attacks.

In the Western universities grapple with the lost tuition fee income, which is reduced budgets overall and lay-offs, investment in university research in East Asia continues a large unabated. In China, as an example after decades of university investment, the higher education budget grew by a margin of 12 per cent between 2019 and 2020. In a separate example, the Japanese government announced that it aims to raise capital for a staggering 10 trillion (£70 billion) university research fund by 2022. A ‘Higher Education Sprout Project’, in Taiwan aims to uphold an extra NT$83.6 billion (equivalent to £2.2 billion) into universities in the next five years. In the country of Malaysia, 20 per cent of the entire national 2021 budget, MYR64.8 billion (£12 billion) has been kept aside for education.

Govt’s Involvement in Changing the Education System

Many governments have felt the need to harmonise in order to change the education system.

While several multilateral systems exist at the regional level, each has its own limitations and is not universally adopted. Regional integration necessitates the harmonisation and establishment of a regional common space in higher education as a central policy priority for ASEAN, as well as a more systematic approach and concrete collective actions centred on common regional goals.

Data published by the Fresh Time Higher Education data published in June also shows that the world’s most dynamic and exciting younger universities are heavily concentrated in East Asia.

Conclusion

The COVID-19 pandemic has given demonstrations the world’s most increasing grand challenges from future pandemics to food security, global heating, and almost even safety and peace of the same. The same is addressed through an exact collaborative, open, and diversified global higher education system.

For decades, if not centuries, there has been a push for the internationalisation of higher education, initially to foster intellectual solidarity and international understanding, and now to facilitate global and regional economic and social integration. The previous softer driving challenges found a less powerful case for governments and higher education institutions to take action. The social and economic consequences of failing to create a unified regional higher education space are palpable and difficult to ignore. UNESCO's DNA can be used to promote the internationalisation of higher education and contribute to the ultimate goal of instilling a culture of peace in the minds of men and women.