Boosting Academic Relations Between Asia and Europe
By Koh Soo Ling
WHEN educational opportunities in European Union (EU) countries and Asia are discussed, the imbalance in student exchange and research projects is apparent.
Records show that the number of Asian students flocking to EU countries is significantly more than that of their European counterparts going to Asia.
At the recent first Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Conference of Ministers Responsible for Education held in Berlin, Higher Education Ministry Secretary-General Datuk Dr Zulkefli A Hassan raised the issue of bilateral cooperation and progress in student mobility in Asia and Europe.
“The scope for cooperation between Malaysia and EU countries is enormous. Twenty per cent of the national budget is allocated to the education sector.
“This shows that the Malaysian government is serious about benchmarking its standards of education against proven ones, EU included,” says Zulkefli, who headed the Malaysian delegation.
Partner ASEM countries offered several suggestions at the meeting chaired by German Federal Minister of Education and Research Dr Annette Schavan.
Firstly, there was a broad consensus among the 27 EU and 16 Asian representatives that people-to-people exchange and structural cooperation are highly relevant to boost academic relations between Asia and Europe.
ASEM was born out of mutual recognition, in both Asia and Europe, that the relationship between the two regions needed to be strengthened.
Forming a task force to look into this new paradigm of educational cooperation would help.
This working group could consist of senior officials and stakeholders from the education sector who could identify the challenges connected with improving the framework conditions for bi- regional exchanges with special regard to recognition of qualifications and degrees.
Other suggestions include the setting up of a strategic Asia- Europe education partnership for the 21st century.
Besides that, the establishment of a bi-regional forum involving stakeholders from the education and economic sectors to encourage cooperation between education and industry would go a long way.
Joint offshore activities, such as the organisation of summer schools, joint study programmes and the formation of area study centres could help make the partnership a success.
The exchange of talented students, graduates and researchers will enrich academic environments and lead to a cross-fertilisation of ideas and scientific progress.
However, education ministers from Japan, Thailand and Vietnam cautioned that impeccable standards must be maintained.
Japan Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Minister Kisaburo Tokai says the need to ascertain standards is crucial as Japan’s enrolment rate for higher education hit 53.7 per cent last year.
“The fundamental issue is to guarantee and improve the quality of research and education.
“We must support the development of outstanding graduate schools and boost our graduates’ abilities to compete internationally.
“Regional cooperation will provide more opportunities for our young researchers to conduct joint research,” says Tokai.
“We need to guard standards when it comes to academic collaboration.
“We have signed 96 MoUs between institutions in Europe and Thailand so far.
“We also need cooperative education which ensures that students are given practical training before they graduate, especially in entrepreneurial skills,” says Thai Education Minister Somchai Wongsawat.
Supporting the move to uphold quality, Vietnam Education and Training Minister Thien Nan says: “We face pressure to compete internationally. Unless we learn from each other, moving forward will be slow.
“ASEM plays a vital role as Asia and Europe look back on a history of long and successful bilateral partnerships in Science and Education. Ensuring the quality and competitiveness of higher education systems and institutions is key to educating qualified and employable citizens.”
The second issue at the ASEM conference is the mobility of students.
In France there are 275,000 foreign students out of which 45,000 are Asians.
Many agree that these conservative figures do not reflect the reality of a borderless world where education is concerned.
“Joint diplomas or degrees should continue to be within the framework of international partnership with foreign universities. We need to promote the reciprocal recognition of degrees.
“Another measure to encourage student mobility is to have visa extensions for six months after a master’s programme so that postgrads can acquire their first working experience in France,” says the country’s Minister of Higher Education and Research Valerie Pecresse.
In order to increase student mobility across borders, obstacles that prevent the extension of individual exchange and partnerships must be overcome.
Student mobility will also be enhanced when European and Asian education systems are well publicised.
In this area, however, there is still room for improvement in both regions.
Associate Professor Koh Soo Ling is the media manager of Higher Education Leadership Academy, Ministry of Higher Education. She can be contacted at kohsl@mohe.gov.my
(c) 2008 New Straits Times. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.