Education in asia

While education may initially seem "off-topic" for the APMF, the shift to the knowledge economy has certainly brought education in all its forms (school, higher education, vocational, and adult) back into focus. And education by itself has for years been a commodity spurning big and small businesses alike. Yet there is so much to be done in improving educational systems to better serve Asia business that our lack of attention to this key economic and business driver over the years is negligent to say the least!

It is generally accepted that one of the reasons behind Japan and Singapore's rise to economic powerhouses was the emphasis on education. Though certainly problems continue to exist with rote learning methods and excessive pressure at school level, an educated workforce has facilitated the development of a core of knowledge in the populace that has increased both global competitiveness and acted as a solid deterrent against foreign "educational colonialism".

Problems remain even in these countries and others that have invested in their human resources in this way. Apart from the aforesaid over-reliance on didactic learning resulting in a lack of questioning or creative skills, the "brain drain" where many of the most intelligent and accomplished complete their education overseas and elect to stay there, over-reliance on prestigious qualifications rather than practical work-related skills, low academic and educational-sector salaries, poor funding and the rocky road to privately funded education, are all obstacles that must be overcome.

Education is a commodity in Asia. And even though it is a less-than-glamorous (and less lucrative) business field, petty entrepreneurial scoundrels abound, especially in the provision of English language services. So much so that in Thailand, a former Prime Minister is alleged to have "bought" his degrees. Recently, text book scams have been the subject of controversies in Thailand. In China, a report several years back suggested that over 90% of educational materials in the most prestigious universities were illegal copies. In Indonesia, the problem of intellectual piracy is even more pronounced.

The advent of the "knowledge economy" makes education even more critical. Intellectual capital is severely lacking in many countries attempting to build new economy cyberports/corridoors. Those that do have the educational capital (as in the massive programming and systems talent in India), find their talent being lured to more lucrative economies. Much transfer of knowledge that should have occurred from the prescence of developed economy expatriates in developing countries was lost due to an inability of many local workers to "learn" from that experience - a result of both the short-term view of the local workforce and governments, and lack of training skills of expats who assumed the role of "experts" rather than "trainers" or "facilitators".

This week's feature articles include both general articles and specific case studies of education at work in Asia (notably China, India, Australia and Indonesia) with a special focus of quality assurance of educational systems and educational management.