Colin Brock, Lorraine Pe Symaco Education in South-East Asia, 7-11
Omar Haji Khalid The Education System of Brunei Darussalam, 13-29
Martin Hayden, Richard Martin The Education System in Cambodia: making progress under difficult circumstances, 31-51
Assad L. Baunto Education Reforms in Indonesia, 53-67
Richard Noonan Education in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic: confluence of history and vision, 69-94
Siow Heng Loke, Chang Lee Hoon Education in Malaysia: development and transformations, 95-119
Richard Martin Education in Myanmar: opportunity for limited engagement, 121-137
Lorraine Pe Symaco Philippines: education for development?, 139-155
Jason Tan Singapore: schools for the future?, 157-175
Bob Boughton Timor-Leste: building a post-conflict education system, 177-196
Natthapoj Vincent Trakulphadetkrai Thailand: educational equality and quality, 197-219
Pham Lan Huong, Gerald W. Fry Vietnam as an Outlier: tradition and change in education, 221-243
Colin Brock, Pei-Tseng Jenny Hsieh Aspects of Gender and Education in South-East Asia, 245-264
Anthony Welch Higher Education in South-East Asia: achievement and aspiration, 265-282
Keith Watson Education and Language Policies in South-East Asian Countries, 283-304
Somwung Pitiyanuwat Quality Assurance in South-East Asian Higher Education, 305-322
Mikko Cantell, Derek Elias For Bulls and Bears Alike: education as investment in sustainable development, 323-340
Notes on Contributors, 343-348
Education in South-East Asia
Colin Brock, Lorraine Pe Symaco
Introduction
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The Education System of Brunei Darussalam
Omar Haji Khalid
This chapter provides a brief overview of Brunei Darussalam, its education system and history. It provides a brief description of the national education vision, goals and strategies, and their alignment with the National Development Plan. It describes the policy directions for education for the next 10 years, and recent development, especially with a new education system (SPN21) based on a bilingual (English and Malay language) policy and reforms in higher education.
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The Education System in Cambodia: making progress under difficult circumstances
Martin Hayden, Richard Martin
This chapter documents the rapid development of the education system in Cambodia since the late 1990s, when peace was finally restored. Cambodia now has an education participation rate of over 90% for children aged 6-11 years, but only one-third of young people aged 12-14 years take part in lower-secondary schooling. Cambodia’s poverty is an overriding influence, affecting the availability of schools and teachers, the ability to manage curriculum quality, and the adequacy of provisions made for the education of children with particular forms of disadvantage. A policy of decentralising management and administration of the education system is officially supported, but its implementation is impeded by the need for more capacity building, especially concerning management and budgeting skills. Corruption and a traditional socio-political culture that is hierarchical, bureaucratic and centralised are impediments to community-based decision-making processes about education.
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Education Reforms in Indonesia
Assad L. Baunto
This chapter provides the historical context of education reforms in Indonesia and documents the changes in its education objectives as the country traversed political upheavals, from the pre-colonial period, marked by full autonomy of education, through the colonial period of failed liberal education to post-independence characterised by consolidation of the education sector under the revolutionary government of Soekarno, centralisation under the authoritative government of Soeharto and decentralisation under democracy. The chapter highlights recent trends and challenges faced by the decentralised education reform which, if unaddressed, will lead to the disappearance of the initial gains and progress made towards universal education.
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Education in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic: confluence of history and vision
Richard Noonan
Laos is the only Southeast Asian country without a sea coast. Mountain ranges and the Mekong River provide both protection and isolation. Traditionally literacy was the preserve of the aristocracy, their administrators, some merchants, and the monks. The French never supported education in Laos as much as in Vietnam. The secular schools followed the French system, with French as the language of instruction. Following independence in 1954, UNESCO and USAID supported the 1962 reform to create a Lao system. Higher education began gradually in the late 1950s, leading to the establishment of a university in the early 1970s. Meanwhile in the ‘Liberated’ zone under the Pathet Lao, education developed separately, including a teacher training college. In the turmoil and aftermath of the Revolution in 1975, the education system was severely damaged, and recovery was slow until the economic reforms of 1986. Today education is a leading sector for the national policy of leaving ‘least developed country’ status by 2020.
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Education in Malaysia: development and transformations
Siow Heng Loke, Chang Lee Hoon
Education and training have been given priority as part of the preparation for independence as well as in all Malaysia’s five-year plans. This chapter reaffirms that education and skills training have been the major instruments for developing the nation’s human capital and unifying the various racial groups in nation building through education. This chapter explores the role of education in addressing the development of human capital and national unity in Malaysia as spurred by the Razak Report in 1956. It also traces the key education reforms since Independence in 1957 and critically reviews the impact of these reforms and their implementation, particularly in the area of early childhood, teacher and tertiary education. It is also noted that the last two decades have been marked by the acceleration in the pace of globalisation and liberalisation of the world economy, and the impact of these trends on the
educational development is further discussed.
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Education in Myanmar: opportunity for limited engagement
Richard Martin
Clearly it is a time to reassess the situation for education in Burma. There are small but significant opportunities for overseas institutions or philanthropic organizations to engage in distance education, particularly tourism, information technology training and foundation courses for students who have completed their high school education. Linking with the work of the British Council and possibly with small private colleges could provide other pathways for development and support. If this proves successful then possibly the Asian Development Bank and World Bank might be encouraged to reengage and provide limited technical assistance. Developments of this kind will have to be done carefully, but it seems that the Burmese Government would not oppose such gentle approaches to reform.
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Philippines: education for development?
Lorraine Pe Symaco
Similar to other countries, especially developing ones, education in the Philippines is seen by policy makers as a way to equip its human resource with the necessary skills needed for the knowledge society. However, issues arising from ‘massification’, or access over quality, often undermine the relative ‘returns’ supposedly of such expansion in education. This chapter deals with the education system of the Philippines, some basic statistics and issues relevant to the system, specifically the higher education sector.
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Singapore: schools for the future?
Jason Tan
Singapore’s education system has received growing international attention and interest following its students’ stellar performances in the Third International Mathematics and Science Study in 1997. Under the tight control of the People’s Action Party government, which has enjoyed uninterrupted political dominance since 1959, the education system has functioned as a means of supporting national economic development and fostering social cohesion. The chapter critiques the official rhetoric surrounding these two major policy objectives and highlights various policy tensions.
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Timor-Leste: building a post-conflict education system
Bob Boughton
Timor-Leste, South-East Asia’s newest nation, achieved its independence in 2002, after five hundred years of colonial occupation, and a brief period of direct United Nations rule. Its population of only one million people remains among the poorest in the region, though this is set to change in coming years as a result of revenue flowing into the state budget from its newlywon offshore oil reserves. The first independence government, which was led by FRETILIN, the party which had launched the liberation struggle in 1974, was committed to a rapid expansion of education and health services, and significant progress has been made, particularly in primary schooling and adult literacy. A major political crisis in 2006-07 revealed the ongoing differences between elements of the old Resistance, the Catholic Church and the international donors, and, while stability has returned to the country, the legacies of colonialism and war are expected to have a major impact on the emerging education system in the foreseeable future.
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Thailand: educational equality and quality
Natthapoj Vincent Trakulphadetkrai
This chapter primarily examines the issues of educational equality and quality in Thailand. It provides a brief overview of the national context as well as the education system, with particular focus on early childhood education, basic education, higher education and teacher education. Thailand’s progress on achieving the six Education for All goals is later analysed, along with factors which could promote and hinder such progress.
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Vietnam as an Outlier: tradition and change in education
Pham Lan Huong, Gerald W. Fry
The focus of this chapter is the evolution of Vietnamese education from past to present. Though Vietnam is a developing country, the authors argue that in terms of educational success and potential, it is an exceptional ‘outlier’, primarily related to its unique history, which involved struggles against both outside invaders and natural disasters, and its rich Confucian traditions which highly value education, literacy, learning, and teachers. The current Vietnamese educational system is a legacy and amalgam of many external international influences, namely Chinese, French, Russian, American, and more recently global forces. Vietnam has overcome many wars and a lack of natural resources to improve economically and educationally. After the introduction of market mechanisms in 1986, education has flourished particularly in terms of dramatic growth in education at all levels, including an increasing role of the private sector, particularly at the higher education level. Many note Vietnam’s economic potential as a rising phoenix, a nation on the move, or ascending dragon. To realize this dynamic future, Vietnam has adapted both its economic and educational systems to be more responsive to the powerful forces of globalization and the new ASEAN economic community (AEC) becoming a reality in 2015. The future of Vietnam as a dynamic Asia-Pacific knowledge economy depends heavily on its current commitments to foster both human resource development and innovation. Vietnamese education has impressive potential and promise.
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Aspects of Gender and Education in South-East Asia
Colin Brock, Pei-Tseng Jenny Hsieh
The gender factor in access to, and progress within, education is nearly always to the disadvantage of girls and women. In general in South-East Asia the situation is better than the global average. Most of the countries are ‘middle income’ in global terms, but Cambodia, Laos, Timor-Leste and Vietnam have profiles more like those of South Asian and Sub-Saharan African countries. Overall access and progress for females is generally in advance of males at primary and secondary level. However, at post-secondary level most females are in traditional female-oriented career training programmes even though the incidence of female engineers in some countries is impressive. Where problems exist in access and discrimination, they tend to be associated with issues of ethnicity, language, religion and geography. The massive incidence of archipelago situations in Indonesia and the Philippines is a constraining factor. Females tend to be disadvantaged in situations of migrant workers and also in terms of working while of school age in some countries. Overall, however, the relatively positive picture engenders the cultural capacity building that is necessary for sustainable development, especially in the predominantly rural communities.
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Higher Education in South-East Asia: achievement and aspiration
Anthony Welch
The multifaceted jewel of South-East Asia presents a challenge to researchers attempting to do justice to its diversity. This chapter addresses the achievements of higher education in five key ASEAN member states: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam – as well as their ambitions for the future. Key elements of change include privatisation, measures of innovation, and internationalisation, including regionalisation. It is argued that while all five states share the ambition to extend both the quantity and quality of higher education, there are significant constraints that limit the prospects of these ambitions being achieved in the shorter term; in some states more than others.
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Education and Language Policies in South-East Asian Countries
Keith Watson
After discussing the importance of language for the individual, community and society the chapter then looks at how societies, especially those in South-East Asia, have become multi-ethnic and linguistically plural over a long period of time. It also plays down the relatively brief impact of colonialism on different countries of the region. Having explained the ethnic and linguistic complexity of the region, country by country, the chapter then explores the language and ethnic policies available to governments before looking at how the different countries in the region have used both these and educational policies to further their aims. It argues that while several countries have begun to recognise the linguistic rights of their ethnic minorities, the realities of creating a national identity, economic necessity and political power will always mean that the dominant group, and those groups who have access to either a national or international language, will continue to maintain their privileges at the expense of the smaller ethnic groups. In the long term this could have catastrophic results for those minorities.
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Quality Assurance in South-East Asian Higher Education
Somwung Pitiyanuwat
In the South-East Asia (SEA) region, every country except Myanmar and Timor-Leste has an agency responsible for quality assurance (QA) in higher education. There are three predominant modes of QA agencies: centralized government, quasi-governmental and non-governmental agencies. Programme and institutional audit or accreditation can be seen in manycountries in the SEA region. Few countries have developed a national qualifications framework (NQF). In terms of QA, common practices are accreditation, self-assessment, quality audit, site visits and reports. Concerning QA networks, the three popular international and regional networks in the SEA region are the International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE); the Asia-Pacific Quality Network (APQN) and the ASEAN Quality Assurance Network (AQAN).
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For Bulls and Bears Alike: education as investment in sustainable development
Mikko Cantell, Derek Elias
Education is largely seen as a critical element in advancing sustainable development. The notions that investment in education can contribute to unsustainable patterns and may breed inefficiencies with limited returns have received far less attention. Education for sustainable development is an attempt to reorient the education sector fundamentally to address and prevent challenges to sustainability. Such a reorientation calls for emphasis on new skills in learners so that they are able to adapt to changing situations. While economic returns are important, it is not feasible to privilege these in education policy. Neither is it prudent to focus on injecting more resources into the education sector and to expect an increase in overall quality. The overarching objective of education will increasingly need to be values and behavioural change for sustainable development.
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Notes on Contributors
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