Marketing education in Malaysia: implications for Australian Tertiary Institutions

In August 1985 the Australian Minister of Education, Senator Susan Ryan, announced a change in the Commonwealth Government's education policy towards marketing of Australian degrees and diplomas overseas. This decision has been welcomed by tertiary institutions with a certain amount of mixed feeling. A number of institutions, both universities and colleges of advanced education from Perth to Brisbane are considering partnership arrangements with foreign bodies quite vigorously. This enthusiasm, to an extent, has been dampened by the ACTU Education Group claiming that the development of marketing of courses to overseas students at full-fee cost was contrary to ACTU policy and that education should be provided in the region on a basis of foreign aid rather than trade. The Australian Teachers Federation at its 67th annual conference has also raised a number of issues that it believes would be against the interest of its members and its total philosophy of education in total. This paper looks at Australia's need for a thorough study of market potential in Malaysia, and the problems that can be encountered in the process of planning education joint ventures in Malaysia. The acceptability of Australian education in Malaysia will depend on responses in both countries.