School News

Malaysian parents & the value of education

Published by SchoolAdvisor | Sep 12, 2014
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The Hong Kong & Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) recently published a report entitled “The Value of Education” which takes a look at how parents around the world viewed education and the trend of investing on a child’s education.

With respondents from 15 countries that included Malaysia, the United States, Indonesia, Turkey, Singapore and China, some 4,592 parents took an online survey which asked parents multiple questions on the importance of education and priorities in investing on a child’s education.

Some of the key findings from the report included:

  • 58% of Parents believe that investing in a child’s education is the best investment a parent can make.
  • 91% of parents would either fully or partially fund their child’s education with 82% of the parents relying on current income.
  • The United Statesis main preferred education destination with some 51% of parent surveyed while another 38% opted for the United Kingdom.
  • Parents would ideally allocate 42% of funds to the child education.
  • 74% of Parents would consider sending their children abroad for tertiary education.

Focusing especially to Malaysia and Malaysian parents, the study found several interesting patterns emerging through the survey questions.

1. What would Malaysian parents want out of Primary Education?

In the survey, while parents seem to agree that education especially primary education is very much an important tool for their children, there were differing  views on what is more important to them.

The general data collected saw some 47% of parents agreeing that “Confidence” is a priority contrasted to another 37% that saw “Happiness” being an important factor.

Malaysian parents much like the rest of their Asian counterparts seem to prioritize “Self-Discipline” with some 64% in comparison to only 20% seeing “Happiness” being important at Primary school level.

2. What do Malaysian Parents want out of a University Education?

While a large number of parents were positive to the idea of tertiary education (89%), there was a significant difference between what was the most important thing out of a university education that parents wanted their children equipped with.

French parents were somewhat divided between the ability of universities delivering foreign language skills (31%) and vocational training (33%) while another 24% looked at income earning potential.

When surveyed, a majority of Malaysian parents believed that the ability to compete in the workplace (52%) was the most important thing that a university should provide to their children.

3. Do Malaysian Parents believe in the idea of Post-Graduate studies?

A whopping 91% of Malaysian parents intend for their children to study at a post-graduate level, this far exceeds the 62% international average and is only followed by parents in Turkey (86%), Brazil (84%) and India (83%).

This was the opposite inAustralia(37%) and Hong Kong(19%) where a majority of parents there did not believe that an investment of time and money would be worth the effort at Post-Graduate level. Furthermore, a large number of respondents believe that an undergraduate education to be sufficient enough to compete in the marketplace.

4. How far in advance do Malaysian parents plan for their children’s education?

As with the international average, Malaysian parents seem to believe in the idea of planning ahead for their children’s education. The results were reflected to a combination of factors that included the quality of public education or the availability of private education alongside the household income of the families involved.

The average Malaysian parents was found to spend about 4 years in advance when it comes to planning for primary education and another 5 and half years for Secondary education.

Parents in Malaysia spend another further 7.3 years when it comes to planning for tertiary education.

5. Are Malaysian parents wiling to pay for education?

While four in five parents surveyed in China seem to agree with paying for education, parents in the Western Hemisphere such as the United Kingdom and France (36% each) didn’t follow the trend.

Some 64% of Malaysian parents responded positive when asked is they would consider paying for their children’s education.