Improving education
In this “Information Age” many leaders have recognized the important of good education systems, especially in the Information Technology (IT) areas. For many years, universities in developed countries are considered the best and attract students from all over the world. Each year, several million students come to these universities to be educated. However, very few return to their own countries. Once they complete their education, most decide to stay because it is easier to find good jobs that utilize their trainings in where they are educated.
In the past few years, there was a desire among countries such as China, South Korea to Saudi Arabia to build universities that can compete with the top-rated universities in the U.S and UK. Their leaders know that universities are vital to the innovation and economic growth. They are no longer content just to send students overseas then lost them to the host countries. They want to create their world-class universities for their own people. Since 2008, China government has been investing a lot of money into its education systems. China is improving several dozen of its universities to form an elite consortium known as “China's Ivy League”. In Saudi Arabia, King Abdullah spent $10 billion of his own money to develop a brand-new King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), and hiring the best professors all over the world to educate his people.
All leaders recognized that to create “world-class universities”, they must have “world-class faculties”. To start, they recruit faculty from top universities to teach at their schools. At the same time, they send their own faculty oversea to learn more so they can come back and take over when other foreign professors leave. China is working hard to lure back overseas Chinese who have foreign degrees, mostly from the U.S and UK. South Korea is making a big effort to recruit top foreign professors for its elite Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST).
However, having new modern universities and top faculty are not enough to be “world class”. They need the best training programs possible. Instead of developing their own programs which may take a long time, most build relationship with top universities and license their training programs to their schools. This can accelerate their university status and develop better skilled graduates for their country. This is a key strategy of Singapore as it strives to become a global academic center. Few years ago, It brought programs from top foreign schools such as Government and policies program from Harvard, Master of Business Administration from Stanford, Electronic Engineering from MIT, Medical program from Duke and Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon. The strategy succeeds and today Singapore's education system is ranked on the top of the best system in the world. South Korea is following a different strategy. It is creating a special academic zone near the IncheonAirport, where it is hosting a number of top foreign universities to relocate there so its students can study directly in foreign universities without have to travel oversea.
Today the U.S. is still the biggest magnet for foreign students with two-thirds of the world's foreign students but it will change soon. Asian countries that have been sending students to the U.S are now having their top universities. For example, the number of students from Singapore to go to the U.S has dropped about 35% in recent years since their schools are now offer similar training programs with top professors. However, the situation has not changed much in China and India because of their large numbers of students but few “Top universities”. A Chinese student said: “It is easier to get in Harvard than go to Tsinghua or BeijingUniversity.”
There is also fierce competition for top professors among universities. Half the top professors in the world do not work in their countries. They go where they are treated best, usually in the U.S because traditional U.S universities have the best research facilities and the most current technology. A Professor explained: “University professors prefer to do research with other best professors in the best environment possible. Few countries could compete with the U.S in this area.” However it may change soon as top universities in China, Saudi Arabia, S. Korea and Singapore have began to build modern laboratories and hired best professors to do research there. According to a new study, top professors are returning home as they are treated with more respect and having better facilities to continue their works. Few years ago, they are not treated differently from other local professors but the situation has changed. Some do not see enough opportunity in the U.S. any more. The study states that soon the U.S. will be experienced the first “brain drain” in its history.
Many country leaders understand that having better education systems will keep their talents in the country. These talents are the key for innovation which drive economy to the next level. Last year, Tsinghua and PekingUniversities combined have surpassed UC-Berkeley as the leading source of students earning PhDs. It is expected that soon, China will develop its own innovations that compete with the U.S and UK as they have more scientists. A government official said: “The foundation of a strong economy is the people. They build innovations and technologies. These in turn become products and services that can establish new business and drive the economy. We must start with our people by giving them the best education possible.”
Failure to improve in education is an economic illness. For many years, India government did not allow their schools to collaborate with foreign universities, despite a huge demand for better education. Its politician considered education is a “cultural” aspect and did not want to “Contaminate” the “pure” education with foreigner education system. It made Indian education so bad, and weakened its entire country for fifty years. Begin in 1990s when it opened the doors to bring in changes to its education, its economy took off. Today it has transformed India to a new high level in its history. An India professor explained: “By unleash the power of our own people, by invest in our own people, India has made the right choice. For the millions of people who want to be educated suddenly the door open wide and the vision is simple: “Study information technology to make India strong”. Million of students follow that vision and what happened in India is really a miracle.” Within 20 years, India has moved from one of the poor country to one of a most powerful nation with the fastest growing economy in the world. Not long ago, people think of India as an agricultural country that export spices but today when you mention India, people would say “information technology”.
Education is something that can grow fast. With the right vision, the right direction and some nurturing it can transform a country. India is a good example; Malaysia is a good example; Singapore is a good example. Investing in education is probably the best investment a country could make and it can starts with a simple vision just like over twenty years ago when the Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi declared his vision for India: “Study Information Technology to make India strong.”
Sources
- Blogs of Prof. John Vu, Carnegie Mellon University
