Abstract
Before Malaysian government liberalising its private tertiary education in the 1996 Education Act, Taiwan was one of the popular choices for students from Chinese Independent Schools (CIS) to further their tertiary education. However, the number of CIS students choosing Taiwan as the destination of their tertiary education keeps hiking up substantially despite more choices of higher education provided locally after the liberalisation. In light of this, this study aims to explore factors affecting country choice of Malaysian students from CIS in the meantime while they were to further their tertiary education. A mixed-method design was employed to investigate factors shaping this peculiar phenomenon. The researchers identified eight push-pull factors from the data coding of a focus group discussion in the first phase of the study. Based on the results, a questionnaire was crafted in the second phase of the study. Then, by engaging a purposive sampling, 869 Senior Three CIS students were recruited from several CIS in different states of Malaysia to participate in the survey at the second phase of the study. The findings revealed the importance of demographic factors administering CIS students in choosing Taiwan as a popular destination of pursuing tertiary education. In addition, the use of Chinese language as the medium of instruction in teaching and financial consideration were the pull factors contributing to the interpretation of the choice made by this group of participants. Furthermore, students’ perspective of choosing future career path and their concern of family also determine their choice of higher education. Overall, the study highlighted the importance to include demographic factors in the push-pull model. It further provides factual information for the stakeholders or policy makers to incorporate more effective strategies in recruiting CIS students.
Highlights
After the liberalisation of private tertiary education in the 90s, more choices are provided for Malaysian students to continue their tertiary education locally rather than going abroad
The liberalisation of private tertiary education has lifted the stiff limitation of choices in higher education as Chinese Independent Schools (CIS) students are allowed to enroll themselves to local private universities with the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) they obtained under this special school system
It is interesting to know that the number of CIS students continuing their tertiary education in Taiwan remains increasing after the liberalisation of private tertiary education in Malaysia
Summary
After the liberalisation of private tertiary education in the 90s, more choices are provided for Malaysian students to continue their tertiary education locally rather than going abroad. The scenario is especially relevant for students who study in Chinese Independent Schools (CIS). The liberalisation of private tertiary education has lifted the stiff limitation of choices in higher education as CIS students are allowed to enroll themselves to local private universities with the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) they obtained under this special school system. It is interesting to know that the number of CIS students continuing their tertiary education in Taiwan remains increasing after the liberalisation of private tertiary education in Malaysia. The findings would provide factual information to the policymakers of the institutions for both countries, Malaysia and Taiwan
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