No.

28 31 March 2008

REGIONALISM IN HIGHER EDUCATION (PART 2)

Asia versus Europe
Introduction
In Part One, the series began by exploring the trends of regionalism through a historical time-frame evolution
method. This was followed by identifying various examples of regionalism within the higher education
framework. The second part of the series seeks to illustrate the forms of regionalism practiced in Asia and
Europe, and how the differences are manifested into the higher education sector.
Regionalism in Asia
Asia, after World War II, has been actively participating in various forms of regionalism. Due to the large number
of countries and the great diversity in the continent, there have been countless efforts to promote regionalism
among the countries and many of these efforts significantly overlapped. Within Asia, many small regionalism
activities shape the larger picture. There are regional co-operations such as the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN), Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) and South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation
(SAARC), along with other multilateral groupings with specific focus on a particular area.
Drawing the example of Malaysia, the country was one of the three founding members of the Association of
Southeast Asia (ASA) that evolved into the current ASEAN. Within the ASEAN framework, Malaysia also
participates in the ASEAN +3 (inclusion of China, Japan and South Korea) and East Asia Community, following
the signing of the Kuala Lumpur Declaration on the East Asia Summit in December 2005. Furthermore, Malaysia
also plays an active part in regional co-operations such as the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC),
East Asia Economic Caucus (EAEC) and Group of 15 (G15) ASEAN Mekong Basin Development Co-operation
(MFA, 2008; ASEAN, 2008).
The above illustrations reflect a great deal of complications and complexities in regional collaborations. As
pointed out by Nuria Okfen (2003), these developments show that within the region, there is still no shared vision
of what Asia is about in terms of belonging. Though these co-operations were established with the prime
objective of promoting a particular type of community, nevertheless, concerns about the focus and quality of
the co-operation continues to impact the discourse on regionalism in Asia.
Regionalism in Europe
In contrast, regionalism in Europe takes a significantly different form and structure. The European Union (EU) is a
unique economic and political partnership between 27 democratic European countries (EUROPA, 2008).
This formal regionalism model includes a centralised legislative, judiciary and financial support system. Within
the European Union organisational structure comprises the European Parliament, the Council of the European
Union, the European Commission, the Court of Justice, the Court of Auditors, the European Economic and
Social Committee, the Committee of Regions, the European Central Bank and the European Investment Bank.

Institut Penyelidikan Pendidikan Tinggi Negara . Suite 109, Tingkat 1 . Kompleks EUREKA . Universiti Sains Malaysia .
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These existing and extensive structures within the regional framework reflect the extent of cooperation and
partnership between the member countries.
In short, the European regionalism framework has transformed each sovereign country into the role of state
government and the union plays the macro role of a federation with an integrated economic system.
Upshot to Higher Education
Judging from the regionalism model and the extent of cooperation between countries within Asia and Europe,
it is clear as to why the degree of success in regional higher education collaborations varies significantly.
Resulting from the formalised structure of the European Union, higher education collaboration in Europe,
through the ERASMUS initiative, has been successful in mobilising over 1.5 million students across the region for
educational exchanges and trans-border partnerships. More importantly, crucial issues within higher education,
namely quality assurance, compatibility, mobility and employability of graduates, could be discussed
effectively at the inter-governmental level through the signing of the Bologna Agreement in 1999 (de Prado
Yepes, 2006).
Although many of the Asian and ASEAN regional co-operations present initiatives pertaining to higher
education, the results have been relatively weak as compared to Europe (ibid., 2006), even though, as early as
1950s, efforts and recommendations had already been put forward. One plausible explanation relates to the
differences in the structure of regionalism. Furthermore, many of the models of regional collaboration in higher
education among the Asian/ASEAN countries were initiatives at ministerial level and varies differently in
implementation, while some were merely political rhetoric (ibid., 2006).
Nevertheless, all is not that gloomy. Since the mid-1990s, several initiatives in Asia and ASEAN have gained
momentum and shown remarkable success that put forth a positive development of regionalism in higher
education. Among them:
The formation of the ASEAN University Network (AUN) with the aim towards establishment of ASEAN
University and works to promote mutual recognition of academic degrees and qualifications;
Active contribution of SEAMEO-RIHED after a period of inactivity with the current focus in responding to
issues related to policy, planning, administration and management in higher education; and
Increasingly active role of Japan, China and South Korea in the ASEAN +3, whereby 14
recommendations were accepted at the Head of Government level in 2003, that includes lifelong
learning, credit transfers, scholarships and academic exchange programmes and common regional
qualification standards.
Prepared by:
Mr. Wan Chang Da (Research Officer, IPPTN)
Associate Professor Dr. Sarjit Kaur (Associate Research Fellow, IPPTN)
Professor Muhamad Jantan (Acting Director, IPPTN)
Sources:
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). (2008). Retrieved 19 March 2008 from http://
www.aseansec.org
de Prado Yepes, C. (2006). Regionalisation of higher education sServices in Europe and East Asia and potential
for global change, Asia Europe Journal, 5:83-92.
European Union (EUROPA). (2008). Retrieved 19 March 2008 from http://ec.europa.eu
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia (MFA). (2008). Retrieved 19 March 2008 from http://www.kln.gov.my
Okfen, N. (2003). Towards an East Asian community? What ASEM and APEC can tell us. CSGR Working Paper
No. 117/03. Retrieved 24 December 2007 from http://www.wun.ac.uk

Institut Penyelidikan Pendidikan Tinggi Negara . Suite 109, Tingkat 1 . Kompleks EUREKA . Universiti Sains Malaysia .
Tel: 604 - 6590534, 604 - 6534090 . Fax: 604-6590532
Website: www.usm.my/ipptn . E-mail: ipptn@yahoo.com