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International News

4-18, according to EU projections. By 2040, their ranks
might be smaller by 20 percent. This spells trouble in par-
ticular for rural schools, which suffer from having few births
and from migration to the cities. Hundreds have shut their
doors in recent decades. Some now offer local youngsters
incentives, such as free driving lessons and small cash
“scholarships”, in the hope of retaining them.
The idea of giving vacant desks to foreigners is new, and
has been propelled by a Finnish startup. Finest Future sells
online Finnish lessons to eager beavers in Asian, African
and Latin American countries. Those who achieve decent
proficiency are referred to willing schools. By the end of this
year, the firm will have helped import around 1,500 foreign
pupils. But it says its goal is ultimately to supply Finland’s
upper secondary schools — which educate about 110,000 Vin Group's VinUni, Hanoi campus
students in total — with around 15,000 new students each
year. Already some small schools are taking in more foreign usual move as it is unlikely to generate the profits they are
pupils than Finnish ones. used to. But there are other driving factors. In some cases,
In the long run all Finns benefit, argues Peter Vesterbac- company leaders feel they need to step in if they want to
ka, Finest Future’s co-founder, an entrepreneur who helped secure the graduates they need for their expanding work-
build the ‘Angry Birds’ brand for Rovio, a games company. forces, while others are prodded by governments or are
Finland’s total population of 5.5 million will start declin- simply philanthropically minded and keen to support the
ing within the next decade. The country struggles to attract development of their nation. Often, it is a mix of all these
high-skilled foreign workers (about 9 percent of its inhabit- reasons.
ants were born abroad, one of the lowest rates in Europe). Whatever the motivation, many of the institutions are
Vesterbacka reckons that foreigners who turn up when having an impact. “The famous ones… are really among the
they are teenagers, who learn the language, and who are best universities,” says Philip Altbach, professor emeritus
educated in the Finnish system are far more likely to stay, at Boston College’s Center for International Higher Educa-
and succeed, than adults who are targeted later through tion. “These are some of the most innovative institutions in
skilled-worker programmes. He reckons they bring much their respective countries.”
more money into the country than the government must Not a few scholars also believe that universities with
spend on their instruction. their roots in industry are well-placed to develop employ-
able students — some of whom go on to work for their
ASIA alma mater’s parent company. At Sunway University, for
Private varsities boom example, students have opportunities to intern with the
conglomerate, as well as with other organisations.
HE ROUTE TO SUNWAY UNIVERSITY IS FAR from However, while the best ones may be driving innovation
your typical campus approach. To reach this Malay- in higher education, there is also a “sleazy” underworld of
Tsian institution, you must first navigate to Sunway City companies setting up low-quality institutions for non-altru-
on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, past various Sunway ho- istic purposes, according to Altbach. For example, there are
tels and Sunway shopping malls, away from the Sunway cases of property developers in Indonesia and the Philip-
medical centre, until you reach the entrance to a canopied pines attempting to attract homebuyers with the promise of
walk. Sunway U is a prized feather in the cap of the south- new universities that, in reality, are unlikely to offer much
east Asian conglomerate that established it in 2004. by way of quality education.
Universities such as Sunway have been popping up And even among the best of these universities, their de-
across Asia for decades. South Korea’s Pohang University mographic reach can be limited. “Despite their deep pock-
of Science and Technology (POSTECH) was established in ets, they’re, generally speaking, tuition dependent,” says
the 1980s by a steel company, while Malaysia is also home Prof. Altbach. This means they tend to attract those who
to Universiti Teknologi Petronas, set up in the late 1990s can afford to pay higher fees — middle-and upper-class
by the Petronas oil and gas corporation. And newer ones students — which does little for improving access to higher
are emerging — Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup broke education.
ground on VinUni in 2018, the same year that India’s Jio Depending on how they are set up, corporate-owned
University was established by the parent company of the universities also risk falling prey to market fluctuations
country’s most popular telecom company. and shareholder whims. Sunway University, for example,
For big businesses, setting up a university seems an un- only narrowly avoided being caught up in the 2007 financial

60 EDUCATIONWORLD AUGUST 2024