Higher education volume and value of output: experimental calculations for Malaysia
The valuation of higher education’s contribution to the national economy in the past has typically been based upon costs of inputs. However, such an approach neglects any productivity or quality variations in the outputs of higher education, mainly from teaching services and research. An increas...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Educational Management, Planning & Policy, Faculty of Education, University of Malaya
2016
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| Online Access: | http://irep.iium.edu.my/52122/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/52122/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/52122/1/MOJEM_Haniza.pdf |
| Summary: | The valuation of higher education’s contribution to the national
economy in the past has typically been based upon costs of inputs.
However, such an approach neglects any productivity or quality
variations in the outputs of higher education, mainly from teaching
services and research. An increasing number of countries are now using
output-based measures of the volume of higher education services. This
paper describes a quantitative approach for output-based
measurements using publicly available data in order to attempt a
preliminary application for Malaysia. Government’s development and
operational budget on education and training increased significantly
after 2007 with the implementation of the National Higher Education
Strategic Plan (NHESP). Using the output approach, we find that value of
teaching services by the public HE sector rose by 5.2 per cent that from
RM13.77 billion to RM14.48 billion in 2010 although aggregate
enrolment grew by 9.9 per cent; as compared to 5.1 per cent increase in
operational budget for the same period. The result is justified given that
higher percentage of the new enrolments are often found in advanced
levels of study (postgraduate courses) which cost less per unit of
quantity – as there is less coursework involved. The finding sheds light on
the nature of NHESP’s impact on national income and provides helpful
inputs to future refinements of the national strategic plan. |
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