アジアの経験

高等教育拡大と私立セクター

抄録

　 In the last fifteen years, higher education in Asia has dramatically increased, as shown in the case of South Korea. In this case, the enrollment rate was recorded at more than sixty percent, and its system moved from the so-called “mass”to the “universal” attendance stage. Even in socialist countries such as China and Vietnam, higher education expansion was very rapid. In the process of higher education expansion in Asia, the role of private sectors has been more prominent than in any other area in the world. Why is it the case that Asia is hospitable to the private sector of higher education?

　 Asian higher education systems are classified as follows from the standpoint of the role of private higher education : 1) the “private dominant”type, as shown in Japan, South Korea and the Philippines, in which more than seventy percent of students are enrolled in private sectors ; 2) the “private complementary” type, in which enrollments are distributed equally between public and private sectors, as in the case of Thailand and Indonesia ; 3) the “private peripheral” type, which is the stage of private sector enactment shown in Malaysia, China and Vietnam. The private sectors in these countries share less than ten percent of all students at present. These “private peripheral”countries are expected to shift to the second type, as occurred in the case of Thailand and Indonesia. In turn, the countries of the second type may shift to the first “private dominant”type.

　 Generally, the private sectors of Asian higher education are characterized as market- oriented and non-sectarian, with variations in size and fields of study. All these elements are functioning positively as a pulling power for the expansion of Asian higher education. However , their relevance and standards of quality should be reviewed in order to sustain the higher education system as a whole.