KUALA LUMPUR: Nearly two-thirds (64%) of Malaysian parents consider paying for their children’s education to be the best investment they can make, and 84% wished they had started saving earlier, a HSBC survey found.
According to HSBC, belief in education as an investment is strongest in Asia, particularly in China (77%), Indonesia (75%) and India (70%). In comparison, the global average is at 58%.
The survey – which involved 4,500 parents in 15 countries – found the financial implication of prioritising education can be a source of particular anxiety.
Some 47% of Malaysian parents find making decisions about their child’s education a daunting prospect. The figure is 69% in Taiwan, 60% in Hong Kong, 46% in India, 44% in China, 37% in Singapore and 35% in Indonesia.
Naturally, the desire to save earlier is particularly strong in Asia at 78% in mainland China, 66% in Indonesia and 58% in India. This contrasted sharply with France (14%), the UK (27%) and Australia (32%).
Almost all (98%) parents aspire for their child to go to university and more than nine in 10 (91%) would like their child to study at a postgraduate level. Parents expect their children to reap top three benefits from a good university education notably the ability to compete in the workplace (52%), enhance income-earning potential (41%) and get better access to opportunities in life (37%).
For parents in Mexico (57%) and Malaysia (52%), the strongest expectation for a good university education is to give children the ability to compete in the workplace. In India, income-earning potential is the biggest priority for parents, with more than two in five (41%) expecting this from a good university education.
Most parents also want their children to reach the same or higher level of education than they themselves did.
The strong desire for postgraduate education is most pronounced among Malaysian parents (91%) followed by Turkey (86%), Brazil (84%), India (83%) and China (74%) with global average (62%).
Parents still hold the Western education system in highest regard. Over three quarters (78%) would consider sending their children abroad for university, especially Indonesia (92%), Malaysia (88%) and Hong Kong (86%).
The USA is regarded as offering the highest quality education in the world with 51% of parents ranking it in their top three countries. This is followed by the UK (38%), Germany (27%), Australia (25%) and Japan (25%).
Singaporeans are the most positive about the quality of their own education system, with three quarters (75%) rating it better than everywhere else.
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