Malaysian Parents Spend More Than RM100k On Their Child’s Education
Malaysian parents ranks eighth out of 15 in spending the most on school fees and other education costs on their child, based on the latest survey by HSBC.
These costs include school and university tuition fees, educational books, transport and accommodation.
The survey found Malaysian parents spending an average of US$25,479 (RM107,920) on their child’s education, from primary school up to university undergraduate level.
The respondents consist of parents with at least one child aged 23 or younger who is currently, or soon to be, in education, drawn from nationally representative online panels in each country or territory.
The majority of respondents in Malaysia (96%) contribute towards the cost of their child’s primary school education, with 93% also contributing towards their university or college education.
However, the figures are slightly lower globally, with 89% of parents contributing towards the cost of their child’s primary school education while for university or college education, it’s 85%. This is a reduction from last year, when 98% of the parents contributed to the cost of primary school education.
“Knowing today’s highly competitive global job market, sacrifices and going the extra mile are key drivers for parents to ensure they have the best interests of their child at hand.
“Knowing also that the education landscape in Malaysia has changed over time, many parents are willing to pay good money to ensure that their child has the best education, both in terms of academic and lifestyle, something which they couldn’t experience in their student days,” said HSBC Malaysia retail banking and wealth management country head Lim Eng Seong.
The findings showed that Malaysian parents were optimistic about their children fulfilling their potential. Australia remained the most popular choice for overseas university education for these parents at 67%, followed by the UK (38%) and the US (24%).
Alternatively, parents are more open to digital learning, with 69% of them saying they would consider a university degree for their child which is completely online or incorporates some online modules.
To support their child’s education financially, many parents are making or have made financial sacrifices, such as reducing their spending on leisure activities (58%), working longer hours, contributing less to their savings or investments, and taking on a job or second job (32%) to help fund their child’s education.
The Value of Education is an independent consumer research study into global education trends, commissioned by HSBC.
Higher and higher, the fourth report in the series, was published in June and represents the views of 8,481 parents in 15 countries and territories around the world — Australia, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States.
[Source]
