Most Malaysian parents are for overseas education

Filepix of Cambridge University. AFPpix

KUALA LUMPUR: A whopping 88% of Malaysian parents would consider sending their child overseas to pursue tertiary education.

HSBC Malaysia Retail Banking and Wealth Management (RBWM) head Lim Eng Seong said this percentage was higher than the global average of 77%.

He said parents were willing to fork out more for a university education abroad.

"Parents are willing to make sacrifices to fund their children's education but there is often a gap between expectation and reality," he said at the launch of HSBC's Value of Education report here.

The study showed that parents saw foreign education as a means to better job opportunities, help young people make new friends and provide international exposure.

The global report is the second in the "Value of Education" series and represents the views of 5,550 parents from 16 countries and territories.

In Malaysia, the findings are based on a nationally representative survey of 350 parents with at least one child aged 23 or younger currently  (or soon to be) in education.

The parents are either solely or partially responsible for making education-related decisions for their child.

The research was carried out online by Ipsos MORI in March and April, and commissioned by HSBC.