TNE model in Asia expected to help catalyse innovation
The transnational education (TNE) model has long offered an alternative route for students in Asia to obtain globally recognised degrees without flocking to countries like the United Kingdom, United States, Canada and Australia. But that model is evolving, taking on a broader purpose as a catalyst for innovation and national competitiveness.
“The region’s demographic shifts, economic transitions and accelerating technological change are reshaping expectations of higher education systems,” said Jazreel Goh, East Asia Insights hub lead and director of the British Council Malaysia.
Reflecting on discussions coming out of the recent UK Higher Education mission to Malaysia and during the ThinkTNE Forum in Jakarta, she told University World News that the growing convergence of demographic pressure, economic ambition and technological disruption has moved TNE into new territory.
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“It is no longer enough for partnerships to deliver imported curricula or replicate UK degrees offshore. Instead, the emerging imperative is to cocreate innovation ecosystems.
“These are shared spaces where curriculum, research, industry engagement and digital capabilities intersect to generate new forms of value for learners, institutions and economies,” she stated.
Widening access
The ThinkTNE Forum was part of a British Council-organised East Asia Education Week 2026 in the Indonesian capital.
Addressing the forum, Indonesia’s Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Technology, Brian Yuliarto, said that his government believes stronger TNE collaboration with foreign universities will make high-quality higher education accessible for everyone.
“We hope such collaboration will help to strengthen Indonesian universities and their research capacity,” he said.
Yuliarto pointed to a TNE partnership between Indonesia’s Padjadjaran University and the UK’s University of Dundee as an example of cooperation that allows students to earn a dual degree, including in life sciences disciplines such as medicine.
In a keynote address to the same forum, the UK government’s International Education Champion, Professor Sir Steve Smith, said that TNE is expanding rapidly, creating opportunities for people around the world to exchange cultures and experiences.
He added that universities implementing this system have demonstrated the strong potential of TNE when governments place it among their policy priorities.
Demographic diversity
“Asia’s demographic landscape is one of contrasts,” Goh said, with Japan, Korea and Singapore facing rapidly ageing populations and shrinking workforces, while others, including Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines are experiencing youth surges that require massive investments in skills and employability.
“East Asia’s higher education environment is undergoing profound structural transition. Systems are digitising, employers are signalling skills shortages and innovation clusters are accelerating. These forces demand education models that are agile, collaborative and future oriented,” she stated.
Gerald Magno, head of education at the British Council Philippines, noted that what stood out most during the week was a collective commitment to reshaping international higher education, from advancing TNE to empowering youth and building sustainable partnerships across borders.
“The conversations and collaborations during the week reaffirmed that education is not just about knowledge transfer but about building bridges, nurturing talent, and driving regional progress together,” he added.
The case of Thailand
A Thai social scientist who spoke to University World News on condition of anonymity said Thailand was lagging behind in TNE collaborations until recently. The Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation (MHESI) has now given approval for higher-ranking UK universities, for example, to set up branch campuses in designated “free trade provinces” to offer the same degrees as in the UK.
“With these branch campuses, Thailand wants to promote itself as a TNE hub in the region,” the academic noted.
Based at a Thai-Chinese joint venture university in Thailand, which attracts a lot of international students, the source said many universities in East and Southeast Asia are no longer too far away in rankings from their Western counterparts.
“In the past, we could not even compete with European and UK universities. Now you see in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan a lot of catching up, a lot of matching up with UK and European universities in terms of Asian and global rankings,” he said, arguing that “what drives the ranking [shifts are] research and innovation.”
In planning TNE models, he argued that one needs to keep in mind that the Chinese-speaking population has globalised.
Secondly, China is “no longer a second-rate power”, he argued, pointing to the necessity to collaborate with Chinese universities in the development of TNE structures in Asia.
National competitiveness
Goh agreed that East Asia’s higher education environment is undergoing profound structural transition.
Pointing to UNESCO’s 2025 report, Digital Leap in East Asia: Higher Education Transformation, Goh said: “Governments, employers and learners are looking to TNE not merely as a pathway for degree access but as a catalyst for innovation and building national competitiveness, including moving up the league table.”
Wahyutama, a senior lecturer and programme secretary of the Paramadina Graduate School of Communications in Indonesia, has concerns with regard to TNE in the cultural context, “primarily in the socio-cultural differences between local contexts and the Western socio-cultural foundations upon which much of today’s knowledge production is built”.
Paramadina is a modern Islamic university with a focus on science and technology education with three campuses in Java, including Jakarta.
“Thesis research on political campaigns often cannot fully rely on prevailing political campaign theories, which are largely shaped by the contexts of the United States and the United Kingdom.
“Local wisdom, which is an essential factor in determining the success of political campaigns in Indonesia, is rarely accommodated within these dominant theoretical frameworks,” he told University World News.
“Similarly, research themes centred on communication grounded in religious values, which is part of our university’s unique identity, are still under-represented in contemporary Western academic discourse,” he added.
Wahyutama argued that a two-way collaboration in TNE could bridge this gap.
“This gap presents a meaningful opportunity for further elaboration and collaboration between local universities like ours and international institutions. The two-way partnership approach becomes particularly compelling and deserves to be pursued further,” he said.
A repositioning
“The digital leap underway across East Asian universities is a decisive factor in repositioning TNE,” said Goh.
According to the British Council, there is evidence that TNE not only helps many more young people to access UK tertiary education, thereby increasing the exchange of knowledge and culture across borders, but also helps to strengthen the capacity of education systems and contributes to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
While 166 UK universities deliver some form of UK TNE in more than 230 countries and territories, East Asia remains the top region for UK TNE enrolments.
Goh said in East Asia: “the reputation and trust in the UK’s quality assurance system can act as an enabler of innovation”, which creates, for UK institutions, “fertile ground for codeveloping new curricula, joint digital learning platforms, stackable pathways linked to industry certifications and crossborder virtual internships andcollaborative online international learning.
“In the coming decade, the question for policymakers is not whether TNE can deliver highquality degrees, but whether it can contribute meaningfully to national and regional innovation agendas,” argued Goh.
“If the future of global higher education is defined by innovation capability and digital sophistication, then TNE in East Asia is well-positioned to become a significant engine of educational transformation”.