Transcript Rewards and Challenges of Internationalization of Higher

Rewards and Challenges of Internationalization of
Higher Education in Africa
University of Ljubljana
Faculty of Education
By
Sintayehu Kassaye Alemu
October 2013,
University of Ljubljana
Rewards and Challenges of Internationalization
of Higher Education in Africa
INTRODUCTION
• One of the change aspects of Higher Education,
since the second half of 20th century, is the
dynamic transformation of Internationalization in
scope, role, actors, concept, activities, aims, and
rationales …
• The present process, aim, scope, actors and
activities of internationalization of higher
education are remarkably different from the past.
• It should be understood in the context of what is
known as Globalization
Cont…
• Internationalization of Higher education is no more
mere student and staff mobility, curriculum
change, institutional collaboration for teaching and
research
• It has embedded
new activities such as trans-boundary Mc
Donaldization of HEIs,
new aims such as preparing students for the global
and the knowledge economy scenario,
serving the development of national identity,
promoting the international competitiveness,
competence and accomplishment of stake-holders’
specific rationales…
Cont…
Institutional strategies and government policies
to internationalize their HEIs’ research and
teaching
new actors such as industrialists, bankers and
other stake holders
Promotion of multiculturalism, peace and
mutual understanding, quality of life…
• Hence, Internationalization of higher education
is a process, a response to international, global
socio- and-political-economic requirements;
and composes of international and local
elements (Wit, Hans de)
Rewards and Challenges…
• Is the above conceptual framework, practice,
impact, process, rational…global and equally
understood?
• In actual practices, the USA and Western
Europe or ‘the powerful universities’
were/and still are the benchmarks or
mainstreams for all the practices of
internationalization of HE
• Weaker HEIs and systems with fewer
resources and lower academic standards
continued to copy with conditions
Cont…
• In most cases, such HE systems and
Institutions are located in Africa
• African higher education institutions
particularly universities are operating under a
particularly unstable and poor socioeconomic, cultural and political situations.
• African higher education requires new
partnership to improve the local, regional and
international socio-economic, political and
cultural role higher education
Cont…
• And yet, according to the 2003 IAU survey
report on the practices and priorities of
internationalization of higher education, Africa
was not a preferred partner
• Hence, Africa has tried to promote and
develop ‘Africanization’ of higher education.
However, this was not pacing as expected as
well
• Higher education institutions in Africa
continued to be peripheral that suffer from
the copy-paste manners of reforms generated
from the mainstream or centers
Cont…
• In spite of several attempts to find out regional
revitalization strategies and apparent rewards, HEIs
in Africa, due to the unequal terms of partnership
and the ‘invisible hands’, continued to be
peripheral and dependent
• HEIs in Africa were either impacted to accept the
policies and roles of the centers or forced to
change their policies in favour of conditions of the
centers (who are represented through donors and
governments).
• This trend has further aggravated the challenges of
higher education institutions in Africa
Academic Benefits and Adverse Consequences
Academic Benefits
• Improve quality of
teaching, learning and
research
• Stakeholders deeply
engage in national,
regional, and global issues
• Students will be better
prepared as national and
global citizens and as
productive workforce
• ’
Adverse Consequences
• The gradual dominance of
English may diminish the
evolvement of diversity of
languages studied or to
deliver HE
• Global competition may
adversely affect the diversity
of institutional models,
quality, and undermine HEIs
of developing countries
• Deteriorate the capacity of
HE in developing countries
through brain drain
Cont…
Academic Benefits
• Provide students the
opportunity to access to
programs nationally
unavailable
• Enhance opportunities for
faculty improvement and
decrease the risk of
academic ‘inbreeding’
• Prepare the ground for
networked research
Adverse Consequences
• The competition may lead to
unethical practices of largescale international student
recruitment, which may also
overshadow the intellectual and
intercultural benefits of
internationalization
• Transnational campuses and
distance programs would have
many potential disadvantages
over the local HEIs, which are
established to support the
national socio-economic and
political needs
Cont…
Academic benefits
Adverse Consequences
• Offer institutions to learn
from the international
good practices
• Reputation and ranking may force
HEIs and stakeholders to look for
partner not on real academic and
related interests but on the desire
to gain prestige by associating
themselves with ranking
Universities. This trend may result
in exclusions
• Improves institutional
policy-making, governance,
student services, outreach,
quality… through
collaborative experience
sharing
• May result in asymmetrical
relations that may depend on the
capacity of resource and thus the
capacity to implement
internationalization strategies.
• Bench marking of large countries
for internationalization may pose
many challenges for
small/periphery countries.
Conclusion
• Internationalization of higher education in the
Knowledge economy and globalization scenario is
becoming a challenge for developing regions such
as Africa
• The research interest/paradigm also concentrates
on the more competitive regions of Europe, USA
and Asia/Pacific Rim.
• The situation requires deep and inclusive
research and reconsideration because the world
could not bring about global and sustainable
socio-economic development, peace and quality
of life … with out curing and neglecting part of its
body
Cont…
Issues for discussion
• Do the adverse consequences question the inherent values and
benefits of internationalization?
• Are the challenges and the adverse consequences avoidable? If
yes how? If not avoidable, what could be done to mitigate the
impacts and the challenges?
• Given the many-faceted adverse effects and impacts of
internationalization of higher education particularly on
peripheral HEIs, to what extent do such institutions have to
respond and/or tolerate the challenges?
• How can these countries/HEIs able to establish a knowledge
society/economy and become part of the global knowledge
area?
• Could the major aims of internationalization of higher education
be attained without considering the rest of the world?
• What are the requirements to be internationalized?
END
• Thank you for your time and attention!