Fast facts

Population: Over 13.2 million, with 1.8 million in the capital city of Kigali.

Youth: Three-quarters of the population is under 35, and the median age is 19.

Geography: Rwanda is in central/eastern Africa, bordered Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Unemployment: The youth unemployment rate was 18% in 2023.

Languages: notes that “99% of Rwandans speak Kinyarwanda – a Bantu language and the country’s mother-tongue – and Rwanda has three other official languages: French, English and Swahili.” Rwandans used to favour French over English, but after the genocide of Tutsis in the late-90s and a popular perception that France did not do enough to stop it, there was a quick transition to English.

English: The EF Proficiency Index ranks Rwanda 22nd of 24 countries in Africa for English proficiency. The language of instruction is English and improving English-language proficiency is .

Religion: Christianity dominates, and the Muslim population makes up only 1% of the total.

Outbound: UNESCO counted 6,900 students from Rwanda abroad for tertiary education in 2022. That is a relatively small number, but it is growing, albeit relatively slowly. In 2023/24, the US down 4.5% from the previous year. Canada hosted 2,785 – a doubling over the previous year. Smaller numbers of Rwandan students are in India, France, DRC, Uganda, and South Africa.

Inbound: 9,000 students in 2024, up from 1,400 in 2017.

Rwanda is one of the most interesting countries in Africa – in general, but also in terms of education. Increasing the enrolment rate at all school levels, improving quality, moving towards sustainability, and digitisation have been goals of the government for years. President Paul Kagame, who has been in power since 2000, has had a longtime aim of making Rwanda a knowledge economy and an education hub in Africa. Since 2017, the country has moved from attracting 1,400 international students to .

The government has articulated key goals in its to improve the access, quality, and relevance of education. That plan intends to transform Rwanda from a “predominantly agrarian-based, low-income economy to an industrial upper middle-income nation by 2035.”

The strategy prioritises improvements in the secondary system (especially literacy and numeracy) and vocational training sector (TVET). At the higher education level, it pinpoints STEM fields, manufacturing, construction, health, and education. Across all levels, there is an emphasis on digital delivery models and digital competency.

Challenges in the country’s higher education system include a lack of qualified teachers, a lack of instructors with advanced degrees – affecting the ability of the country to conduct and collaborate internationally on research – and weak links with priority industries and employers. In addition, more than half of higher education institutions are private and not all of them are delivering high quality or relevant education. Private institutions have helped to increase capacity and access, but the government rightly states in its strategy that this is not enough to help the country meet its development goals.

Goal: To become “the Singapore of Africa”

Despite its challenges, Rwanda’s higher education system has improved steadily and on par with the country’s aspirations to be “the Singapore of Africa”– i.e., a regional education hub. The aim for the system is to be relevant to local and regional needs yet also globally connected and competitive – and students from other African countries are clearly impressed. Speaking with the Somalian student Rahma Ahmed, an IT and entrepreneurship student at (founded according to an international partnership) said:

“I was thrilled the moment I got an opportunity to come to Rwanda. Because the other international students shared interesting study experiences, the hospitality of the students was also good, and diversity of the nationalities in the institutions was a bonus among others. And then there’s the money issue. Higher education in Rwanda has long been a lot cheaper than it is in most regions that I have checked out. In fact, almost free, for international students and nationals alike.”

Drice Michaella Ingabire, a Burundian former student at (a high school, and again a Rwanda-foreign country collaboration), said:

“Rwanda is a country that gives everyone an equal chance. That includes the children of farmers from the remotest corners of low-income countries, who couldn’t possibly think of studying at IVY League universities.”

Open to foreign agreements

The government is open to international collaborations to help it achieve its regional hub ambitions. For example, to address Rwanda’s shortage of qualified teachers, INTO and the British Council joined forces with local providers to deliver a . Students took digital tablets home throughout the course to receive the training virtually.

INTO’s Mike Riley said the project was hugely successful and that Rwandan trainer graduates now pass on their learning to Rwandan teachers.

“It has been inspiring working with teachers across the whole of Rwanda and supporting efforts to achieve a sustainable change in the Rwandan education system. We wish the local English teachers the very best as they deliver ongoing training to local secondary teachers in Rwanda, who we know are excited to put their new skills into practice.”

INTO and the British Council have been involved in training thousands of Rwandan teachers in English in the past few years through various partnerships, including with the Mastercard Foundation.

Countries with universities currently working in higher education partnerships with Rwanda include (click on the hyperlinks to read about them):

• Belgium
• And many more.

In all these cases, the goal is to forge mutually beneficial arrangements that meet Rwanda’s labour market and research needs, and to have more PhD graduates in the country (see this . The Rwandan government is interested in educational exchanges more than pure outbound mobility, as explained by Dr Robert Ibo Hinson in

In short, Rwanda is following the “smart internationalisation” pathway coined by Professor Damtew Tefera and advocated in Tibelius Amutuhaire’s Internationalization and Student Mobility: Exploring the Mobility of Higher Education Students in East Africa, which we covered last week on ���Ϲ��� Monitor. Professor Tefera argues that traditional concepts of internationalisation are Eurocentric/Western and do not benefit the Global South because they are not relevant to the economic and cultural contexts in Africa. He proposes that “smart internationalisation strategies make the process locally focused, though with an international flavour.”

Rwanda offers a fascinating example of the future of internationalisation – more balance between inbound and outbound, and heavily geared towards the needs of the sending country.

For additional background, please see:

• “East African student mobility: Current trends and future possibilities”
• “International scholarships aimed at encouraging a more equitable world“

The post Rwanda: A prime example of “smart internationalisation” appeared first on ���Ϲ��� Monitor - Market intelligence for international student recruitment.

Pervasive quality issues

The presence of so many young people begs the question of how much capacity and quality there is in Morocco’s education system, and the answer is: not enough. The World Economic Forum ranked Morocco for the quality of its education system in 2017/18, though in more positive news the proportion of secondary school-aged students enrolled in high schools has jumped from 69% in 2012 to 80% in 2018.

At the tertiary level, students face serious challenges: Moroccan education ministry data show that two in three students enrolled at one of the country’s 14 public universities are failing to complete their studies, and a major cause of this is that they are not sufficiently .

At first glance this seems odd, since French is so often the language of business and government (despite the country’s official languages being Arabic and Amazigh, or Berber). But a political movement devoted to increasing the use of Arabic in primary school has seen science and math courses taught in Arabic until secondary school for the past three decades – despite the fact that these subjects are taught in French in the country’s universities. A draft law was passed this past summer to reintroduce French as the language of instruction for science, math, and technical subjects in primary and intermediate school, but .

Whatever the fate of the draft legislation, the fact remains that many university students are not prepared for studies at the tertiary level. To make matters worse, overcrowding in university classrooms is a major issue, and universities are facing huge deficits in terms of equipment and especially teachers.

Demand for alternatives

Ambitious students who are able to pay for higher education at a private university or at a branch campus or joint programme offered by a foreign university are doing so, and there are large numbers of Moroccans who opt to study abroad as well, primarily in France. In 2017, there were 38,000 Moroccans enrolled in France, making up 43% of France’s international student population and representing a 17% increase over the ten years from 2007 to 2016.

More broadly, the latest UNESCO data indicates there were more than 51,000 Moroccan students abroad in 2018, the great majority in France but also several thousand in Europe (e.g., Germany, Italy, Spain), Canada, and the US.

China extending its reach

China has shown great interest in recent years in Morocco as a North African hub for its overall presence on the continent. Given China’s strategy in other African countries – which is to invest heavily in improving access to education students in these countries as a pillar of its overall investment – we can expect to see more news of China funding Moroccan education initiatives. Already:

• China has invested US$1 billion in the “,” an industrial hub near Tangiers, whose goal is to create 100,000 jobs for Moroccans.
• Earlier this year, China agreed to provide Morocco millions of dollars for information and communication technology and education projects.
• Morocco and China have announced a joint academic institute in Morocco specifically devoted to studying China’s Belt and Road. The two universities participating are China’s Ningxia University and Morocco’s Hassan I University.
• In 2016, Morocco lifted the requirement for Chinese visitors to have a visa to enter the country, with the effect that in the first five months of 2018, Morocco received 120,000 Chinese tourists, compared to 43,000 in 2016 – .
• The Chinese government has announced a goal of encouraging more Moroccans to study in China.

Canada making it easier for Moroccans

In Canada, there are 2,800 Moroccans in Canadian higher education institutions, and this is a figure that will likely grow given the government’s announcement this fall that Moroccan students are now eligible for Canada’s expedited visa processing system.

Opportunities in vocational education

When youth unemployment in Morocco reached an all-time high of nearly 30% in 2017, the government was instructed by the King to develop a new trajectory for the country based on more locally attuned education and vocational training programmes geared at creating more jobs.

Between 2018 and 2019, the number of scholarships the Moroccan government provided to vocational students increased by 177%. And between 2015 and 2018, were established.

As well as vocational training, particularly for auto, textiles, and metal industries, there is high demand for graduates with master’s degrees, especially in IT.

For additional background, please see:

• “Morocco still aiming to boost education quality and access”
• “Moroccan and Senagalese students now eligible for Canada’s expedited visa processing system”
• “Africa’s pressing need for targeted skills training”

The post Morocco prioritises vocational training and strengthens ties with China appeared first on ���Ϲ��� Monitor - Market intelligence for international student recruitment.

Unrest and unemployment

Morocco’s government, which operates under a complex power sharing agreement with King Mohammed VI, has been vocal about wanting to tackle major education problems. Those include low adult literacy, high youth unemployment, and a lack of skilled workers, including teachers. However, despite announcing several programmes to address these issues, the government has stalled on implementing changes.

A major complication has been ongoing clashes between students and security forces. Student dissatisfaction often centers on , but protests over more specific issues such as privatisation in education, , and the are commonplace. In response, the government has labeled the student movement , restricted campus demonstrations, and authorised police to enter university facilities.

The Moroccan paradox is that students are not only dissatisfied with government reform of universities, but with the quality of universities as they now stand, and the assessments of external bodies underscore the problem. , for example, measures 144 countries and ranks Morocco 102nd for the quality of its education system, 104th for higher education and training, and 105th for both tertiary education enrolment and technological readiness.

As in many countries, the debate on educational quality in Morocco focuses whether universities are job-training centers for business and industry, or whether they exist to serve the aspirations of students, even if they choose fields with more limited employment prospects. While , the mismatch in Morocco between graduate skills and job market requirements is real.

, and it is youth that suffer the most. According to International Monetary Fund figures, the percentage of youth (defined as ages 15 to 24) in total unemployment is about 25% in the MENA region, reaching a high of 30% in Tunisia. Those percentages are approximately twice the overall global rate.

Moroccan joblessness has worsened in recent years as low-skilled expatriates have returned from economically fragile Europe, and the Middle East have found havens in Morocco, and highly skilled Moroccans have relocated overseas. This last group amounts to more than 400,000 locals with tertiary or graduate degrees taking their knowledge elsewhere, according to the Global Innovation Index. These issues have complicated the Moroccan government’s education reform plans.

Government approaches to reform

One worry voiced by observers is that reform in one area sometimes exacerbates problems elsewhere. For instance, with Moroccan employers preferentially hiring the privately educated, the government is now supporting private school development via tax incentives. But UNESCO’s latest Education for All Global Monitoring Report called the Moroccan education divide one of the world’s widest, and warned that more private schools could give rise to a permanent two-tiered system.

With equitable access a key concern, the Moroccan government has pushed ahead with a fresh set of changes. Rachid Belmokhtar, the Minister of National Education and Vocational Training, presented these in November as part of a new education project called . The programme aims to:

• Restructure higher education by grouping big universities together into hubs in an effort to increase their visibility across the region and the continent;
• Promote university scientific research;
• Increase mastery of the Arabic language and instill a working knowledge of foreign languages;
• Integrate general education with vocational training by identifying occupations during primary education, establishing a vocational track in secondary school, and moving towards expanded vocational training.

Vision 2030 addresses important areas, but the are considered by some observers to be more immediate and concrete: smaller classes, better equipment, more accessibility to rural schools, laptops in classrooms, libraries on campuses, and more.

A new focus on English

One of the most important, if contentious, changes involves potentially shifting from French to English as the predominant language of instruction in higher education. Though French is not an official state language (only Arabic and Tamazight hold such status), it is widely used in classrooms. But its position is weakening. A new report submitted to King Mohammed VI by the Supreme Council for Education, Training and Scientific Research, recommends .

However, a shift toward English had been underway even before the Supreme Council report. In 2014, for example, the Ministry of National Education and Vocational Training signed a partnership agreement with the British Council in Morocco to install . And as of January 2015, science students and selected STEM and health sciences professors before being able to study or be employed in science universities.

Lahcen Daoudi, Morocco’s Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, has offered vocal support for plans to move toward English, but his statements have courted controversy. In August 2014 he said that , and Arabic will be one of them only because of its link to the Quran, not because of its importance in areas such as science.

The Minister noted the number of science and technology papers published in recent years – most of them written in English – and argues that the goals of less developed countries are made needlessly more difficult if students do not learn the language.

About 32% of Moroccans speak French, which contributed to France’s hosting 65% of Morocco’s outbound higher education students in 2012 (more than 28,000 Moroccan students studies in France that year). By contrast, Canada and the US were the top-ranked, English-speaking hosts, with about 1,300 and 1,200 students respectively. France’s lofty perch as the preferred study destination of Moroccan students is not likely to be threatened soon, but any shift in language proficiency in Morocco toward English suggests markedly improved opportunities for education providers on the horizon.

Recent successes

While more substantive reforms are still unfolding, the government has enacted two recent funding initiatives that have been met with widespread approval by students. Over the last two years it has created – a 70% increase – and managed to set aside 1.25 billion dirham (US$152 million) to fund them. Today 250,000 university students benefit in varying degrees from grants.

Unfortunately, Minister Daoudi overstepped himself when he announced in June 2014 that Morocco would offer financial support to all college students who applied for the 2014/15 school year. , provoking a dismayed reaction from campuses around the country.

At the end of 2014, however, the minister regained the approval of some observers when he announced a second plan aimed directly at students. The government now intends to improve students’ financial readiness for university by . Minister Daoudi explained, “We need to foster the right conditions so that the Moroccan student can be solely dedicated to studies and academic activities.”

The plan takes effect for the 2015/2016 academic year, and will eventually include all students pursuing education beyond the baccalaureate, whether in preparatory classes for engineers, higher education institutions, or professional and vocational training. Nearly a quarter million students are expected to benefit from the programme, and the plan lends credibility to government officials who talk about reforming Moroccan education in an equitable way.

According to UNESCO more than 44,000 Moroccan tertiary students were enrolled overseas in 2012. From a recruitment perspective, the strong Moroccan inclination toward international study means any increase in educational attainment brought about by government policy will likely result in new opportunities for international educators.

Working with the international community

Morocco maintains education agreements with many nations. For example, , the lead international development agency in the US, is gearing up a US$38 million project to enhance the employability of Moroccan youth by assisting university and vocational students in their transition from school to work. USAID plans to build stronger links between education institutions and the private sector, with the long-term goal of generating the type of private-sector growth and employment levels that contribute to national stability. USAID also helps train teachers and offers ongoing professional development.

Morocco is closely linked to the European Union, particularly France and Spain, and is the largest recipient of EU funds under the European Neighbourhood Policy. Farther afield, Morocco renewed diplomatic relations with Iran after a five-year break, is in conversation with Russia concerning economic sectors from wheat to tourism, and was cited in a 2014 Canadian government report as a high priority country in Canada’s international education strategy.

But perhaps Morocco’s most important international plan involves reaching out to its own people. The government is building a profile of the Moroccan Diaspora, a community estimated to be five million strong. According to official data, are studying in top universities or working in leading businesses. There are about 8,000 Moroccan doctors practicing around the world. Canada’s predominantly French-speaking Quebec region has more than 350 Moroccan professors alone.

Morocco maintains or participates in outreach programmes designed to entice nationals back to their homeland to contribute expertise and entrepreneurship. One of these, the UN’s Transfer of Knowledge Through Expatriates (TOKTEN) programme, has been in existence since 1993. Another programme entitled MDM Invest encourages expatriate investment in Moroccan projects by direct investments, subsidies for start-up costs, and facilitating bank loans.

Moving forward

Some observers point out that the Moroccan government must maintain a coalition with top educators if it hopes to move ahead smoothly with reforms. Education International General Secretary Fred van Leeuwen has said, “If it is to have quality education for all, the Moroccan government must involve teachers and education staff to completely rethink the education agenda aimed at improving the quality of education and the status of teachers.”

While some believe the strong links are required between curricula and labour markets, critics of that approach say students will benefit only until the economy (and so the job market) changes, which these days it does rapidly. Carey Nelson, who served as president of the American Association of University Professors and knows the North African region well, told Al-Fanar Media last year that when business and industry shape university curriculum to produce the graduates they need, “they just produce employees that are expendable.”

In the end, the key to whether the country can realise real progress in terms of boosting the quality of education and access for Moroccan students may simply be the strength of the government’s commitment (including that of King Mohammed VI) to affecting real change.

The post Morocco still aiming to boost education quality and access appeared first on ���Ϲ��� Monitor - Market intelligence for international student recruitment.

The findings in each case suggest that higher education institutions in major host countries around the world are continuing to rapidly expand their partnerships with institutions abroad. They further suggest that such linkages are becoming an increasingly important recruitment channel for the host institutions.

This pattern is reflected as well in another late-2014 report from the American Council on Education (ACE): . The report gathers together survey responses from 134 American universities and colleges, as well as findings from more selective follow-up interviews conducted by email and telephone.

The study is primarily concerned with degree programmes that are “designed and delivered by two or more partner institutions in different countries.” In the case of joint degrees, the students receive a single credential endorsed by both institutions, whereas dual degree students receive a credential from each of the partner institutions.

Respondents to the ACE study characterised joint degree programmes as more challenging to implement and administer than dual degrees, largely due to issues around mapping course equivalencies and articulating curricula.

For example, ACE quotes Dania Brandford-Calvo, director of the Global Education Office at the University of Rhode Island, who notes that while joint degrees are “exciting once they get off the ground,” they often entail years of preparation, an extensive amount of work, and numerous stumbling blocks.

“Ms Brandford-Calvo noted the entire relevant curriculum must be reviewed on each side, along with thesis requirements and other programme details. It is necessary to find mutual agreement on how much credit to award for particular coursework, as it may vary between the partners. And, she added, many of the stumbling blocks in the process are country- and context-specific (e.g., regulations set by a national board of education) so they are unique to each programme and cannot be anticipated ahead of time.

Dual degrees, in contrast, typically are somewhat less complicated. While issues of course equivalencies and programme requirements must still be resolved, Ms Brandford-Calvo observed that there is often ‘more flexibility’ in these areas than for joint degrees. A number of participants also noted that as long as students fulfill their (US) institution’s degree requirements, it is up to the partner institution to determine and enforce its own requirements; the two degrees truly are separate, and granted independently by each institution.”

This perhaps explains the prevalence of dual degree programmes within the ACE survey: of the programmes reported in detail by survey respondents, 78% were dual degrees and 22% joint programmes.

More generally, survey respondents reported greater challenges with academic issues – establishing course equivalencies, differences in language and culture, methodologies for grading and teaching – as opposed to any administrative issues (e.g., regulatory, risk management) in terms of challenges associated with setting up or operating offshore programmes.

A snapshot of US programmes offshore

Of the 134 respondents to the ACE survey, 89 provided detailed information on 193 joint and dual degree programmes currently operating offshore. China was the number one location by far, accounting for 37% of the programmes reported in the study. France was the second most-common programme location, followed by Turkey, Germany, and South Korea.

“The prominence of these five countries is broadly consistent with student mobility patterns for US institutions,” the report notes. “China, South Korea, and Turkey are among the top ten sending countries for students coming to the United States, while France and Germany are among the top study abroad destinations for US students.”

Partner institution locations for joint and dual degree programmes reported in the ACE survey, 2014

Undergraduate programmes accounted for nearly half of the offshore linkages reported in the study (48%), with the balance composed of 39% graduate degrees, 11% doctoral programmes, and 2% associate degrees.

As the following chart reflects, business programmes are the most popular of the joint or dual degrees reported, followed by the sciences.

Area of study for programmes reported in the ACE survey, 2014

The vast majority of programmes in the ACE sample were accredited, and more than two-thirds of the programmes reported were accredited both in the US and in the partner country.

Accreditation for programmes reported in the ACE survey, 2014

In terms of timing, most respondents (70%) indicated a timeframe of up to three years for programme development and launch, with an average time requirement of roughly two years. Specific start dates were provided for 61 of the 193 programmes reported in the survey and of those nearly half were launched within the last five years.

This suggests an increase in institutional linking activity in the US, in this case particularly with respect to joint and dual degree programmes, that is in keeping with similar expansions of partnering activity we have observed in recent years in Canada, Australia, and the UK.

Launch dates for programmes reported in the ACE survey, 2014

Regardless of launch timing, it seems clear that enrolment is a major factor in sustaining these international programmes. Ultimately the success of the programme, and the willingness of both partners to support it, is heavily dependent on whether or not the programme meets the expectations of each partner with respect to enrolment.

Student enrolment and mobility

A majority (63%) of programmes reported in the survey enroll only non-US students, while the remaining third accommodate a mix of US and foreign students.

While joint or dual degree programmes often find their rationale in broader internationalisation strategies of the host institution, the ACE report notes, “The heavy skew toward enrolment of non-US students draws attention to the intended purpose of international joint and dual degree programmes, as well as the expected benefits to participants. The data suggest – and when interviewed, a number of respondents agreed – that [joint and dual degree programmes] may be serving primarily as a mechanism for US institutions to recruit international students.

One respondent noted that collaborative degree programmes are attractive in terms of recruiting abroad because they are ‘controlled,’ and students have essentially already been vetted through the partner institution’s admission process.”

In keeping with this finding, half of the survey respondents indicated that technology plays a part in the delivery of joint or dual degree programmes offshore. However, a larger majority (84%) indicated requirements for international travel or exchange – that is, for students to complete some of the programme requirements at the US host institution.

ACE adds, “Mobility configurations vary considerably; a number of respondents characterised their programmes as ‘plus’ models, (e.g., 2+2, 3+1, 1+2+1, and in one case, 1+1+1+1), which entail undergraduate students rotating between the two partner institutions on a yearly basis.

Whatever the configuration, however, the high percentage of programmes that require student mobility of some type suggests that even in light of technological advances, in-person cross-cultural interaction is still a primary component of joint academic endeavours; it also lends credence to the hypothesis that collaborative degree programmes are indeed considered a tool for bringing international students to campus.”

The clear implication of the ACE survey is that joint and dual programmes generally require a significant institutional commitment on the part of both partners along with a long-term investment of staff time and resources, both for the initial implementation as well as the ongoing operation of international programmes. While the report raises questions about the broader internationalisation impacts of such initiatives, it also clearly points to their growing importance as an efficient and effective recruitment channel for host institutions.

The post US institutions expanding joint and dual degree arrangements abroad appeared first on ���Ϲ��� Monitor - Market intelligence for international student recruitment.

Ambitious goals for enrolment

The Indian government wants to raise its higher education GER (Gross Enrolment Ratio) . It is currently at 19%, well below the global average of 26%. The government is stressing the importance of improving quality as a means to enrol more students within its own higher education system (for years, top – and/or wealthy – Indian students have tended to go abroad for higher education; in fact, the number of Indian students going overseas to study rose a stunning 256% from 53,266 in 2000 to 189,629 in 2009).

Last year, Indian President Pranab Mukherjee commented:

“The standards of higher education in India today need improvement. In ancient India, we had universities like Nalanda and Takshashila which had established themselves as international centres of educational excellence where students from all over the world came and studied. We must change the reality of our universities for not figuring in the list of top universities… Indian universities should aim at becoming top educational institutions in the world with global standards of research, teaching and learning.”

The government now says that efforts have been underway to rectify this situation since the introduction of the 11^th Five Year Plan (which covered the 2007–2012 planning cycle). The 12^th Plan (2012–2017) aims to reduce poverty by 10% and achieve an 8% growth rate. Its educational focus areas are technical education and distance learning, plus better quality in research, infrastructure, faculty, and curriculum content.

State-funded schools get new funding

To support the ideas of quality improvement and greater access, to the higher education plan known as Rashtriya Ucchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (or RUSA), which has a budget of US $16 billion dollars to be spent between 2012 and 2022. The two most notable – and encouraging – aspects of RUSA are:

1. The focus of the available budget is on improving the quality of institutions as opposed to the creation of new infrastructure. The idea is to prioritise student needs (e.g., labs and training) over more administrative or logistical options.
2. The target of the new funding is state schools, which serve about 94% of the higher education student population in India versus the 6% served by centrally funded institutions. To date, despite state schools’ much higher student populations, it has been centrally funded schools that have received the most funding from the central government.

To be eligible for funding, states will have to set up certain administrative procedures and commit to allocating at least 4% of their GDP to higher education. Professor Baishnab Charan Tripathy, vice-chancellor of Ravenshaw University in Odisha state provided this quote to University World News:

“RUSA links the state government, the centre and the university, with all three working towards strengthening the higher education sector. This can rejuvenate declining state institutions and give a big boost to higher education in states.”

In short, where previous government five-year higher education plans have emphasised creating new infrastructure and institutions, RUSA is meant to be about strengthening existing resources, improving quality and outcomes, and improving governance. Moreover, it will be performance based, with more funds going to states and institutions boasting the best records and outcomes.

Foreign institutions invited in

In early September, the Indian Education Ministry announced it will now in the country, putting an end to years of legislative delays on this issue. The degrees that will be conferred from foreign branch campuses will be considered foreign degrees, and if students wish to switch over or progress to Indian higher education institutions they will need to seek recognition of their credentials from the Association of Indian Universities.

To be allowed in, foreign branch campuses have to meet these conditions:

• Not for profit;
• In existence for at least 20 years;
• Accredited by a reputable organisation;
• Be ranked in the top 400 in one of three global rankings: the UK-based Times Higher Education or Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) rankings, or the Shanghai Jiao Tong University Academic Ranking of World Universities;
• Offer course content as good as that offered via their main campuses;
• Not repatriate money earned on Indian soil or distribute profit or dividends to members.

So far, reaction to the new ruling seems positive, with an overall sense that branch campuses will increase the quality of education available to Indians in India, create a more competitive overall atmosphere (thus prompting Indian universities to improve), and bring in investment to various regions. University World News reports:

“A Human Resource Development Ministry official said that at least 20 foreign universities – mostly from the US, followed by Australia and Canada – had expressed a desire to enter the market, including Duke University, California Institute of Technology and Virginia Tech.”

Key will be in implementation

The Gross Enrolment Ratio goal of 30% by 2020, the RUSA funding and emphasis on quality, and the more welcoming policy toward foreign institutions may well spell great things to come for Indian students – and for a broader socio-economic swath of students than is currently able to access quality higher education in India.

But achieving “quality” improvements can sometimes be more elusive than simply expanding infrastructure and will have to be well managed and executed – with measurable indicators of performance checked off along the way. Done properly, RUSA stands to be incredibly important to the Indian higher education system, but done poorly it could amount to high hopes and lower real outcomes. Time will tell.

Another concern is how smoothly foreign branch campuses will be able to set up operations in India. There will be careful study of other branch campus setups in other countries in recent years to prevent red tape from bogging down the process and for great courses and programmes to be available to Indian students before long.

What is more immediate is what all three developments – the GER ratio goal, RUSA, and the new openness to branch campuses – signal to institutions around the world heavily invested in Indian student recruitment: India is intent on stepping up its domestic higher education quality and capacity, and create a skilled workforce of 500 million people by 2022.

India is not alone. The significant representation of Chinese institutions in world university rankings is a relatively new development. A recent ���Ϲ��� Monitor article on Hong Kong, and other emerging education hubs in Asia, noted:

• A 17% increase in the number of Asian universities in QS’s global top 200 during the last five years;
• The number of Asian institutions in their global top 50 growing from nine to eleven;
• The fact that Asia boasts five of the world’s top six “young” institutions (universities established since 1963) according to the QS Top 50 Under 50 ranking.

Will India now achieve similar success? If it does, look for even more Asian institutions in the world university rankings in years ahead.

The post India opens up, and raises the bar for its education system appeared first on ���Ϲ��� Monitor - Market intelligence for international student recruitment.

This makes international education a significant export sector in the country, and the government aims to see it bigger still, having set a target of doubling the sector’s value to NZ $5 billion (US $4.1 billion) by 2025.

Funding boost to attract more foreign students

New Zealand took an important step in this direction last week with the announcement from Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce of an additional to further the promotion of New Zealand as an international study destination.

“This $40 million investment through the Government’s new Education New Zealand crown agency will continue to strengthen New Zealand education’s presence in key markets such as China, India, South-east Asia, and South America, and will attract more international students to study in New Zealand,” said Minister Joyce.

The additional funding for Education New Zealand is part of a broader package of NZ $400 million in investments in internationally-oriented growth to be found in New Zealand’s 2013 budget.

Beyond its immediate economic impacts, Minister Joyce also set out the role of the education sector in supporting greater economic, political, and social linkages between New Zealand and its trading partners: “Although the income from international education is important, it is the strong people-to-people links that flow from it that brings the greatest benefit to New Zealand.

Former international students are often employed overseas for New Zealand companies, and international students are great advocates and ambassadors for New Zealand in their home countries.”

The new funding will be used to expand New Zealand’s recruitment efforts in both established and developing markets, encourage greater delivery of New Zealand education services abroad, and increase the participation of New Zealanders in overseas study.

on the funding announcement, Education New Zealand noted: “[We] will continue to update the industry throughout the year about where and how these additional resources are being invested, beginning with the release of our Statement of Intent in May. Following this, we will host a series of industry forums around the country to present our new Business Plan, which sets out Education New Zealand’s priorities for the next three years.”

Education New Zealand Chief Executive Grant McPherson added:

“In addition to our own efforts, we will also continue to work with other government agencies to capitalise on all-of-government initiatives to market New Zealand internationally – ensuring a New Zealand education is promoted alongside tourism and other trade initiatives.”

The tourism sector is a powerful one for the island nation, contributing NZ $9.6 billion a year to New Zealand’s economy. Recent headlines here include:

• Tourism Industry Association New Zealand has earmarked NZ $28 million over four years to support the growth of tourism businesses;
• Tourism New Zealand and STA Travel Group signed a joint to promote youth tourism to New Zealand;
• new safety measures are being implemented in the adventure tourism sector.

Visa processing improvements

This increased marketing investments follow on the heels of major initiatives from Immigration New Zealand to improve visa processing between now and 2015. These measures include the rollout of the Immigration Global Management System – a system for delivering visa services online – and the expansion of a global network of Visa Application Centres (VACs).

Such moves parallel those in other major destination countries, most closely matched by recent announcements in Canada, to improve service availability and reduce processing times for temporary resident visas, including student visas.

Enrolment trends

These promising funding and immigration developments are all the more important when considered against the backdrop of declining international student enrolments in New Zealand over the past decade. While industry revenues have recovered to 2003 levels over the last five years, international enrolments have been flat or declining since 2003.

International student enrolment and tuition fees for New Zealand, 2003–2012 from Education New Zealand

Education New Zealand reports a marginal increase in tuition value of 2% from 2011 to 2012, with total enrolment falling again over that same period. With the exception of ITPs (Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics) – where enrolment grew by 7.1% in 2012 – all other sectors saw enrolment declines from 2011 to 2012, ranging from a 3% drop for the schools to a 13% decline for PTEs (Private Training Establishments).

The latter group is especially concerning as it is largely made up of English language schools, often a bellwether group for broader enrolment trends due to the degree to which ESL students move on to academic programmes after completing their English language studies.

Education New Zealand attributes the 2012 drop in English language enrolments to price sensitivity related to the strengthening New Zealand dollar, intense competition in the ESL sector, and changes to immigration policy impacting ESL students.

For more background on the country’s performance in 2012 and a robust roundup of the government’s progress towards its ambitious 2025 goals, please see our related article: “Student visa approvals drop in New Zealand, government working to reverse the trend.”

The Education New Zealand analysis is accompanied by the crown agency’s strong commitment to “working with each sector of New Zealand’s international education industry to support institutions’ needs and priorities, and to enable industry-led growth” – a challenge for which the country’s increased marketing investment and visa system improvements are surely very welcome developments indeed.

The post New Zealand aims to double value of international education by 2025 appeared first on ���Ϲ��� Monitor - Market intelligence for international student recruitment.

At the Transforming Education Summit held recently in Abu Dhabi, Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced that education is the top priority for the country moving forward:

“We have come to grips with the fact that the world economy is now increasingly driven by knowledge and innovation. The future economic growth and global prosperity will therefore depend on our success in making the pursuit of innovation through quality education as the prime mover of economic development,” he said.

The goal is to have Malaysia become the world’s sixth-biggest education exporting country by 2020 with a target of 200,000 international students.

In the government’s efforts it is:

• leaning on the private sector to help provide industry-relevant education;
• streamlining and easing up immigration processes for students;
• setting up a marketing arm to promote the country’s universities;
• investing in niche study areas like Islamic finance/banking and executive education for which the country can be known internationally;
• attracting foreign universities to set up branch campuses in Malaysia.

Malaysia has already shown that it can harness its education sector to fuel economic growth. When it was devastated in the 1997 economic downturn, it decided to strengthen its education system as a counter to the damage by such means as:

• convincing its student population to study in Malaysia rather than overseas;
• establishing twinning programmes with reputable foreign universities;
• attracting international students to study in Malaysia;
• establishing branch colleges and universities in India, Vietnam, and Sri Lanka.

Community engagement to be a Malaysian strength

A higher education specialty for which Malaysia would like to be known is community engagement. In early May, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, or UKM, hosted the launch of AsiaEngage. AsiaEngage will be an “umbrella organisation for community-engaged universities,” comprising the Asia-Talloires Network of Industry and Community Engaged universities, the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) University Network and the ASEAN Youth Volunteer Programme.

The organisation was born of a belief that being active, responsive and engaged with communities is integral to universities’ purpose and strength. The idea is for to engage with communities – conducting research in them and also learning from and reflecting their perspectives and local wisdom.

University World News quoted Rajesh Tandon, an international expert on participatory research, on the importance of the AsiaEngage initiative:

“Many local people, he told the conference, have never entered the ‘sacred domes’ of the university, yet possess knowledge that is relevant and important. ‘There is a need to relate more practical knowledge with the more theoretical.’”

UKM vice-chancellor Sharifah Hapsah Syed Hasan Shahabudin commented on the importance of the Malaysian university’s secretariat: “Community engagement is one of our strengths at UKM and we are confident of leading on it regionally or even internationally. So having the secretariat here means we can lead, be part of the region, the ASEAN and Asia.”

Educity Iskandar gains new members

The 142-hectare campus at – which will open as a full campus in 2015 – is now set to comprise no fewer than eight foreign universities. Newcastle, Southampton, and Reading universities will join The Netherlands Maritime Institute of Technology and the Singaporean private university Raffles. Still in negotiations with the executive of the huge Malaysian “student village” are Australia’s Monash and a Californian cinematic art school, as well as one more unnamed international institution.

Educity Iskandar is one of Malaysia’s main prongs in the country’s effort to attract foreign students – the universities within it will be privy to elaborate sports and recreational facilities made possible by the shared organisation of the student village.

International universities, particularly those from the UK, cannot help but be intrigued. quotes Reg Jordan, CEO and provost of Newcastle’s Medical School in Malaysia as saying:

“The World Bank will tell you that there’s going to be an increasingly exponential demand for higher education but it’s largely going to come from Asia and south-east Asia… The growth triangle of Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia is a very big market. We already had a presence here so when the operation came to put our own full international branch campus, our building, our staff, right next door to where we have other interests that became a quite interesting proposition.”

Southampton’s Professor Mark Spearing, pro vice-chancellor, international – whose university will be opening a new engineering faculty in Malaysia in autumn of this year – said the location was a “very natural fit.”

He noted: “Malaysia is the hub of hi-tech industry … Dyson, Rolls Royce, Lloyds Register and BAE Systems are all interested in working with us and employing our students … one of the huge attractions of EduCity is the opportunity to share resources and spread risk and to concentrate on academic delivery.”

Another hub in the making is the Kuala Lumpur Education City, which is still under development but has two locations within the city planned. The hub will offer education from Cambridge Business School, Epsom College, and Universiti Sains Malaysia (and potentially other schools) to those in the region with an expected student population of nearly 30,000.

Malaysia and the UK intent on close educational collaboration

It comes as no surprise that three of the eight foreign universities who have signed up to participate in EduCity Iskandar are from the UK: Malaysia and the UK are growing ever closer in their desire to partner in education initiatives. Case in point: reports that British Prime Minister David Cameron recently visited Malaysia to sign an education partnership agreement in a ceremony that also saw the announcement of two scholarship initiatives.

The Chevening Scholarships programme, which supports study by Malaysian students at UK universities, received funding from BAE Systems to double scholarships to 28 places. And 19 new engineering scholarships at the University of Southampton’s campus in Malaysia have been created thanks to Dyson and the Lloyd’s Register Educational Trust.

Times HE reports that “more than 14,000 Malaysian students are now enrolled at UK universities, with 58,000 studying for British higher qualifications in their own country.”

Where education meets business

The country’s strategy also includes the development of the necessary research infrastructure to position Malaysia as a regional centre of excellence and the central node for an international network of academic institutions, companies and services.

The Multimedia University, nested in the Multimedia Super Corridor, is another example of an endeavor to attract foreign students with the perspective of working in an integrated environment combining academic excellence and private business.

If you build it, they will come, indeed

Malaysia’s concerted efforts to transition from a traditional source of students to an international study destination in its own right seem to be achieving the desired results.

Last year, the Malaysian government targeted 85,000 foreign students to be enrolled in its institutions but exceeded this number: 93,000 students enrolled.

With the ongoing developments at EduCity Iskander, the partnerships and research/scholarships collaboration with UK universities (and others), the building of academic and industry-linked specialties, the work in community engagement, and the marketing support, Malaysia is steaming ahead to meet its goals.

Sources: Malaysian Insider, , , ,

The post Malaysia aims to be sixth-largest education exporter by 2020 appeared first on ���Ϲ��� Monitor - Market intelligence for international student recruitment.