• Ghana first made it into Canada’s Top 20 in 2023, with enrolment gains of 167% over 2022. There were 13,005 Ghanaian students in Canadian education institutions at the end of 2024, up from 9,205 in 2023 (+41%) and just over 2,000 in 2019 (+534% growth overall).

• In the US, according to the , Ghana entered the Top 20 higher education sending markets for the first time ever (14,937 students), joining Nigeria (27,948) as the other Sub-Saharan African country in this top tier.

• Ghanaian student numbers were up by 47% y-o-y in the UK in 2021/22 for a total of 3,925, following a 22% increase the previous year.

Globally, there are more than 30,000 Ghanaian students abroad this year.

Market fundamentals are strong, as is demand for study abroad

Ghana is one of Africa’s most stable democracies. Peaceful transfers of power are the norm; a coup d’état hasn’t occurred since the 1990s. The country scores well on the Freedom House’s (whose methodology includes factors such as freedom of expression and equality before the law), though discrimination against women and especially those identifying as LGBTQ is .

More than half of the population of almost 35 million is under the age of 25, and Ghanaian youth benefit from a no-tuition policy for public primary and secondary education. English is the official language, and Ghanaians rank 4th in Africa and 34th in the world on the EF English Proficiency Index. This, paired with Ghanaians’ tendency to study hard to increase their chance of being accepted to universities abroad, makes Ghanaian students generally excellent candidates for foreign bachelor’s and graduate programmes abroad.

That said, Ghana is mostly a graduate market. In a recent IDP Connect webinar focusing on Nigeria and Ghana, Marie Stella Tsetse, IDP’s country manager for Ghana, noted that most Ghanaians obtain their bachelor’s from a university in the country and then look for graduate opportunities abroad. However, she also said that the demand for foreign education is so strong that if a Ghanaian bachelor’s student did not receive funding for study abroad the first year they applied for it, they would try one or two more times more while enrolled in a Ghanaian institution. If successful on one of those successive attempts, many students would drop their studies in Ghana – even if they were in their second or third year of their bachelor’s – and start again in their first year at a foreign institution.

Ms Tsetse explained that Ghanaian families prioritise education and are ever-more interested in sending their children abroad. Students tend to invest in private tutoring to increase their score on admission tests such as the SAT and their chances of receiving a scholarship.

The following IDP slide shows top areas of demand for Ghanaian students looking at studying in the US

Need for scholarships is higher than usual

Scholarships are especially important for Ghanaian students at the moment. High inflation is a problem, but even more, the currency (the cedi) is in serious trouble against the US dollar. described it as a “record-breaking weakening” this month. Students are looking for 50%-100% of their tuition, living costs, and flights to be covered – with 100% necessary for many.

Unfortunately, said Ms Ttetse, students may find it more difficult this year to obtain a scholarship from the Ghanaian government. This is because the current government may have little left in its coffers as it nears the end of its eight-year term (the election is scheduled for 7 December). Ms Tsetse explained that a trend is for a new government to begin spending more freely by its second year in power. In the meantime, institutions may want to establish or expand targeted scholarships for Ghanaian students to be competitive in a country where so many universities are increasing their presence.

Visa issues are a significant barrier

Ms Tsetse noted that many Ghanaian students are thwarted in their aim of studying in the US due to their visas being rejected. Many of those applying to Canadian institutions also encounter visa issues, though as the chart below from ApplyBoard shows, visa approvals have been increasing significantly for Ghanaians.

Institutions would be well advised to increase the support they provide to Ghanaian applicants in terms of submitting complete visa applications, meeting deadlines, and troubleshooting in general. Ms Tsetse suggested that such supports should happen early in the recruiting cycle, as students want to be assured of funding at least six months before application deadlines.

Because of the cedi’s fall against the US dollar (and also other world currencies), budgetary counselling and help with locating financial aid/scholarships and affordable accommodation are also increasingly important services to provide to Ghanaian students.

For additional background, please see:

• “Ghana: Steady gains in outbound student numbers suggest further growth ahead”

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The following graph from Statista shows the impressive upward trend in Ghanaian student mobility from 2010–2020.

Here’s a more detailed look at the growth we’re seeing from this market:

In Canada, according to IRCC data, the number of enrolled Ghanaian students was 1,235 in 2021, up from 880 in 2017 – a 40% increase.

• UK educators enrolled 21.9% more Ghanaian students in 2020/21 than in 2019/20 for , and Universities UK and UCAS are for market development, along with Nigeria and Vietnam.

• Ghana is the second-largest Sub-Saharan African source market for US educators after Nigeria. According to IIE data, a total of 4,230 Ghanaian students were enrolled in the US in 2020/21, compared with 3,215 in 2017/18 – .

• In Germany, according to , Ghana is one of the fastest developing markets, with 70% more Ghanaian students enrolled in 2019/20 than in 2017.

Currently, Ghanaian outbound is not large relative to other major source markets in Africa (e.g., Nigeria or Morocco). However, it is significant enough to form a critical mass of Ghanaian students in top destinations who, if they have a positive study experience, may recommend the destination/institution to their peers back home.

Further growth projected

We can expect more growth from Ghana given much more active recruiting overall in Sub-Saharan Africa on the part of educators in leading study abroad destinations. For example, Universities UK states that “Africa was the fastest-growing market for student recruitment, sending 29.8% more students in 2020/21 compared to 2019/20.” Africa is also on the radar in the US: University World News reports that, “According to the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the spotlight is on Angola, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa and Zimbabwe.”

Characteristics of the market

A key market fundamental making Ghana so promising for international educators is that 57% of the country’s total population of roughly 32 million is . Statista reports that “the number of people who were between the ages of 15 and 24 years in Ghana added up to .”

High school completion rates are uneven across the country and across income levels. Youth from the Ashanti, Eastern, and Greater Accra regions of Ghana are the most likely to have secondary and tertiary education, according to a 2020 report compiled by UN���Ϲ���.

The primary language of instruction – and official language – in Ghana is English, meaning that Ghanaian students are more prepared for English-language studies abroad than many international students.

Ghana has been one of Africa’s most stable and safe countries for years, and its economy was growing robustly until very recently. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has exerted a major downward pressure on the economy, in particular the agricultural sector, which is highly dependent on Russian fertiliser. Otherwise, the government blames weaker than predicted economic expansion on a combination of factors “including the COVID-19 pandemic … as well as US and Chinese economic slumps (Reuters).” The economy expanded by 3.3% in the first quarter of 2022 and 4.8% in the second quarter, compared to average growth of 7% between 2017-19.

The country’s currency, the Ghanaian cedi, has depreciated this year – joining the currency devaluation trend affecting many other emerging markets. This, along with slower economic growth, means that educators recruiting in the region will need to be sensitive to affordability issues among students and their families.

Most Ghanaian students are interested in degree studies abroad, particularly at the graduate level. The Accra Information Office of the United States of America (USA) that in 2019/20, “nearly half of the Ghanaian students in the United States were studying at the graduate level, and that the number increased by 22% over last year, from 1,860 to 2,270.” The organisation notes that, “As a result, Ghana moved from the ranking of 25 to 21 in terms of the highest sending countries worldwide for graduate studies in the United States.”

For additional background, please see:

• “From the field: Recruiting in Ghana“
• “Africa ascending: Four growth markets to watch“

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Egypt

Egypt is the most populous country in the Arab world, and its economy grew by more than 5% in 2018. One in five Egyptians is aged 15–24, and fully a third of them are unemployed. Of those who are unemployed, 34% hold degrees.

Most university-bound students attend one of Egypt’s 24 free public institutions, while students who achieve lower grades in high school tend to enrol in one of the country’s 23 private institutions. Many graduates do not find jobs matching their skill level.

With a higher education crisis looming, the government passed legislation in 2018 that allows international branch campuses to operate in the country. As well as offering domestic students a better future, Egypt hopes to become a Middle Eastern education hub through this new strategy.

Given Egypt’s massive youth population, however, even a significant expansion of the domestic higher education sector will not accommodate enough students. The number of Egyptian students going abroad for higher education has nearly tripled in the past decade, from 12,300 in 2008 to at least 32,000 today, and this growth trend will almost certainly continue.

Roughly a third of Egyptian students are studying in Saudi Arabia or the UAE. The US is third, with just under 3,600 Egyptian students as of March 2019. While Egyptian enrolments in US institutions have been relatively flat, enrolments have increased by 78% in Canada over the past five years and now number around 2,500. Other top destinations include France, Malaysia, and the UK, each with roughly 2,000 Egyptian students in 2017/18.

Location

Northeast Africa, bordering Israel, Libya, and Sudan

Demographics

• Population: 101 million
• Population growth rate: 2%
• Population aged 15–24: 19%
• Population under 25: 52%
• Youth unemployment: 34%
• Languages: Arabic (official), English and French widely understood by educated classes
• Religions: Muslim (90%), Christian (10%)

Keys to the market

Colleges and universities establishing a presence in Egypt would do well to focus on linkages with the private sector to connect students to the real needs of the marketplace. SMEs (small- and medium-sized enterprises) are major sources of employment in Egypt, and therefore programmes fostering entrepreneurship and innovation are much needed.

Ghana

A democracy that consistently ranks in the top three countries in Africa for freedom of speech and of the press, Ghana is a peaceful oasis in a region often plagued by unrest. Its economy is growing steadily; 2019 is expected to be the third year of GDP growth exceeding 6%.

However, there is inadequate economic diversification. Many jobs in the country’s dominant agricultural and resource extraction industries require little formal skills training, and youth unemployment is disproportionately high among those with some higher education. A dearth of job opportunities at home motivates Ghanaian prospects to look carefully at post-graduate work and immigration policies in destination countries. A recent Pew Research Center survey found that three-quarters of Ghanaians would emigrate if they had “the means and opportunity.”

With Ghanaian universities able to accommodate only around 20% of those who apply, and given quality issues in the private education sector, demand for study abroad is increasing sharply. UNESCO counted 12,560 Ghanaians studying abroad in 2017, up 40% from 8,965 in 2012. This is a conservative estimate, given that there are at least 7,000 studying in China alone.

While Ghanaians traditionally favoured the US and the UK as destinations, they are now considering a much wider range of study abroad options. Australia, Canada, China, South Africa, and Ukraine have carved out strong positions in the market. China is offering thousands of scholarships per year to Ghanaian students, and Germany, Japan, and Russia are also notable for their incentives.

Location

West Africa, bordering Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, and Togo

Demographics

• Population: 30 million
• Population growth rate: 2%
• Population aged 15–24: 19%
• Population under 25: 57%
• Youth unemployment: 14%
• Languages: English (official and language of instruction), Akan, and Hausa (among Muslims)
• Religions: Christian (71%), Muslim (17%)

Keys to the market

Twenty-two accredited agencies are recognised by the Government of Ghana. As Michael Aidoo, the CEO and executive director of the Accra-based agency CELC International, explains, “In Ghana, you have to be a registered agency. You must register with the Ghana Education Service. Not only that, you should be a registered company in Ghana. That is the most important thing.”

Kenya

Kenya boasts one of the most diversified economies in Africa; agriculture and resource industries remain the most important sectors, but manufacturing, technology, tourism, and financial services are also well developed. The economy grew by 5.7% in 2018 and is expected to take a similar track in 2019.

The British Council projects that Kenya will have a population of 5.7 million college-aged students by 2024. These students hold the promise of meeting Kenya’s goal of becoming a middle-income country by 2030, but at present, its education system does not equip enough of these students with skills the country needs. Kenya’s higher education system has expanded rapidly in recent years thanks in large part to the entry of several private universities and polytechnics. But there are persistent quality concerns and government funding has been declining.

UNESCO estimates that 14,000 Kenyans are studying abroad, and the US, Australia, the UK, and South Africa host the bulk of them. That said, Kenyan outbound study has been essentially flat for several years. Partly this is because many Kenyans no longer see the value in higher education and need to find jobs as soon as possible. Demand is growing substantially for skills training. China is now a major player in providing vocational education in-country, with many graduates of programmes going on to find jobs in China-owned, Kenya-based companies.

This is a market ripe for some of the disruptive innovations transforming post-secondary education, such as short-term vocational training and micro-credentials.

Location

East Africa, on the Indian Ocean, between Somalia and Tanzania

Demographics

• Population: 52 million
• Population growth rate: 2%
• Population aged 15–24: 20%
• Population under 25: 59%
• Youth unemployment: 19%
• Languages: English and Swahili (official and language of instruction), Hausa (among Muslims)
• Religions: Christian (83%), Muslim (11%), small Hindu and Sikh minorities

Keys to the market

Quality vocational education is in demand in information technology, accounting and project management, geology, engineering, pipe fitting, welding, drilling, and operation and maintenance of equipment used in resource extraction. Partnerships with corporations to deliver skills training could be promising, and Kenyans will see value in educators that can match them with employers.

Nigeria

Nigeria’s domestic higher education system simply can’t educate the number of young people applying for spaces. According to Nigeria’s National Universities Commission, between 2012 and 2017 fewer than 20% of applicants to Nigerian universities gained admission, leaving 6.3 million qualified students without a place. One in five Nigerians is aged 15–24, and this is the fundamental reason that Nigeria will be one of the fastest growing markets for study abroad for the foreseeable future.

UNESCO estimates that there are around 90,000 Nigerians studying abroad today.

The country shook off a two-year recession in 2017 and returned to modest growth of 1.9% in 2018. While the government has endeavoured to make the economy less dependent on oil and gas, diversification is happening slowly and jobs outside natural resource extraction and agriculture are scarce: nearly a quarter of Nigerians were unemployed in 2018 and many more were underemployed. Boko Haram’s terrorism continues to plague the country and widens the divide between the poorer North and more affluent South. Basic infrastructure is generally weak, with frequent labour strikes, underfunded hospitals, and electricity shortages.

Many middle-class Nigerian families have a common goal: to start new lives in other countries. For that reason, Nigerian prospects, like Ghanaian ones, tend to look closely at immigration opportunities in destination countries. Top destinations include the US, with 15,980 students in early 2019; Malaysia, with roughly 13,000 in 2019; Canada, with 11,290 in 2018; and the UK, with 10,540 in 2017/18. Ghana and South Africa are popular regional hubs drawing thousands of Nigerians.

Location

West Africa, bordering Niger, Chad, Cameroon, and Benin

Demographics

• Population: 201 million
• Population growth rate: 3%
• Population aged 15–24: 20%
• Population under 25: 62%
• Youth unemployment: 37%
• Languages: English (official), Hausa, Yoruba
• Religions: Muslim (52%), Christian (47%)

Keys to the market

In Nigeria, vocational education retains a stigma; families see practical rather than academic programmes as appropriate only for the lower classes. Yet highly skilled graduates in specific trades are the employees Nigeria most needs. Intelligent branding of vocational education – combatting outdated stereotypes – will be important for colleges recruiting in Nigeria. Nigerians are also frustrated by student visa hassles and will look for destinations where their visa applications are most likely to be accepted.

For additional background, please see:

• “Africa ascending: The demographic juggernaut driving student mobility in the 21st century”
• “Growing Egyptian demand for education pressures domestic capacity”
• “From the field: Recruiting in Ghana”
• “Strengthening Nigerian economy bolsters outlook for study abroad”
• “From the field: Affordability shaping Kenyan outbound trends”

The post Africa ascending: Four growth markets to watch appeared first on ���Ϲ��� Monitor - Market intelligence for international student recruitment.

Bangladesh

Bangladesh is now one of the most important emerging markets for study abroad in South Asia, and it currently sends out more than 63,000 students for higher education. It is the eighth most populous country in the world, with nearly half of its 160 million citizens under the age of 24 and just over a third under 15.

The country’s middle class is expanding rapidly, and consumer confidence is rising. A recent Boston Consulting Group (BCG) survey of Bangladeshi consumers found that 60% expected their incomes to rise over the next 12 months.

A street scene in the capital city of Dhaka.

But Bangladesh is only now making it onto the radar of foreign companies and universities, a fact alluded to in the title of the BCG survey report: . Zarif Munir, a partner in BCG, says, “Companies that move now to get into position have an opportunity to build a lasting competitive advantage.”

The landscape for recruitment in Bangladesh is changing quickly. Currently, more than half of Bangladeshi tertiary students go to Malaysia, but students are also choosing China, the US, the UK, Canada, and Australia as well as an increasing range of emerging destinations in Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. Engineering and medical degrees are currently popular, and students are highly motivated by scholarships and affordability in general.

Nepal

Nepal’s economy is growing quickly, with GDP growth of over 7% in 2017 and projected growth of 5% in 2018 – a remarkable recovery after 2015’s devastating earthquake. But the earthquake inflicted severe damage on the country’s educational infrastructure, a further blow for young Nepalese already frustrated by a university system that many say is failing to link degrees to employment. An article in the Kathmandu Post notes that “This contributes to a bleak outlook for students who study in Nepal … many of our students obtain degrees not knowing what to do after graduation.”

And so young Nepalese are going abroad; more than 44,200 Nepalese are currently enrolled in foreign higher education, with Australia, the US, and India claiming nearly two-thirds of this total. Nepal is the second-largest sending market in South Asia for the US after India, and the fastest growing market overall (20% in 2017). In Australia, Nepalese enrolments grew by 60% from 2016 to 2017. More than 23,000 Nepalese are studying in Australian institutions today.

While there are fewer Nepalese students abroad than Chinese, Indians, or Vietnamese, Nepal’s outbound mobility ratio (i.e., the proportion of international students in its overall student population) is higher than the ratios of those big sending countries.

According to the World Bank, university-aged Nepalese made up more than a third of the total population in 2016 and the British Council expects Nepal to be among the top ten countries for growth in the 18–22-year-old bracket over the next five years.

Ghana

Ghana’s GDP has risen faster than any other in Sub-Saharan Africa over the past decade, and analysts believe that in 2018, it may surpass even India’s growth rate. However, growth has been fuelled mostly by oil revenues and masks a history of underinvestment in the rest of the economy, including education.

Faced with a labour market in which there are an estimated 200,000 unemployed graduates but limited job opportunities beyond those in extraction industries, Ghanaian students are increasingly seeking to study abroad. Outbound students – most of whom are studying in China, the US, or the UK, with the balance distributed among institutions in Canada or Europe – number around 12,400.

As in the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa, cost is the most prohibitive barrier for Ghanaians with dreams of an overseas education. The US is comparatively
expensive, and universities from a growing list of countries are beginning to recruit in Ghana. The Ghanaian newspaper Joy Online recently noted that “It has become common for agents of schools in the United States, United Kingdom and other parts of the world to travel to Ghana to meet prospective students face-to-face. It is in sharp contrast to the past when people
had to struggle, either to travel abroad for admission or have relatives abroad facilitate the process for them.”

Kuwait

Newsweek Middle East recently compared the cost for Kuwaitis of higher education in Kuwait versus the cost of studying overseas. For many fields of study, it is actually more affordable for Kuwaiti students to study overseas: “The price tag for studying certain majors in Kuwait can be as much as double the price of studying the same major abroad.”

Add to that the facts that Kuwait’s major public university, the University of Kuwait, has a serious overcapacity problem, that its private universities offer limited master’s-level programmes and no PhDs, that 15–34-year-olds represent more than a third of the population, and that many Kuwaiti families are very wealthy … and you have a recipe for high demand for study abroad.

Kuwaiti government statistics show that 33,000 Kuwaitis are studying abroad today, with the bulk of students in the US (12,000), Egypt (8,500), and Jordan (6,000). The remainder are in the UK (4,000), UAE (3,000), and Bahrain (2,500), with smaller numbers in Australia, Ireland, Saudi Arabia, France, and Lebanon.

The Kuwaiti government offers thousands of scholarships per year for students wanting a foreign education. In addition, many students are self-financed through the spending power of Kuwaiti families.

Egypt

Egypt is a fascinating market in international education today: an important sender of students as well as an emerging hub for students in the region. It’s also noteworthy because of where its students choose to study abroad:everywhere.

The latest UNESCO data counts 29,000 Egyptians abroad for higher education. Here’s the spread:

• More than 5,200 in UAE;
• More than 4,800 in Saudi Arabia;
• Close to 3,000 in the US;
• Close to 2,000 in France;
• Roughly 1,700 each in Germany, Qatar, and the UK;
• More than 1,000 in Malaysia, Canada, and Jordan.

All this means that Egyptian students are considering a wide range of options for study abroad. In 2017, Egypt’s Daily News reported on a survey by , a firm that helps Egyptians choose where to study. The survey showed that the US is losing ground to other countries, and that the most preferred destinations for Egyptians now are Canada, Australia, and the UK. The US is fourth, followed by Ireland, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, and New Zealand – still more evidence that the playing field is remarkably open in Egypt, a country where 40% of the population is under age 18.

For additional background, please see:

• “A roadmap for building more diversity in your international enrolment”
• “Five emerging markets to watch”
• “Megatrend: The shift to emerging markets”

The post Diversification and the next five markets appeared first on ���Ϲ��� Monitor - Market intelligence for international student recruitment.

As is the case for students in other Sub-Saharan countries, Ghanaian students have historically chosen to study in the US or the UK. But as we hear in today’s feature interview, the market is now shifting and students are more actively looking at options in a wider range of study destinations.

Michael Aidoo is the CEO and executive director of the Accra-based agency . In our first interview segment below, he notes an increasing interest in study in Europe – a trend which is enabled in part by an underlying strengthening of foreign language training in Ghana. At the same time, other destinations countries, including the UAE and Australia, have expanded their recruitment activities in-market.

In our next interview segment below, Mr Aidoo highlights the role of the country’s burgeoning oil and gas industry as a factor in the growing demand for study abroad. As more multinational companies expand their footprint in the country, a growing number of those corporations are offering scholarships for Ghanaian students to pursue higher education abroad.

Additional scholarship support is available from the national government, including the Ghana Education Trust Fund (the GET Fund) as well as through programmes offered by foreign governments, including Russia, China, and Germany.

For educators approaching the Ghanaian market for the first time, or perhaps expanding their recruiting efforts in the country, Mr Aidoo advises careful study of the market first, to establish a presence in the country, and to partner with carefully selected local agents.

“In Ghana, you have to be a registered agency. You must register with the Ghana Education Service,” says Mr Aidoo. “Not only that, you should be a registered company in Ghana. That is the most important thing.”

For additional background, please see:

• “Mapping the factors driving outbound student mobility in Ghana”
• “The employability challenge in Sub-Saharan Africa”
• “Ghana emerging as an important sending market in Sub-Saharan Africa”

The post Recruiting in Ghana appeared first on ���Ϲ��� Monitor - Market intelligence for international student recruitment.

High growth, limited jobs

Ghana’s striking growth story belies an economy that has yet to offer sufficient prospects for the country’s youth, who make up roughly a third of the overall population. The reports that,

“The concern has been the ability of the country to sustain this growth momentum given the level and quality of education and skills, and, more importantly, the failure of this strong growth performance to be translated into the creation of productive and decent jobs, improved incomes and livelihoods. The structure of the economy remains highly informal, with a shift in the country’s national output composition from agriculture to low-value service activities in the informal sector.”

The institute’s summary is that in Ghana, there is a “high level of employment in low-quality jobs.” The scarcity of high-quality jobs contributes to Ghanaian bachelor’s degree holders suffering from than those with no formal or basic education.

Migration and outbound student numbers

Faced with an economy that has yet to diversify and offer a wide enough range of opportunity, many young Ghanaians have their hearts set on education and employment abroad. Delali Margaret Badasu, director at the Center for Migration Studies at the University of Ghana, told that,

“Every young person looks up to migration, either internal or international, as an ultimate goal. It’s deep-rooted in their minds.”

A 2017 Afrobarometer survey found that “at least 4 in 10 Ghanaians have considered emigrating,” with most of this group wanting to live in Europe or North America. The , for its part, conducted a survey in 2017 that asked respondents in six sub-Saharan African nations “whether they would go to live in another country, if they had the means and opportunity.” Fully three-quarters (75%) of Ghanaians said they would, with virtually as many Nigerians (74%) saying that they would as well.

Study abroad is one way that young Ghanaians are making their way overseas: close to 13,000 Ghanaians are now enrolled in foreign higher education institutions, and the pool of prospects is growing, with record numbers of Ghanaians now enrolled in secondary schools (4,220,000) and post-secondary studies (2,630,000). Ghana’s gross enrolment ratio for higher education roughly doubled from 8.6% in 2008 to 16.1% in 2016 according to UNESCO data.

Ghanaian higher education students can be found in the country’s over 200 accredited tertiary institutions. These institutions include public and private universities, polytechnics, technical universities, and specialised colleges (e.g., nursing, education, agricultural); between them these institutions offer four-year degrees, two to three-year diplomas, certificates, and graduate programmes.

Government sets priorities for higher education

Because it has long been highly competitive to get into Ghana’s public universities, many private universities have opened over the past several years to accommodate more students; a quarter of Ghana’s tertiary students are now enrolled in one of these . Recently, however, the government announced a restriction on the further expansion of the private sector. Going forward, only private universities that prioritise science and technology will be permitted  in the interests of diversifying and strengthening the economy. The rationale for this approach is highlighted in the book, Africa’s Lions: Growth Traps and Opportunities for Six African Economies (2016), where editors Haroon Bhorat and Finn Tarp note that,

“There are estimated supply deficits in graduates in medicine and health, engineering and technical skills and business administration, and an oversupply of graduates in arts/social sciences and agriculture. This is generally linked to the fact that Ghana’s education system tends to produce humanities graduates in excess of what the economy requires. Scientists, engineers, and technologists needed for the manufacturing sector are produced in limited numbers.”

Goal of graduating more teachers

Teaching is also to be given more priority and funding going forward. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who was elected based in part on his , announced this month that Ghana’s Colleges of Education will all be upgraded to University Colleges and offer a four-year Bachelor of Education degree, and that all teachers will receive an 11% basic salary increase this year. He singled out Singapore, Finland, South Korea, and Canada as nations that “have experienced extraordinary results in the formation of human capital and economic development” and said,

“For us also to make a success of our nation, we must pay attention to teachers. It is only a crop of well-trained and motivated teachers that can help deliver the educated and skilled workforce we require to transform our economy.”

More competition

Ghana’s strong GDP growth, large youth population, stable and progressive government, labour force imbalances, and strengthening domestic higher education sector are making the country an increasingly interesting country from which to recruit students – especially since so many Ghanaians are already dreaming of living abroad.

While UNESCO data shows US higher education institutions enrolling over 3,140 Ghanaian students, ahead of the UK (1,490), Canada (924), and the Ukraine (887), the competition is intensifying and those numbers may be changing quickly. The Ghanaian newspaper Joy Online recently noted that:

“It has become common for agents of schools in the United States, United Kingdom and other parts of the world to travel to Ghana to meet prospective students face-to-face. It is in sharp contrast to the past when people had to struggle, either to travel abroad for admission or have relatives abroad facilitate the process for them.”

Moreover, UNESCO data does not include student migration flows into China, and there is evidence that those numbers are picking up substantially. In 2017, the Chinese ambassador to Ghana – in   – told the assembled audience that,

“Up to now, a total of 1,006 Ghanaian students have received Chinese government scholarships. Currently, 5,516 Ghanaian students are studying in China and this number has ranked top among African students in China for three consecutive years.”

For additional background, please see:

• “The employability challenge in Sub-Saharan Africa“
• “Ghana emerging as an important sending market in Sub-Saharan Africa“

The post Mapping the factors driving outbound student mobility in Ghana appeared first on ���Ϲ��� Monitor - Market intelligence for international student recruitment.

We say “slice” because the report essentially parses selected emerging market responses to the QS World Grad School Tour Applicant Survey gathered between June 2014 and June 2016. At 2,096 emerging market respondents, the sample size is small (especially on a per country basis) but nevertheless provides some interesting directional indicators for recruiters. All of those responding to the survey were in the process of applying for admission to postgraduate degree programmes abroad.

The survey zeroes in on four countries that are increasingly seen as significant emerging markets for international recruitment: Nigeria, Indonesia, Brazil, and Turkey. In most cases, QS has paired these priority targets with other promising markets from the same region: Brazil with Mexico and Colombia, Nigeria with Ghana and Kenya, and Indonesia with the Philippines.

Bangladesh and Pakistan round out an 11-country sample of markets that share some common characteristics: booming youth populations, significant issues with domestic higher education, and, in some cases, national scholarship schemes to support study abroad.

Why study abroad?

Consistent with other surveys in the field, QS finds that employability is a major driver of demand for postgraduate studies abroad.

Most emerging market respondents indicated more specifically that their primary motivation for study abroad was to progress in their current career path. Bangladesh and Pakistan were the exceptions here: most applicants from those countries said they wanted to pursue postgraduate degrees abroad in order to progress to higher-level academic qualifications (that is, doctoral studies).

Where to study?

Not surprisingly, the US and UK were the two most-preferred destinations among emerging market respondents, with Canada, Australia, and Germany rounding out the top five choices.

Some interesting regional variations were noted, with the US and Canada more prominent in the preferences of students in Nigeria and Ghana, for example, and Germany and Australia more strongly preferred by Bangladeshi and Pakistani students. In contrast, the US and UK were consistently the number one and number two choices (respectively) of emerging market respondents in Latin America.

The main factor behind destination preferences appears to be “international recognition of qualifications,” which QS interprets as the students’ interest in ensuring that their foreign degrees will be valued at home and abroad.

Broadly speaking, African and South Asian students gave even greater weight to the availability of scholarships or other financial aid. And respondents from Latin America, along with their interest in international recognition of qualifications earned abroad, put a high priority on cultural and lifestyle factors.

The importance of subject rankings

When it comes down to choosing an institution, most respondents (47% of master’s applicants, 49% of doctoral applicants) put the highest priority on the institution’s reputation or ranking with respect to their intended field of study.

For master’s applicants, and reflecting the overarching importance of recognition of qualifications earned abroad, this was closely followed by institutional reputation (45%), employment prospects (40%), and funding (34%). Funding was the second-ranked factor for PhD applicants (42%) followed by overall institutional reputation (36%).

QS concludes that framing postgraduate study as a stepping stone to career advancement is likely to have the widest appeal, except for students in Pakistan and Bangladesh who are more strongly inclined to see master’s-level study as a path to a more advanced degree.

The report authors also suggest highlighting both subject-specific and institutional reputation for prospective postgraduate students, with a greater emphasis on subject-specific strengths when recruiting in Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Indonesia, and Turkey.

On the key question of post-study work, the report concludes, “While post-study work opportunities are considered by a significant proportion of applicants in all profiled markets, this appears to have a particularly strong impact on the destination choices of those in the Philippines, Brazil and Turkey, while carrying less weight for those in Bangladesh, Pakistan, or Indonesia.”

For additional background on the motivations and key decision factors for international postgraduate students, please see:

• “Survey says employment prospects the key for postgraduate applicants”
• “When it comes to rankings, students really want to know about employment”

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 paints a dramatic picture of surging youth populations and booming demand for higher education. But it also highlights the challenges of maintaining quality as rapidly expanding higher education systems struggle to accommodate growing numbers of students – often without commensurate increases in funding or faculty or with strong-enough links to employers.

Africa, the report notes, is home to some of the world’s fastest-growing economies. The continent has seen major increases in foreign investment, tourism, and trade over the past decade and more, but Sub-Saharan countries also remain heavily reliant on resource industries. This means they remain exposed to the inevitable ups and downs in world commodity prices, including oil. And this in turn provides many governments in the region with a ready motivation to expand service and technology industries and to move generally toward more diversified knowledge economies.

The sense of urgency that many Sub-Saharan governments feel in this respect is heightened by the fact that the region is also home to the fastest-growing youth population in the world. There are 226 million 15-to-24-year-olds in Sub-Saharan Africa today and that cohort is set to grow by more than 40% by 2030. “This so-called ‘youth bulge’ can be a motor for prosperity for all in the region if it is appropriately harnessed, but the prospects for doing so depend to a large extent on universally available and high quality education at all levels,” says the report. “Failure to address the educational aspirations and needs of the youth is likely to lead not only to sluggish economic growth, but also to youth unrest, a lingering sense of injustice and lack of purpose, and, in the most extreme cases, to extremism and violence.”

The supply-demand gap

Governments across the region have been working to open more university seats, both by converting colleges or university colleges to full public universities, and also by opening the door to greater private-sector provision of higher education.

This has led to some truly remarkable increases in university enrolment. In Kenya, for example, the number of university students doubled between 2012 and 2015 alone. The number of full-time students in public universities in Ghana increased by 76% between 2008/09 and 2014/15, and, over the same period, the number of students in the country’s private universities grew by 272%.

More broadly, only Asia grew faster than Sub-Saharan Africa in terms of total higher education enrolment between 1999 and 2013. The region saw its head count of higher ed students grow from 2.3 to 6.6 million over those 14 years. And yet, participation rates in Africa continue to lag well behind global norms. The gross enrolment ratio across Sub-Saharan Africa sits at about 8.2% today, but this compares to a global rate of nearly 33%.

This gap underscores the magnitude of the challenge facing Sub-Saharan educators and policy makers: not only must higher education systems absorb the dramatic increases in student numbers that they have already seen, they also need to expand a great deal more if they are to accommodate the growing youth populations across Africa.

The gross enrolment ratio in Kenya, for example, is still around only 4%. Practically speaking, a large majority of Kenyans simply do not have access to university education, with only about half of qualifying students able to obtain a place in a public university.

The situation is much the same in Nigeria, where the higher education system is nowhere near keeping up with demand and where only one in five applicants can find a place in a public university.

All of this growth has also put considerable pressure on quality controls in Sub-Saharan institutions. “Attention to quantity has not always been accompanied by an adequate emphasis on quality,” says the British Council. “Many institutions suffer from very large class sizes, with numbers in excess of 500 in an undergraduate class being common, on account of the lack of funds to recruit lecturers and, in some cases, a shortage of appropriately qualified candidates. In addition, there are complaints of inadequate physical infrastructure, lack of laboratories and equipment for scientific, engineering and agricultural studies, outdated curricula, ineffective pedagogical methods and inefficient administration. In many cases, these challenges are the direct result of a rapid expansion of the system without corresponding increases in funding or concern for the students’ learning experience.”

The employability gap

These quality concerns are directly linked to report’s focus on employability of university graduates, a link that is supported by other recent research in the field, including a study by the Inter-University Council for East Africa which estimated that more than half of all graduates in the region are “inadequately prepared for employment.”

The situation, however, naturally varies from country to country. In South Africa, for example, graduate unemployment actually declined from 2001 to 2011 (from about 18% to 5% of graduates unemployed). But university enrolment has spiked sharply there as well, nearly doubling between 2000 and 2013, and it remains to be seen if the domestic economy will be able to absorb greater numbers of university graduates at the same rate. National unemployment rates have been stubbornly high in South Africa (the national rate is currently hovering around 26%) and the public sector, which is traditionally a major employer of university graduates, is arguably overbuilt already.

Meanwhile in Kenya, unemployment is especially high – in the range of 67% in 2015 – among those aged 15 to 34. And the job market for university graduates in Nigeria is also very competitive: job openings suitable for university graduates attracted an average of 83 applicants in 2014 (up from 69 applicants in 2010). In Ghana, more than 71,000 graduates enter the job market each year, competing with an estimated 200,000 unemployed graduates in the domestic economy.

The British Council report recognises that the issue of graduate employability extends well beyond the walls of the university, and that such a broad societal issue will draw on an equally broad group of stakeholders for improvement, including employers and governments.

However, the report concludes with a range of recommendations focused on the universities in Sub-Saharan Africa, and argues for new investments and innovation to improve the quality of instruction and the depth and relevance of the curricula on offer.

It also advocates for expanded career services for students and graduates as well as a stronger role for work placements, volunteering, and service placements in Sub-Saharan university programmes.

The scale of the challenge (and the opportunity) facing the region means that this is likely to be an area of increasing focus going forward, both for local governments and for the international community, including foreign donors, investors, and educators.

A number of Sub-Saharan markets, Nigeria, Kenya, and Ghana among them, have emerged as significant international education markets over the past decade. And we can expect that the prevailing demographic and economic trends in the region will only add to the opportunity that these markets represent for student recruitment and transnational education in the years ahead.

For additional background, please see “Kenyan students staying home in greater numbers but quality concerns persist”, “Ghana emerging as an important sending market in Sub-Saharan Africa”, and “Nigeria tightens foreign exchange controls to limit use for study abroad”.

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