Here’s a look at both outbound and inbound trends in three important African markets: South Africa, Egypt, and Morocco. These countries offer competition to major destinations given their relatively low tuition rates and proximity. Egypt may become even more compelling given the Egyptian government’s new interest in partnerships with foreign institutions and embrace of branch campuses.

South Africa: Demand for study abroad is growing

South Africa has long been the major education hub on the continent, enrolling close to 41,000 international students in higher education in 2019, the vast majority from Sub-Saharan Africa (especially Zimbabwe). But internationalisation has lost some steam within South African universities. Tasmeera Singh, manager of international relations at Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), reported in 2022 that:

“The percentage of international undergraduates registered in South Africa’s public higher education system had dropped from 5.93% to 3.09% at the end of 2020. The percentage of international postgraduates had dropped from 15.82% in 2015 to 12.94% in 2020.”

Writing in , Ms Singh explained that for several reasons – from COVID to natural disasters to political turmoil – “the leadership of all South African universities are besieged with crisis management, responding to the multiple daily challenges.”

estimates that the average tuition cost of the first year of an undergraduate degree in South Africa is about US$3,000, making South Africa an affordable option for students from the region.

The presence of good universities in South Africa has kept outbound mobility relatively low over the years. According to QS, seven of the top ten universities in Africa are in South Africa. The University of Capetown almost made the global (coming in at #237), and the University of Johannesburg, the University of Witswatersrand, and Stellensbosch University are in the top 500.

Currently there are about 12,000 South African students abroad. However, a 2022 study of over 30,000 higher income households by South African Internet research firm Brandmapp indicates that demand for overseas education is ticking upwards. Fully 12% of respondents said they were considering study abroad, and this intention rose to 48% of those aged 25 and under.

Growing interest in study abroad – and emigration – among young South Africans is linked :

“Seeking residency in other countries with better economic prospects is becoming increasingly attractive, especially for young South Africans faced with stagnant growth, rising living costs, and rampant corruption.”

According to UNESCO, the UK, the US, and Cuba (for medical studies) are the major hosts of South African students abroad. The US hosted 2,375 South African students in 2021/22, up 14% compared with the previous year. Canada hosted 1,370 South African students in 2022, up 36% y-o-y and up 86% from 2019. And the UK hosted roughly 2,000 in 2020/21.

Egypt: Expanding higher education through branch campuses

In 2020, there were more than 43,700 Egyptian students studying outside of the country, making Egypt the fourth largest sender of international students in the MENA region (Middle East and North Africa) after Saudi Arabia, Morocco, and Syria. Roughly a third of Egypt’s outbound students choose to study in UAE (5,260) or Saudi Arabia (4,890). In addition, close to 4,000 Egyptians are studying in the US, and between 2,000–3,000 are studying in Canada, the UK, France, Germany, and Malaysia. Most of those countries enrolled record numbers of Egyptians in the past two years.

At the same time, Egypt also attracts many international students from an eclectic assortment of countries – more than 34,000 according to UNESCO. Top sending countries are UAE, Germany, Turkey, the US, Saudi Arabia, and Ukraine. In a bid to boost the quality of its education system, the Egyptian economy, and Egypt’s attractiveness to international students, the Egyptian government has been welcoming a record number of foreign branch campuses to set up shop. University World News reports that the new Administrative Capital in Egypt now hosts:

• Two branches of the University of Prince Edward Island in Charlottetown, Canada, and Toronto Metropolitan University, hosted by the Canadian Universities Foundation;
• The Coventry University in the UK’s branch hosted by the International Knowledge Universities Foundation;
• A British University of Hertfordshire branch hosted by The Global Foundation;
• A branch for the University of London and the British University of Central Lancashire hosted by the European University Foundation.

International students now have a wider array of quality institutions at which to study in Egypt, and this should boost Egypt’s reputation as a preferred regional destination. The cost of a degree programme in Egypt ranges from US$7,000-US$15,000 a year, and students can choose from roughly 20 public universities and higher institutes of technical and professional training and the same number of private institutions. Two Egyptian universities are ranked in the QS top 1000: Cairo University and Ain Shams University in Cairo.

Morocco: More than 20,000 international students and growing

Morocco is a priority student market for both Canada and France, and both destinations have seen a surge of new Moroccan students in recent years. More than 31,000 Moroccan students were enrolled in France in 2021, up 3% y-o-y. Canadian institutions hosted a smaller number in 2022 – 7,220 – but this represents growth of 23% over 2021 and an increase of 60% since before the pandemic in 2019. Before the invasion, Ukraine hosted about 7,000 Moroccan students, and Germany hosts a fair number as well (3,000+). Overall, there are at least 63,000 Moroccans abroad.

Like South Africa and Egypt, Morocco is also a regional education hub for North Africans. Students from Gabon, Mali, Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea, and Senegal are the top nationalities represented in Morocco’s roughly 23,500-strong foreign enrolment.

Morocco’s Minister of Higher Education Abdellatif Miraoui Morocco’s growing popularity among African students reflects “the effective involvement of the kingdom in favor of strengthening its cooperation links with partners on the continent, within the framework of student mobility programs and teacher researchers.”

Most Moroccan degree programmes charge less than US$10,000 a year. There are courses available in Arabic, French, and English. Université Mohammad V de Rabat, Cadi Ayyad University, and Universit Internationale de Rabat rank in QS’s Top 100 Arab University Rankings.

For additional background, please see:

• “A primer on international student recruitment in Egypt”
• “Africa ascending: Four growth markets to watch”

The post Inbound and outbound student trends for South Africa, Egypt, and Morocco appeared first on şÚÁĎąŮÍř 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 şÚÁĎąŮÍř Monitor - Market intelligence for international student recruitment.

The government’s goal is to process SDS applications within 20 days, though longer processing times may be required.

was launched in 2018 and the list of countries included on it is growing quickly. The first four countries on the list were China, India, Vietnam, and the Philippines; Pakistan made it into the group this past summer; and this week, Morocco and Senegal were announced.  

To be eligible for SDS processing, students from the selected countries must demonstrate that they have the financial resources and language skills to succeed in their studies in Canada. As we reported when SDS was first announced, students need:

• Higher-than-average language skills (an IELTS score of at least 6 for English-language studies or a Niveaux de compĂ©tence linguistique canadiens score of at least 7);
• A certain level of financial security, to be shown through a Guaranteed Investment Certificate (GIC) of CAN$10,000 and proof of tuition payment for the first year of studies.

Expansion of SDS is in line with three goals

The addition of Morocco and Senegal to the SDS list of countries fits into Canada’s new International Education Strategy for 2020–24, which prioritises the diversification of international student populations at Canadian colleges and universities.

Adding Morocco and Senegal also dovetails with the Canadian government’s that is broadly designed to encourage more young French speakers to choose to study in Canada. 

Expanding the SDS also supports a policy goal of making it easier for talented international students to come to Canada and immigrate; international students are viewed as ideal candidates for permanent residency and as having strong potential to enhance the quality of Canada’s workforce.

The Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, made this comment to support the announcement of Senegal and Morocco’s inclusion on the SDS:

“Canada’s diverse, welcoming society, high-quality educational institutions and opportunities to work or immigrate after graduation have made Canada a leading destination of choice for students from around the world. In expanding the Student Direct Stream to a more diverse range of prospective students, we’re enhancing the tremendous cultural, social and economic benefits that international students provide.”

According to the government, nearly 54,000 former students in 2018 transitioned to permanent residence, “an all-time high.”

Canada’s international student population is growing quickly

In 2018, 572,415 international students were enrolled in Canadian colleges and universities, representing growth of 16.3% over 2017. This year-over-year increase has helped to make Canada the fastest-growing study destination in the world over the last five years. With just over half of all foreign students in Canada either Indian or Chinese, diversification has become a key priority for the Canadian government and for Canadian educators.

Some of the countries now contributing the highest rates of growth for Canada are Bangladesh (+53% in 2018), Iran (+48%), Vietnam (+46%), Colombia (+41%), Philippines (+29%), Kenya (+29%), and Brazil (+17%).

For additional background, please see:

• “Canada: New International Education Strategy focuses on diversification and outbound mobility”
• “Canada’s foreign enrolment took a big jump in 2018”
• “Canada adds Pakistan to its expedited student visa programme”

The post Moroccan and Senegalese students now eligible for Canada’s expedited visa processing system appeared first on şÚÁĎąŮÍř Monitor - Market intelligence for international student recruitment.

We certainly saw a lot of growth this year, and, as always, a number of important market trends taking shape. The following review features 12 of our most-read posts along with a few other bonus items for good measure.

The big picture

Everybody can use a good high-level market summary and so we put together our “State of international mobility in 2015” feature last month. During the year, we also looked more specifically at language travelĚý˛ą˛Ô»ĺ the continuing growth in the sector in particular. Keep these handy for those moments when you need to stand back and look at the global marketplace from 10,000 feet up.

And while you’re up there, make sure to fold in some of the latest thinking on the most important macro trends with “Global economic power projected to shift to Asia and emerging economies by 2050” and “Four trends that are shaping the future of global student mobility.”

Crossing borders

Immigration is one the most important policy levers in international education and also a reliably hot topic for Monitor readers. We started the year with a look at how Australia is stepping up scrutiny in its student visa system. But by mid-year Australia was also moving to balance strengthened visa controls with streamlined processing.

Canada drew a lot of attention this year as well with the introduction of its Express Entry system, a new process by which foreigners, including international students, would be selected for immigration. The story underscored the importance of post-study work and immigration prospects in determining the attractiveness of a study destination – a point that was more than driven home by the UK’s announcement in July that it would remove work rights for non-EU further education students (among other restrictive measures).

Major senders

China continues to be a major driver of global mobility growth, with 11% year-over-year growth in 2014 alone. But the Chinese market is showing signs of change too, including a shift toward a greater emphasis on undergraduate studies.

Demand in India, meanwhile, continues to surge. Indian outbound kept pace with China in 2014, and, for some receiving markets (notably the US), Indian student numbers have become an increasingly important factor in building international enrolment.

Going through changes

A number of markets initiated big changes in 2015 that drew attention from around the world, including the following:

• In March, Taiwan’s Ministry of Education outlined plans to merge or close up to 52 of the country’s public and private universities;
• In June, the Japanese government asked the country’s universities to take “active steps to abolish [social science and humanities departments] or to convert them to serve areas that better meet society’s needs”;
• The British government announced new English language testing procedures for student visa applicants;
• Finnish universities continued to struggle with austerity budgets this year and the Finnish government continued its on-again-off-again flirtation with the idea of introducing differential fees for students from outside the European Economic Area;
• Malaysia also released a landmark blueprint for education (for additional background, please see our November interview with Education Malaysia);
• In terms of emerging markets, this year we’ve seen notable signs of development in Cuba, Myanmar, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Morocco, and Egypt.

Online lights up

Last year, the big story was mobile. But 2015 felt like a different sort of tipping point in terms of the role of online channels in international recruitment. Driven in part by the widespread adoption of social platforms and mobile devices, we continued to see more research evidence this year as to the importance of digital marketing.

This was certainly the case in this year’s şÚÁĎąŮÍř i-graduate Agent Barometer findings, and another recent study drove home the point again at year-end.

As always, thank you for reading along with us this year. Whether online or education agents or emerging markets or new policies, one thing is clear: we can all count on a lot more change, challenge, and opportunity in international education in 2016!

The post 2015 in review: The most-read and must-reads from the year appeared first on şÚÁĎąŮÍř Monitor - Market intelligence for international student recruitment.

A survey exploring the foreign investment potential and attractiveness of the overall African market for investors, EY’s attractiveness survey Africa 2015 – Making choices, found that Africa holds the #4 spot in the world in terms of perceived attractiveness as an investment destination, behind Oceania, North America, and Asia – but ahead of Europe, Latin America, Central America, and the Middle East.

Survey respondents who are already investing in Africa were far more likely to find Africa attractive than those who are not. Among that first group, Africa emerges as the single most attractive market to invest in, ahead of all other regions. But even that group, as bullish as it is about Africa, considers Africa home to highly challenging labour force deficiencies. One of the most significant issues they face on a daily basis is a skills and education shortage among local African populations.

Many workers, but not many with the right skills

PwC estimates that by 2040, , ahead of even India and China. But as of today, it is a labour force with some serious skills and education challenges.

For example, in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) the secondary school enrolment rate is only 40%, and only 7% of students continue to tertiary education. UNESCO predicts as well that Africa will be home to half of the world’s illiterate people in the years ahead. Experts see these factors as important roadblocks to further skills development that will hinder the continent’s economic and social development going forward.

Perhaps it comes as no surprise then that the EY survey also found employers are having trouble recruiting workers with the right skills today. Seven in ten African firms surveyed by EY are recruiting to support planned growth yet “vacancies are taking longer to fill and employee turnover is high.” The report concludes in part that:

“African governments need to reshape curricula at secondary and tertiary institutions to ensure they meet the needs of the labour market. More technical and vocational training programmes are required to equip African workers with high-quality skills that business needs.”

Some of the most in-demand skills are in the technical and professional categories. Over a third of companies said their need for technical and professional skills was likely to grow over the next 12 months.

Education, yes, but also company-led training

The sheer scale and breadth of current education requirements, coupled with the dramatic growth projections for many African economies in the years ahead, suggests a wide range of student recruitment and offshore delivery opportunities in selected African markets.

Another EY survey, Sub-Saharan Africa talent trends and practices, found that local employees with relevant skills training are increasingly mobile, since there is so much competition in the market that it makes it easy to move from job to job. In addition, it found that companies are having trouble filling vacant positions quickly enough. The result is that they are becoming increasingly reliant on expatriate workers, who constitute a ready supply of skills for specialist positions.

Ideally, the number of local workers with suitable skills would increase to the point where the demand for expatriate workers would decline, with the effect of also bolstering spending (and stability) in local economies.

EY’s Attractiveness Survey Africa 2015 advises:

“To reduce overdependence on expatriate workers, companies must foster skills transfer from expatriates to local staff.”

And to have local staff remain in their jobs, the survey’s authors emphasise the need for appropriate human resource strategies:

“There is a rising war for talent in Sub-Saharan Africa. As companies gear up for growth, the demand for skills needed to support such ambitions has increased, and is being matched by greater mobility in the labour market…Clearly, organisations need to become more deliberate in how they plan for, attract and retain staff. To secure the talent they seek, they will need to make training and career development part of their brand, developing processes to monitor and reward employee performance and ensure management continuity.”

Local knowledge is key, both for students and companies

To operate successfully in any international market, foreign entrants need deep local knowledge and involvement, not only for commercial reasons but also for sustainability (e.g., acceptance by populations and governments). Foreign companies are increasingly considering this concept, also known as “shared value,” but some argue that higher education in Africa is actually becoming less “local,” with possibly troubling repercussions.

At the 14th General Assembly of CODESRIA (the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa), Dr Ramola Ramtohul, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Institute for Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Pretoria in South Africa, . She said:

“Whereas the internationalisation of higher education in Africa is widening access to tertiary education and is often seen as a tool towards political stability, democracy, peace and development, it also carries risks of brain drain, which has increased mobility of professional and skilled workers leaving African universities.”

Professor Ibrahim Oanda Ogachi of Kenyatta University, Kenya, added that this internationalisation “… had stunted the ability of African universities to take off and effectively tackle the developmental needs of African society.”

The discussion also touched on the one-way mobility characterising internationalisation in Africa, with African students going abroad to pursue higher degrees and very few foreign students coming to Africa “largely because of the perceived low quality of academic programmes, and poor institutional infrastructure and facilities.”

There was a sense at the conference that the current state of higher education internationalisation in Africa is a colonial legacy, one that may even be impeding African countries in joining the global knowledge economy. This, plus the aforementioned tendency of companies to hire expatriates to fill specialised jobs, may not be a sustainable direction for a continent poised for enduring growth.

Yet for now, families in Africa that can afford international and/or private education are rushing to it, eager to keep their children out of state schools that some say “have left millions with skills suitable only for manual labour.”

Reuters notes that this recognition is also driving demand for better education at home:

“Rising incomes among the continent’s vast population have created a pool of customers willing to pay for better schooling for their children. That in turn is driving an explosion in education businesses that means Africa could soon rival Asian countries like India as the next big hit with school investors.”

As we have reported previously, this demand is leading to a rapid expansion of private education, including school openings by international providers or joint ventures with local partners. Private schools account for 10–40% of K-12 education in Africa, with key markets such as Kenya and Nigeria at the upper end of that range. Observers expect this demand to strengthen in the years ahead as further economic growth takes hold across the continent and as the middle class continues to expand.

The post Demand for job skills heating up in Africa appeared first on şÚÁĎąŮÍř Monitor - Market intelligence for international student recruitment.

These are some of the findings from an annual survey of international students conducted by . IDP’s Manager, External Affairs, Kim Dienhoff, presented high-level findings from four years of survey data at the recent NAFSA conference in Boston, Massachusetts.

The session focused in large part on reaching students in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). With nearly a third of the region’s 355 million people aged 15 to 25, it is perhaps not surprising that Internet usage, and the penetration of social networks in particular, is high.

Ms Dienhoff paired the IDP survey data with additional research to provide an important summary of social media habits and trends in the region.

Social media usage in MENA was particularly visible during the pro-democracy protests of the Arab Spring beginning in 2011, leaving many observers with the impression that major global networks, such as Facebook and YouTube, are widely used across the region.

Internet penetration is high with nearly 90% indicating they access the web from home. A much smaller proportion (34%) say they have Internet access at work. “For marketers this probably means that you need to schedule online activities like chat rooms, Skype sessions, virtual fairs, or webinars in the evening once people are home from work,” notes Ms Dienhoff.

There are of course variations from country to country. Internet penetration varies from 85-90% in Bahrain, the UAE, and Qatar to, at the lower end of the range, 44-50% in Jordan and Egypt. Nearly nine in ten Internet users in MENA use social media every day. Smartphones account for 40% of web impressions in the region (about 45% above the global average), and smartphone penetration ranges from a low of 16% in Morocco to 73-75% in the UAE and Qatar. It is fair to say that, at these levels of adoption, a mobile responsive site is a must for reaching students and parents in the region.

Facebook is your #1 friend

As the following chart illustrates, Facebook is the leading network with a 89% penetration among MENA Internet users. Twitter and Google+ are a distant second and third respectively, but each nevertheless has been widely adopted as well. As with the Internet and mobile usage patterns we noted earlier, the chart reflects national variations as well, including the notably high levels of Twitter usage in Saudi Arabia.

Top five social networks in MENA and selected markets by percentage of Internet users. Source: IDP

Adoption rates are helpful in looking at relative usage from market to market but the absolute numbers of users on each service is arguably the key metric. The following chart reflects the population of Facebook users by country, and illustrates that Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Algeria, Iraq, and the UAE have some of the largest populations in the region that are active on this leading social network.

Population of Facebook users by country, 2013. Sources: IDP, Arab Social Media Report-2013

This variance in user counts by market is notable in part because each country carries with it its own language preferences. English and Arabic are by far the most-preferred languages among the region’s Internet users, with the exception of markets such as Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia where French is the clear language of choice.

Beyond Facebook

Twitter has also been widely adopted by MENA Internet users and the following chart provides a summary of Twitter user counts for selected markets across the region.

Twitter user populations by country, 2013. Sources: IDP, Arab Social Media Report-2013

As the chart illustrates, Twitter is especially well used in Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom accounts, on average, for roughly 47% of all Twitter traffic in the region. And, influenced by the fact that half of the Saudi population of Internet users prefers to use Arabic online, 74% of all Tweets by MENA users are in Arabic (as compared to only 18% in English).

YouTube, while not a social network as such, is one of the largest and most heavily used sites on the Internet, and its content is easily and widely shared on social media. It happens that this leading global video service is also extremely popular in many MENA states.

YouTube reach in MENA. Source: IDP

YouTube is the second or third-ranked site by usage in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE, and Morocco. Across the region, there are 300 million YouTube playbacks each and every day, and Saudi Arabia leads the pack as the #1 market in the world in terms of views per capita.

“YouTube of course is highly valuable to marketers,” says Ms Dienhoff. “So if you don’t have a YouTube channel you should probably get one. You can use it to house videos that are then used on many other platforms and of course it will help greatly with your SEO.”

Implications for marketers

As the preceding charts and figures clearly reflect, social media usage in the region is highly concentrated around the most-popular social networks and social content sites in the world, including Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. “The good news is that they are using the same platforms you are already familiar with,” adds Ms Dienhoff. (Not to mention that you can reach the vast majority of prospects in the region in English and Arabic.)

For additional trends and best practices in social media, please see our post “Facebook is still the top social network but other platforms are growing faster.” It includes links to some of our most-popular posts on social media strategy, including tips for Facebook, Twitter, and social video.

The post Using social media to reach students in the Middle East and North Africa appeared first on şÚÁĎąŮÍř Monitor - Market intelligence for international student recruitment.

This January, the League of Arab States and the British Council held a that centred on education as a key to economic development in the region and to alleviating the problem of youth unemployment. One of the symposium’s main themes was improving English education and English language skills, backed by British Council research showing that MENA workers with English earn up to three times as much as non-English speakers.

Why English?

A January 2015 World Bank report stresses that while great improvements in education have been made across the region in access, funding, literacy rates, and gender equality, . These include an overall lack of educational quality and a mismatch between what students are learning and the skills that employers want.

A survey of employers in the region found that employers consider only one-third of new graduates ready for the workplace; the same study found that only one-third of students considered themselves ready to enter the labour market. In addition, school-age populations are on the rise, putting an increased strain on already-taxed public education systems.

A 2012 study undertaken in eight MENA countries by Euromonitor International (and commissioned by the British Council) pointed out that many employment-related problems could be ameliorated by better language education. The study found that salaries were generally higher in the region for English-language speakers.

Employees with better English skills enjoyed salaries from 5% (Tunisia) to as high as 200% (Iraq) more than their counterparts with no English. In addition, it found a correlation between poor fluency (and political instability) and unemployment.

The Euromonitor study noted that private-sector development in many key industries such as IT and software development, telecommunications, and banking/finance would be greatly accelerated by a boost in the number of qualified English speakers.

A long way to go

The Education First (EF) English Proficiency Index (EPI) is a global survey that measures English levels in markets around the world. Its research findings note that, “The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is by far ” In both TOEFL and IELTS test results for several past years, Arabic speakers have placed in the bottom tier of world rankings.

Egyptian students hoping to study in Turkey – a country that promotes itself strongly as a less-expensive and close-to-home destination for Arabs, with classes held mainly in English – are often stymied by their lack of academic English skills. Saudi Arabian students hoping to study in the US or UK using government scholarships are usually granted up to 18 months for language study prior to academic work, but they often need even more time still to bring their English skills to the level required for advanced study abroad.

And, similar to conditions in many parts of the world, well-qualified instructors are scarce across the region. According to a British Council survey of over 1,000 teachers in the region, the best-qualified instructors often end up being moved into higher levels of public education, where students and schools are both more interested in high marks over actual fluency.

MENA youth are fully aware of the importance of English in terms of employment mobility, but educational opportunities are still often limited to those able to receive private education, given the over-stretched resources of most public educational systems in the region.

Will travel for English

As many challenges as there currently are to greater levels of English fluency in the region, a 5-7% increase in the number of English speakers is predicted over the next few years, and special programmes to nurture this increased language skill are becoming more prevalent in the region.

Probably the most visible example of this – at least in English-speaking countries hosting large numbers of language learners – is the King Abdullah Scholarship Programme (KASP) offered by the Saudi Arabian government. In 2013, Saudi Arabia was the top country of origin for students in intensive English programmes in the US according to IIE Open Door statistics – more than twice the number of China, the next-largest source market. Most of these students intend to continue on to university programmes. Saudi Arabia was the fourth-leading source of students in full-time tertiary academic programmes in the US, according to the 2014 IIE Open Doors report, with more than a 20% increase in numbers from the previous report cycle.

Kuwait is another country exporting its language learners, with Open Doors listing the oil-rich nation as one of the fastest-growing student populations in the US. Kuwait has moved up to be the 7th most-represented country in intensive English programmes in the US.

In-country initiatives

In other MENA countries less able to send their students abroad for further opportunity, in-country programming is key, and reports the British Council is a key sponsor or provider of services in many of these countries. For example:

• In Algeria, the first phase of a nationwide teacher training and curricular reform programme for English education, under an agreement with the Algerian Ministry of Education, began in November 2014. In addition to face-to-face and online education intended to reach every English teacher in Algeria, this Strategic English Education Development for Schools (SEEDS) programme includes a complete overhaul of the English curriculum and testing system.
• Oman’s English teachers have been able to take Continuing Professional Development courses online using the British Council’s . The first instalment of highly interactive programme included discussion forums set up for smaller groups of teachers; it was deemed such a success that it spurred a second training programme in 2013/14.
• Two Moroccan universities have adopted the British Council’s , which enables them to both place students appropriately and to measure progress after students complete certain modules of the LearnEnglish Pathways programme. The early success of this pilot has led to similar e-learning methods being implemented at six other universities across the country.
• For the 1.2 million Syrian refugees and about half that number in Jordan, the need for educational opportunity is particularly acute. In Lebanon, the British Council and the European Union are co-funding a project to help Syrian refugees both with their English and their ability to integrate better into the more pluralistic Lebanese society, entitled Accessing education: language integration for Syrian refugee children. In Jordan, the British Council is working to enhance capacity in all areas of English-language education, including in refugee camps.

Changing lives

Given the current turmoil across the MENA region, and given a large and growing youth population facing more competition for employment, the value of English language skills is clearly highlighted and the success of these and other similar programmes is vital. Nic Humphries, the British Council’s director of English in the MENA region, says, “Research shows there’s no doubt that ”

There is no time to waste, both in terms of English language training and improved education in general for young people in the region. The World Bank reports that:

“The region’s youth population (up to 24 years old) will surge by about 10 million between 2015 and 2030. This sudden growth in the youth population will create increased demand for educational services at all levels and will place immense pressure on existing educational institutions. Clearly, the persistent, dual challenges of quality and relevance must be addressed before the anticipated surge. If they can, this rising tide of young people could become an engine of growth for the region.”

The post English skills a key for mobility and employment in the Middle East and North Africa appeared first on şÚÁĎąŮÍř 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 şÚÁĎąŮÍř Monitor - Market intelligence for international student recruitment.