Globally, there has been a significant growth in private higher learning marked by a significant growth in the number of students who do not qualify to publicly-funded higher leaning institutions. In UK, private higher learning institutions are a core strategic asset, which play a critical role in economic development and social mobility. The institutions offer world class education, and research and innovation centers, which are vital for future prosperity and societal well being.
Since 2001, the number of students graduating from these institutions has grown by 17% while those achieving post graduate degrees have grown by 27% (GÜRÜZ, 2005). Much of this growth accrues to the UK’s education sector to attract international students from all over the world. However, this number is intended to grow as a result of the introduction of the IDP education in UK’s higher education sector, in 2010. The program intends to place as many international students into British universities as it has done in Canada, United States, and Australia (GÜRÜZ, 2005).
The introduction of IDP has added value to existing private institutions such as Ashridge Business School, the University of Law, BPP, University of Buckingham, Regent’s College, and the Ifs School of Finance. The existing coalition government has also been on the frontline in supporting the development of private international higher learning. In April 2012, for example, the government announced the sale of the College of Law to a private equity firm; currently know as the University of Law.
The coalition government support to the growth of the sector accrues to its cut in public expenditure, which is diverted into other areas of development. A number of public higher education institutions have been reported setting up private subsidiaries, which charge lower fees as compared to the prime institutions. An example is the Coventry university college, which has reported the least in terms of fees in the year 2012-13 intake.
The government intends to grant the private learning institutions some VAT advantages so that they are on the ‘same footing’ with the public universities. This is intended to encourage marketing of these institutions as well as development of more institutions compared to the existing numbers. However, this has been criticized with the difference in quality of education received in private and public universities, and on the criteria to use in order to come up with a balanced VAT rate.
Despite the steady increase in the number of students in private learning institutions, UK still remains behind many competing countries like Canada and Australia in terms of production of skilled individuals. However, investing in this sector has led to the production of skilled manpower required in boosting its economic growth objectives. Opening the region for international students has not only led to improvement of skills, but also created new opportunities required to promote the courses required in the increasingly competitive global market (GÜRÜZ, 2005).
The institutions have opened opportunities for international students who would wish to improve their academic standards, but limited on qualifications. Additionally, international learning has led to widening the horizons of the local students from a diverse thinking capacity and difference in perception of things. It has allowed sharing of ideas, which boost innovation from both local and international students (GÜRÜZ, 2005). This has acted as a means of internalizing the campuses, and as a strategy in winning the confidence of the locals who prefer to develop their skills in other regional and well established foreign providers.
For profit academic institutions act as a source of national income; this is from the decrease in government expenditure, in public learning institutions. With the increased market competition, most students would opt to enroll in private institutions, which offer faster programs in comparison to public institutions (GÜRÜZ, 2005). The consequence is high payments for school fees required in the private institutions. The government, eventually, benefits from the cut down expenditures as well as the tax collected from the institutions.
International learning is also a pathway for opening global interactions for UK and other regions in the world. Students from different regions of the world interact and share ideas, which allow creativity, and boosts marketing. This implies an improvement in marketing networks as well as global relations. International students bring along ideas and culture, which when adopted develops innovations in the country (GÜRÜZ, 2005). Further, international learning act as a platform for UK to market its abilities in the education sector as well as other sectors of the economy. This will allow foreign investments in education and other sectors of economy adding to its growth and development record.
The growth of international education, in UK, will open up pathways for teaming up with foreign learning institutions, as well as global companies. This implies collaborating with such institutions, which will assist in building their profile in a global perspective, and also on building extensive marketing networks. Teaming up with international providers will also boost on competition, which will lead to quality education and development. The international and local students in these institutions will achieve quality and required skills to match with the requirements in the job market.
The effects of past series of global recession have influenced the slow growth rate of the UK’s economy. The coalition government is working extensively in regaining the economic status of UK, and international schooling has been one of its strategies. Opening international schooling has developed relations with the economy’s allies, allowed exchange of culture, and has acted as an incentive to economic development. With the private internationals students learning facilities offering courses at a cheaper cost as compared to the economy’s competitors, the sector has persuaded other nations to ascribe to its policies (GÜRÜZ, 2005). This has been achieved through co-operative programs, which act as a soft power strategy in developing an economy.
Disadvantages.
Contrary to Canada and US, where international education focuses on talent acquisition and development, International education in UK focuses on fee and the income generated from such fee. This implies that the quality of education and skills achieved by learners is compromised (GÜRÜZ, 2005). The graduates lack proper modern skills required by the current job market, and if they qualify the jobs that they obtain do not fully utilize their abilities. There lacks the urge to enhance the process of knowledge creation as in China and Japan implying that the graduates lack innovative skills required in the job market.
The private international learning institutions have also created social inequality in UK. Students from wealthy backgrounds access the education, which is faster to graduate as compared to that from public institutions. This is despite from the fact that most of these students who graduate do not meet the criteria for university, but the fact that they have resources make them qualify. The social inequality becomes evident in the entry to these universities, the courses offered and the duration of the courses. Some of the international providers have courses that public universities do not offer. This creates unnecessary competition in the job market as most local and international recruiters hire the graduates from the international schools despite their limited skills.
Additionally, those who graduate from these institutions seek jobs in the local markets of UK. Those who come from developing and underdeveloped nations accept any terms of work as a result of despair and need for maintenance (GÜRÜZ, 2005). The graduates end up being exploited in terms of longer working hours, and low pay.
The differences in culture, language, and value systems are significant in international education, in UK. These differences create barriers in communication, and pose a significant challenge in managing the learners. There lacks a control of cultural accreditation, and the extent to which the differences can be globalized (GÜRÜZ, 2005). This has resulted into an unintended outcome of post-colonial education where the stronger higher education institutions determine the accreditations and standards to the lower rated institutions. Mostly, the higher rated institutions are privately owned, and this has led to production of post-colonial graduates who do not embrace the differences of culture and language. In addition, international education has encouraged cultural brain wash where the foreign learners adapt to the local customs, and forget about their backgrounds. This creates a threat to globalization as lack of cultural recognition creates social inequalities.
The future of transnational education in UK.
The future of most UK universities lies in internationalization (GÜRÜZ, 2005). This means an adaptation of highly networked globalized education systems, which fits the needs of learners as well as the job market. As much as cultural differences may hinder the intention, absorbing the elements of international education will open the economy to global markets.
Brand positioning, however, is crucial if the economy is to successfully achieve the goals of international education. The ‘fee drive’ needs to be reviewed so that the country focuses on acquisition of knowledge and talent management. This will boost innovations and creativity, which are crucial elements for economic growth.
Most of the universities have also adopted the use of online educational programs for distance learning. Australia and U.S are examples of economies, which use online learning to reach distance learners. If UK is to meet the standards of its competitors, online programs should be one of the key characteristic of international education. This will minimize the risk of cultural and social imbalance, which has limited success of international learning in UK. Additionally, the move will reach out to more than what the country has as learners will access the facilities from their home countries.
There is also the need for investment and increase in expenditure in learning institutions if UK is to succeed in international education (GÜRÜZ, 2005). The government needs to invest massively in public universities so that they provide quality education. This will create competition to the local private universities, which will initiate quality education provision. Increased expenditure and investment will imply that the private universities will shift from the profit motive to the creation of quality. The strategy will in turn lead to an increased level of skills and qualifications, and this will act as a soft-power in attracting foreign learners.
Bibliography.
GÜRÜZ, K. (2005). Higher education and international student mobility in the global knowledge economy. Cambridge, MA, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University.
