CASE STUDIES FROM AFRICA

isks arising from the internationalisation strategy is a key issue in determining the success or
failure of the globalisation of a country’s education services sector.
Whilst challenges for institutions mainly have to do with institutional and regulatory issues,
governments must carry out policy making at the domestic and regional levels. One concrete
challenge for institutions, when opened up at the global level, is related to the capacity for
training and keeping an academic staff with a high research profile. Another possible situation
for an institution is dealing with new ways of funding. When funding sources diversify, the
institution needs to project its teaching and research activities accordingly, and when possible,
develop partnerships with the private sector for research cooperation.
With regard to challenges at the domestic level, these are diverse, and differ according to the
stages of development of the country concerned. In high-income countries such as Japan, it is
interesting to note that some challenges in education result from demographic changes and the
failure of the education systems in Japan to match the decline of student population. 22 This
challenge was addressed by attracting a larger number of international students to study in
domestic institutions.
In general terms, several types of domestic policies may constitute impediments to exports of
education services. Considering Mode 2 and Mode 4, the modes involved in the first wave of
globalisation of education services, many policies can be cited that constitute barriers to the
export of these services. Some barriers to Mode 2, affecting foreign students’ entry, can include:
quotas, limits on the number and type of courses foreign students are allowed to take,
discriminatory enrolment criteria, restrictions applied by local institutions when recruiting
foreign students, restrictions on students when trying to access the labour market for part-time
work during study, and restrictions on access to tuition or other subsidies. Amongst the barriers
to Mode 4 operations, which affect the exit of local teachers to deliver courses abroad, it is
possible to mention the following: exit restrictions on domestic teachers, education or
employment requirements bonding teachers to operate locally for a minimum period of time,
and restrictions on transfers of funds overseas by domestic teachers. Dee argues that
impediments on exports have a tremendous impact on the globalisation of education services,
stating that, ‘if an economy with sample average barriers to the inward movement of students
were to liberalise completely, it would attract about 250 percent more students—more than
twice as many’. 23
Impediments to Mode 1 transactions are considered low. However, some countries tend to
maintain high barriers to Mode 3 transactions. Both restrictions on commercial presence (that is,
restrictions on the ability of foreign educational institutions to open branches or campuses in
the domestic market) and restrictions on study abroad have a negative impact on tertiary
22
Pokarier, C. ‘Japanese Higher Education’, in Findlay, C., and Tierney, W.G. (eds), Globalization and Tertiary
Education in the Asia Pacific: The Changing Nature of a Dynamic Market, World Scientific, 2010.
23
Dee, Phillippa. ‘International Student Movements and the Effects of Barriers to Trade in Higher Education
Services’, in Findlay, C., and Tierney, W.G. (eds), Globalization and Tertiary Education in the Asia Pacific: The
Changing Nature of a Dynamic Market, World Scientific, 2010.
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