The landscape of global education is shifting – not just in terms of demand geographically but how and where that demand is being met. Last week’s global policy conference on international education, Going Global, was opened by demographic expert Hans Rosling, an engaging statistician who confirmed that the proportion of young people who need education is the highest it has ever been.
His opening plenary was well received by over 1,000 international education providers and stakeholders who convened in Miami to discuss issues and opportunities around unprecedented demand for global education and multi-modes of delivery.
Rosling also explained how demand will manifest by world region: by the end of the century, the West will have less than 10% of the world’s population while Africa and Asia will have 80%. Gender equity will play a huge role in defining population peaks and society trends in the future, he counselled.
Subsequent sessions throughout the three-day event centred around the role of education providers in demand-driven markets including India, China, Africa and Latin America.
“The link between tertiary education and economic success is intuitive, we know that the emerging powers are investing in education”
English as a Medium of Instruction, meeting skills gaps, transnational education (TNE), MOOCs, innovation in HE and education in a post-Millennium Development Goals (MDG) world were all topics grappled with by speakers ranging from ministers and regional experts to university professionals and Sir Patrick Stewart – the British actor who is now Chancellor of the University of Huddersfield (he also spoke at the gala dinner).
Much research was released during the conference, with new data from the Oxford Department of Education and the British Council revealing that English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) as a “galloping phenomenon” in non-Anglophone countries.
However, among delegates, the movement was controversial as representatives from Latin America argued that EMI can act as a barrier to progress and access for many low income students.
Employability has become one of the largest motivators for international students as educators are challenged with creating skilled labourers who meet demand in the local economy. A three-part research series looking into graduate employability in Africa shows that 11 million young people in the region will join the job market every year for the next 10 years.
In order to harness this human capital, Africa must focus on three educational tracks: academic, vocational education and fostering talent including athletics, argued Kenya’s Education Secretary Kiragu Wa Magochi.
Adam Habib questioned MOOCs’ ability to democratise education
In a post-MDG world, the British Council’s director of Education and Society, Jo Beall said education will be key to building economies that can sustain graduate employment. “The link between tertiary education and economic success is intuitive, we know that the emerging powers are investing in education and they are the ones that have growing economies and are going to be the economic power houses of the future.”
Technology will continue to drive the structural change in higher education that many stakeholders argue must happen in order to meet the global demand for education.
The rapid growth of Transnational Education (TNE) has been driven by increased access to technology in traditional student markets. The impact of TNE was shown to be positive overall in host countries, according to research from the British Council and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).
The role of MOOCs in higher education was heatedly debated. Chief Executive of the UK’s MOOC platform Futurelearn, Simon Nelson, argued that the medium isn’t a fad that will disappear but rather the beginning signs of the huge impact the internet will have on higher education.
The emphatic Adam Habib, Vice Chancellor at the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa, questioned MOOCs’ ability to democratise education. The poor are encouraged to study via MOOCs while the global elite continue to get face-to-face education, he suggested.
The conference ended with delegates hearing from young innovators, aged under 30, sharing insights into what education has meant in their life and how they believe access to and measurements for success in education will evolve into a more individualised paradigm.