Gambling on globalising tertiary education

Trade in higher education services has grown within recent years into a billion dollar industry estimated globally at over US$30 billion annually. According to statistics published by the American Council on Education (ACE) in 2003, the United States of America is the largest provider of educational services in the world, including recruitment of international students, establishment of campuses abroad, franchised arrangements and online learning. In fact, in 1997 the US earned an estimated $8.5 billion from trade in higher education making it the country’s fifth largest service export. As a provider of educational services internationally, the USA is followed by the United Kingdom and Australia where government policies now support measures to increase trade in educational services overseas.

The following abstract is taken from a report entitled “Trade in Higher Education Services: The Implications of GATS” available online at the website of The Observatory on borderless higher education (www.obhe.ac.uk): “The General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) is currently being negotiated under the auspices of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). GATS is designed to increase trade liberalisation internationally, and includes ‘education’ as a service sector. “Examples of perceived ‘barriers’ in the trade in higher education services might include visa restrictions, taxation that disadvantages foreign institutions and accreditation arrangements that privilege domestic institutions and qualifications. Some view GATS as a positive force, accelerating the influx of private and foreign providers of higher education into countries where domestic capacity is inadequate. Others take a more negative view, concerned that liberalisation may compromise important elements of quality assurance and permit private and foreign providers to monopolise the best students and most lucrative programmes.”

In the report, Dr Jane Knights, an expert on the internationalization of higher education, presents a critical view of the potential impact of increased trade liberalisation of educational services and examines a wide range of issues that would affect developing and developed countries. Worldwide, the increasing demand for tertiary education and the changing role of governments have given rise to a higher level of commercial activity driven by the business sector in this sphere. In our Caribbean region, Jamaica as a signatory to GATS is reportedly grappling with several challenges as a result of an influx of foreign institutions. While these institutions can provide learning opportunities to the population that were previously unavailable or limited, they also compete with Jamaica’s national institutions — both public and private — for equal opportunities in that sector. This occurs since one of the obligations under GATS requires the equal and consistent treatment of all foreign trading partners. The question frequently asked when we speak of “tertiary” or “higher” education, is what exactly do we mean?

Globally, tertiary education refers to the teaching and learning process that occurs following successful completion of secondary schooling or its equivalent and provides academic credits or competencies that lead to the award of qualifications such as certificates, diplomas and degrees. The terms “post-secondary,” “tertiary” and “higher” education are used interchangeably.  Tertiary education provides learners with advanced knowledge and specialised skills that prepare them to function in diverse occupational and professional areas and empower them to participate meaningfully in personal, social, cultural and economic development. It is important to note that tertiary education can be categorised as “non-university” or “university.”

The non-university level refers to programmes that lead to the award of sub-baccalaureate qualifications such as the associate degree, and university education refers to the awarding of baccalaureate (bachelor’s) or post-baccalaureate (master’s and doctoral) qualifications and is further characterised by research that maintains, advances, disseminates and assists the application of knowledge. As higher education markets globally are liberalised, there are increasing demands for the implementation of standards and mechanisms to assure the quality of institutions and the programmes they offer. Here in Trinidad and Tobago, the tertiary education sector has undergone significant growth over the last decade. A number of foreign colleges and universities have been forming alliances with local institutions to engage in collaborative arrangements for the award of qualifications to local students.

Degree more than paper it’s on 

It is evident that failure to provide assurances of the quality and standards of programmes and qualifications offered in this country can harm the reputation of local institutions and tertiary education in Trinidad and Tobago in the eyes of the world.  It will also do a lasting disservice to the students and graduates of these institutions whose interests, particularly as citizens of this country, should be protected. A number of Codes of Practice have been developed in other countries to provide guidance in respect of ensuring that the quality and standards of programmes offered through partnerships with overseas universities are comparable to those available at the same institutions in their home countries. Online learning presents even greater challenges because of the unconventional nature of the educational process, as innovations in information and communication technologies (ICTs) provide virtual modes to deliver tertiary education.

The major concern in both instances is to guarantee that the integrity of the educational process has not been compromised to the detriment of the actual value of the qualification awarded. Plainly put, it’s important to verify that the degree is worth more than the paper it’s printed on and that the graduate can actually display the competence he or she should have developed and which employers and clients expect in the workplace. In order to protect the interests of students, graduates, employers and other stakeholders, this country must adopt a systematic approach to the establishment, monitoring and evaluation of academic standards for all tertiary level programmes offered in Trinidad and Tobago. In this context, it is significant to note that Government, under the aegis of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Tertiary Education has taken the initiative to establish the Accreditation Council of Trinidad and Tobago (ACTT) as a matter of priority.

Accreditation provides quality assurances for students as consumers of educational services; for employers as the purchasers of these services when they recruit graduates; for the public at large as the ultimate beneficiaries of these services; and even for the owners of tertiary institutions who invest large sums of money in affiliation and franchised arrangements and in the operations of their institutions. Institutional accreditation examines such general characteristics as governance, administrative strength, academic policies and procedures, quality of faculty, physical facilities and financial stability. The accreditation of individual programmes evaluates the quality of teaching and the support of learning, design and planning of curricula, assessment and feedback to learners, learning environments and learner support systems and programme evaluation and quality assurance systems among other things.

Evaluation teams comprise qualified and competent professionals (local, regional and international) with well-established reputations in their fields who conduct site visits and other assessments to collect evidence verifying the claims institutions make in their self-evaluation reports. An expansion in public and private tertiary education is necessary in order to ensure that Trinidad and Tobago’s current and future skill requirements are met. The experience of other countries around the globe illustrates that higher levels of participation in tertiary education and high standards of academic quality and student achievement are positively correlated to increased productivity, greater economic development as well as better health, lower crime rates, and the development of more cohesive and inclusive communities. 

It is in this context that the establishment of the Accreditation Council of Trinidad and Tobago (ACTT) can serve as a signal to the regional and international communities of this country’s commitment to increased social and economic development and the pursuit of developed country status. The challenge in this context is to improve the quality, access and relevance of tertiary education while ensuring equity, accountability and efficiency in the sector. Dr Ruby S Alleyne is an educationist and a consultant on accreditation and quality assurance in the Caribbean region.

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