© Alain Le Quernec, France
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Education
is the art of making man ethical.
Georg
Friedrich Hegel, German philosopher, (1770-1831)
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The impending flood of
offshore courses may do more than lure students away from the public system. It may
shake a pillar of national cohesion, says Gajaraj Dhanarajan, head of the Commonwealth
of Learning*
Are online degrees
offered by foreign universities eroding the position of national institutions?
The impact has not been significantly felt yet, because a large part of the population
in developing countries cannot afford to pay for courses travelling via the Internet
from offshore sources. Even when such courses are heavily subsidized, as is the case
with the African Virtual University, the cost is prohibitive. An AVU course from
Canada, the U.K. or the U.S. is said to be around $200-300 per credit. That’s probably
the monthly salary of an academic in one of the countries with an AVU site.
What about in the longer term?
Academic environments run the risk of being destabilized in countries where offshore
courses are downloaded. Students who can afford these courses are the ones who have
already enjoyed previous privileges, notably a much better secondary education. Offshore
degrees provide yet another privilege: they’re an attractive proposition for those
wishing to get jobs abroad besides being prized by local employers. So two types
of student communities might evolve: an underprivileged class that attends a local
university and a privileged class that can use a brand-name “foreign” education.
This is likely to create resentment. The local academic community could also become
demoralized if it sees itself serving only the second best.
So there is a threat to national cohesion?
Yes. In many developing countries, higher education is seen as a key component
of nation-building. I fear this is in danger of being damaged for a number of reasons
including a mismatch between offshore curricula and local hopes of building national
cohesion, maintaining cultural integrity and addressing local resource needs. What
we are seeing with offshore courses is the dumping, at an international level, of
products created for domestic consumption.
How much leverage do governments have in this context?
There is very little they can do without running into a string of criticism including
accusations of erecting barriers to the free flow of information. Local legislation
concerning quality and curriculum can be applied to foreign institutions in real
space, but is much more difficult to do in cyberspace. Governments could tax those
delivering the product, but ultimately the customer pays. Taxing the user is also
difficult to justify because students could argue that they’re already paying for
a quality they can’t get locally. Governments could take a stronger moral line, saying
yes to a free market but stipulating that a significant part of the curriculum must
address local human capital development needs. They have to be persuasive in presenting
those arguments in global fora like the World Trade Organization.
How can local institutions improve their standing?
Local capacities have to be developed, and these include making education accessible
to those who cannot study within campus walls. Online education is not the only solution.
There are open universities in the developing world that do a very good job of taking
knowledge to learners through a variety of methods but which are supported at the
village level by mentors who can help students. These capacities ought to be developed.
Universities in developing countries should become dual-mode institutions to cater
to the off-campus population. If those capacities include e-learning, wonderful.
But our aim should be to improve access to learning and to internationalize education.
This does not mean making education a trade. The issue is too important. Commodifying
education does not augur well for the cause of internationalizing education.
*The Commonwealth of Learning is an
international organization to encourage the development and sharing of open learning
and distance education knowledge, resources and technologies. For more information,
see www.col.org
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