Publication: Internationalization of Higher Education in MENA : Policy Issues Associated with Skills Formation and Mobility
Loading...
Date
2011-01
ISSN
Published
2011-01
Editor(s)
Abstract
This policy issues note is focused on internationalization of higher education and the linkages and implications that internationalization has for skills mobility. Internationalization is one of the most important developments that globalization has brought to higher education worldwide. In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, it has turned into quite a complex undertaking. The Arab Spring has made it clear that young people in MENA are asking for more and better opportunities: to study and work; to move about the world; and to learn and to create new knowledge and enterprises. Higher education, migration, and labor mobility are key policy areas as MENA nations address the need for a strong skills base to underpin the economic and social development of the regions disparate economies. All three policy areas share an interest in the development, recognition, and application of educational qualifications, in the quality of education and training, and in the ability of people to acquire, provide, and use education for their own well-being and for their nation's benefit. This note is intended to be the base document for a policy dialogue integrating the three issues associated with the development of human capital: higher education, migration, and labor mobility. This note seeks to introduce a systematic policy discussion about the internationalization of higher education to help MENA countries improve the quality and relevance of their higher education systems, open opportunities for better skills development, and improve high-skilled labor migration. There are important interactions among the formation of skills and competencies, the acquisition of credentials and qualifications, and where and how those skills are applied. These include the quality of education, the ease with which credentials are recognized in different countries, the role of international partners, and the incentives to study and work in the region and elsewhere. This note will explore how a regional approach to accreditation and recognition of qualifications could bring benefits and understanding of the complex interactions among student mobility, domestic higher education, and the economic and social development priorities of MENA countries. It will also provide evidence on the importance of setting goals for intra-regional student mobility and for student and faculty flows into the region through accreditation, student and faculty exchange, hiring incentives, and research infrastructure including competitive research grants. Finally, the note will demonstrate the need for a clear policy on the 'export of educational services.'
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Jaramillo, Adriana; Ruby, Alan; Henard, Fabrice; Zaafrane, Hafedh. 2011. Internationalization of Higher Education in MENA : Policy Issues Associated with Skills Formation and Mobility. © http://hdl.handle.net/10986/19461 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Republic of Sierra Leone : Higher and Tertiary Education Sector Policy Note(Washington, DC, 2013-07-15)Chapter one provides background and context for these policy notes. It includes information on the history of Higher and Tertiary Education (HTEs), learning structures, the economy, relevant legal frameworks, and the general education sector. Chapter two deals with quality assurance: the structures of administration, legal framework, monitoring Commissions, internal and external quality assurance, policies, accreditation and participants. Chapter three highlights issues of academic Relevance to economic, social and national development. It reviews the Government of Sierra Leone (GOSL) priorities, the labor market, skills and competencies and employment status and opportunities for Higher and Tertiary Education Institution, or HTI graduates. The chapter further explores the supply of programs and courses while identifying gaps in offerings. Recommendations are provided. Chapter Four provides insight into the Cost and Financing of HTIs. The report highlights the financing of institutions, public financing, subventions, scholarships and projected demand for HTE and associated costs. Policy recommendations are provided in each chapter, and summarized here.Publication Affiliated Colleges in South Asia : Is Quality Expansion Possible?(Washington, DC, 2011-10)South Asia is at the cusp of change. Aside from being blessed with abundant natural resources, it is one of the world's most densely-populated regions, being home to over 1.6 billion people. Most importantly, it had experienced rapid population growth and is now home to a talented young population. At the same time, South Asia's economy is booming. The South Asian countries share many similar characteristics, in their political, societal and cultural, DNAs'. One common feature is that these countries experienced a rapid expansion of their higher education sector in recent decades. This is not surprising, given the increasing quality, access and affordability of primary and secondary education. This is matched concurrently by the region's strong economic growth resulting in higher demand for skilled labor.Publication Internationalizing Sub-Saharan Africa’s Education and Health Services(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015)This paper summarizes the nature and determinants of trade in education and health services in a selected group of countries in Eastern and Southern Africa, using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. The paper presents results from new, innovative data collection methods, such as crowdsourcing, to shed some light on the magnitude, determinants, and restrictions on intra-African trade in education and health services. Assessments of trade and regulatory barriers, based on results from regulatory surveys conducted in selected East African countries, and case studies of success stories and less favorable experiences are then used to develop policy recommendations for using trade and regional integration more strategically to improve outcomes in education and health. The analysis shows that to turn these sectors around, policy action is required in the areas of education, domestic regulation, trade policy, labor mobility, and information and communications technologies at the national and international levels. To retain some of the scarce health workers in the region and enhance the region’s competitiveness in providing education and health services, African countries should allow for freer mobility of teachers and health care professionals.Publication Are Skills Constraining Growth in Bosnia and Herzegovina?(World Bank, 2009-12-01)The shortage of skills sought by key export-oriented and import competing industries in Bosnia and Herzegovina (henceforth, 'BH') is substantial and if left unaddressed, threatens to constrain future economic growth of the country. Prior to the onset of the global economic crisis, BH enjoyed strong rates of economic growth based to a significant degree on the growth of exports. On average, exports grew at an impressive 34 percent per year between 1995 and 2008. Our analysis however confirms that the growth of exporting, as well as import-competing industries is increasingly becoming constrained by the shortage of skills in the labor force. In this report we seek to identify these shortages and their likely causes and recommend reforms and policies which can prevent the plummeting of economic growth due to lack of adequate skills. Firm-level evidence confirms that the shortage of qualified workers is becoming a serious obstacle to growth of BH exporting companies. This report investigates what types of skills firms are looking for and are not finding in the marketplace. The policy recommendation section of this study seeks to provide ideas and direction for the BH government to address these labor market challenges.Publication Higher Education Financing in the New EU Member States : Leveling the Playing Field(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2007)The study reviews the experience in the EU8 countries of the emergence of private higher education institutions and introduction of fees for student who do not gain regular admission. This has resulted in a dual-track system that is affecting the equity of access to higher education. The authors have addressed this with a variety of financing mechanisms in the EU8 countries and seek to develop some useful policy options to "level the playing field" for countries contemplating further reforms, which would include the introduction of variable fees, needs-based grants and loans to increase private financial flows into higher education while facilitating equal access across the board. The study begins with and introduction. Chapter 2 provides an overview of current higher education systems in the EU8 in a comparative perspective. Chapter 3 suggests some directions for further reform initiatives. Chapter 4 concludes.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Economic Recovery(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-04-06)World Bank Group President David Malpass spoke about the world facing major challenges, including COVID, climate change, rising poverty and inequality and growing fragility and violence in many countries. He highlighted vaccines, working closely with Gavi, WHO, and UNICEF, the World Bank has conducted over one hundred capacity assessments, many even more before vaccines were available. The World Bank Group worked to achieve a debt service suspension initiative and increased transparency in debt contracts at developing countries. The World Bank Group is finalizing a new climate change action plan, which includes a big step up in financing, building on their record climate financing over the past two years. He noted big challenges to bring all together to achieve GRID: green, resilient, and inclusive development. Janet Yellen, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, mentioned focusing on vulnerable people during the pandemic. Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, focused on giving everyone a fair shot during a sustainable recovery. All three commented on the importance of tackling climate change.Publication Remarks at the United Nations Biodiversity Conference(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-10-12)World Bank Group President David Malpass discussed biodiversity and climate change being closely interlinked, with terrestrial and marine ecosystems serving as critically important carbon sinks. At the same time climate change acts as a direct driver of biodiversity and ecosystem services loss. The World Bank has financed biodiversity conservation around the world, including over 116 million hectares of Marine and Coastal Protected Areas, 10 million hectares of Terrestrial Protected Areas, and over 300 protected habitats, biological buffer zones and reserves. The COVID pandemic, biodiversity loss, climate change are all reminders of how connected we are. The recovery from this pandemic is an opportunity to put in place more effective policies, institutions, and resources to address biodiversity loss.Publication The Journey Ahead(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-31)The Journey Ahead: Supporting Successful Migration in Europe and Central Asia provides an in-depth analysis of international migration in Europe and Central Asia (ECA) and the implications for policy making. By identifying challenges and opportunities associated with migration in the region, it aims to inform a more nuanced, evidencebased debate on the costs and benefits of cross-border mobility. Using data-driven insights and new analysis, the report shows that migration has been an engine of prosperity and has helped address some of ECA’s demographic and socioeconomic disparities. Yet, migration’s full economic potential remains untapped. The report identifies multiple barriers keeping migration from achieving its full potential. Crucially, it argues that policies in both origin and destination countries can help maximize the development impacts of migration and effectively manage the economic, social, and political costs. Drawing from a wide range of literature, country experiences, and novel analysis, The Journey Ahead presents actionable policy options to enhance the benefits of migration for destination and origin countries and migrants themselves. Some measures can be taken unilaterally by countries, whereas others require close bilateral or regional coordination. The recommendations are tailored to different types of migration— forced displacement as well as high-skilled and low-skilled economic migration—and from the perspectives of both sending and receiving countries. This report serves as a comprehensive resource for governments, development partners, and other stakeholders throughout Europe and Central Asia, where the richness and diversity of migration experiences provide valuable insights for policy makers in other regions of the world.Publication Media and Messages for Nutrition and Health(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-06)The Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) has experienced rapid and significant economic growth over the past decade. However, poor nutritional outcomes remain a concern. Rates of childhood undernutrition are particularly high in remote, rural, and upland areas. Media have the potential to play an important role in shaping health and nutrition–related behaviors and practices as well as in promoting sociocultural and economic development that might contribute to improved nutritional outcomes. This report presents the results of a media audit (MA) that was conducted to inform the development and production of mass media advocacy and communication strategies and materials with a focus on maternal and child health and nutrition that would reach the most people from the poorest communities in northern Lao PDR. Making more people aware of useful information, essential services and products and influencing them to use these effectively is the ultimate goal of mass media campaigns, and the MA measures the potential effectiveness of media efforts to reach this goal. The effectiveness of communication channels to deliver health and nutrition messages to target beneficiaries to ensure maximum reach and uptake can be viewed in terms of preferences, satisfaction, and trust. Overall, the four most accessed media channels for receiving information among communities in the study areas were village announcements, mobile phones, television, and out-of-home (OOH) media. Of the accessed media channels, the top three most preferred channels were village announcements (40 percent), television (26 percent), and mobile phones (19 percent). In terms of trust, village announcements were the most trusted source of information (64 percent), followed by mobile phones (14 percent) and television (11 percent). Hence of all the media channels, village announcements are the most preferred, have the most satisfied users, and are the most trusted source of information in study communities from four provinces in Lao PDR with some of the highest burden of childhood undernutrition.Publication South Asia Development Update, April 2024: Jobs for Resilience(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-04-02)South Asia is expected to continue to be the fastest-growing emerging market and developing economy (EMDE) region over the next two years. This is largely thanks to robust growth in India, but growth is also expected to pick up in most other South Asian economies. However, growth in the near-term is more reliant on the public sector than elsewhere, whereas private investment, in particular, continues to be weak. Efforts to rein in elevated debt, borrowing costs, and fiscal deficits may eventually weigh on growth and limit governments' ability to respond to increasingly frequent climate shocks. Yet, the provision of public goods is among the most effective strategies for climate adaptation. This is especially the case for households and farms, which tend to rely on shifting their efforts to non-agricultural jobs. These strategies are less effective forms of climate adaptation, in part because opportunities to move out of agriculture are limited by the region’s below-average employment ratios in the non-agricultural sector and for women. Because employment growth is falling short of working-age population growth, the region fails to fully capitalize on its demographic dividend. Vibrant, competitive firms are key to unlocking the demographic dividend, robust private investment, and workers’ ability to move out of agriculture. A range of policies could spur firm growth, including improved business climates and institutions, the removal of financial sector restrictions, and greater openness to trade and capital flows.