Conclusions and recommendations
Why internationalism matters
1. We
agree that increased internationalisation of higher education
potentially brings great benefits, both economic and otherwise,
for the UK and its universities. (Paragraph 13)
International collaboration
2. We
agree that collaboration and partnership working are vital for
the future development of the international dimension in higher
education. We welcome projects such as the UK India Education
and Research Initiative and recommend that the Department for
Innovation, Universities and Skills, the British Council and their
partners in the university sector explore the possibility of developing
similar arrangements for China and for other countries. Joint
ventures are likely to involve the development joint courses and
undertaking joint curriculum development, as there will be no
further approvals of joint campuses until the Chinese government
has assessed the success of those established so far. (Paragraph
18)
3. We recommend that
the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills and the
British Council explore with institutions in China and in the
UK how best to build on initiatives already taken to improve collaboration
in higher education, including vocational education and the development
of pedagogy. As part of that exercise, the Government should provide
funding to facilitate collaboration, including the establishment
of a major, prestigious foundation, in partnership with the private
sector, to provide scholarships and fellowships. These are issues
which should be discussed at the high level UK/China summit which
we understand is to be held in China in September. (Paragraph
20)
4. The provision of
high quality post-graduate education is essential to enable the
HE sector to thrive. If the UK higher education sector is to succeed
in attracting the most highly qualified students to study here
at post-graduate level, it needs to work with the Department
for Innovation, Universities and Skills to provide more systematic
support. (Paragraph 21)
5. The problem of
students' unwillingness to study abroad can be addressed in a
number of ways. One is for the HE sector to be more strategic,
to decide as a matter of policy that more students should spend
time in another country and aim to facilitate that. Another is
flexibility. Many students would welcome the opportunity to study
abroad for shorter periods—3 or 6 months—rather than
a whole year. Having a proper credit transfer system would clearly
also be of great benefit. The situation needs to be addressed
rapidly to ensure that the UK does not lose out in both cultural
and economic terms. (Paragraph 24)
6. Underlying all
of these issues is the need for a concerted drive to improve foreign
language capacity. This will require action in schools, but universities
should also provide intensive short courses to enable students
to undertake study abroad. Some languages, such as Mandarin Chinese,
should continue to be treated as strategically important subjects
to ensure that capacity in them is retained. (Paragraph 25)
7. International students
bring academic, cultural and financial benefits, and the majority
of universities have international strategies which recognise
that. The HE sector needs , however, to guard against the risk
that the recruitment of international students will be seen as
driven by short term gains in fee income by ensuring that the
teaching and research offered are of high quality. Building genuine
partnerships and engaging in thoughtful collaborations will lead
to more sustainable relationships with institutions and students
from other countries. (Paragraph 28)
8. Universities need
to ensure that their partnerships in other countries are designed
to provide high quality education in order to be sustainable for
the long term. (Paragraph 29)
Funding for part time students
9. We
recommend that the Government reviews as a matter of urgency
the current arrangements for fee support payable to institutions
for part time students and the availability of support for part
time students themselves. For the future, we believe that students
should be seen as one group with a variety of needs for support
rather than being arbitrarily divided into categories of part
time and full time. (Paragraph 34)
The future sustainability of the higher education
sector: further issues
10. We
recommend that our successors on the committee that scrutinises
the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills should
continue our inquiry and report on the issues of the structure
of the HE sector; university funding (including levels of investment
in research in comparison with competitor countries); and the
role of universities over the next decade. (Paragraph 38)
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