CUT IN THE MIDDLE: HIGHER EDUCATION & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Introduction
Most of the developing countries are highly reliant to agricultural sector. As a result, its provision of courses available in higher education is limited for this specific purpose and non-specialized studies. In China’s educational history, it opted to send specialized higher education students in countries where their specialization could be enhanced with the purpose to save its future industrialized perspective ( 1991). Problems however aroused in the government’s financial capability to support the growing number of aspiring students. Did its dream to obtain competitive advantage in terms of industrially-learned human capital gone in thin air? What are other higher education options that the country needs to develop in response to its economic development?
Even though China belongs to developing country (2006), its government had the control of its resources and has plenty to speak about to influence the educational system because of its Communist type of rule. It can sway the public demand for higher education that makes it easy for them to rationalize and balance the number of graduates relative to their future employment. However, most of the developing countries in South-East Asia, Latin America and Africa do not have the same authoritarian government where freedom and democracy are commonly upheld ( 2006).
This is the reason why there is a need to conduct a situation analysis and develop a marketing plan for developing countries to encourage local patronage of its higher education and discourage the population leaving the country to study undergraduate or graduate studies abroad. It will be coupled with marketing models and analytical tools to promote rational decisions on how to confront the recent trend.
The Reason behind Higher Education Migration
Using ( 2003), higher education offerings of developing countries possesses mostly agricultural and less specialization-based higher education offerings. Existing market, however, is growing at a faster rate when it comes to the demand for non-traditional courses. The desire was aggravated by the popularity of the internet, emphasizing more of trade liberalization like China and call for industrialization. As a result, information-based foreign companies started to precipitate the local labor force putting pressure to higher education to adapt in the abrupt transformation and globalization. However, developing countries have limited resources to fund higher education development leaving the population helpless in the growing demand for competitive labor markets these foreign companies, including local ones who are also affected by the former, required.
The local market then turns their heads to other countries, particularly the affluent ones. Such move was motivated by the cognition that higher education in such countries is relatively more compatible to the international trend of industrialization, from agriculture-based to technology-based habit. Back in the local produce of higher education, people are displeased by the results of years from universities to the labor sector that exhibits low wage, unemployment and demanding qualifications. Agriculture graduates are driven out of the picture replaced by information and service-intensive diploma holders. Since governments are caught unprepared, the country’s competitive advantage from agriculture-based higher education is shaky until it is balanced.
Through generic strategies ( 2003), the current limitation of developing countries and increased motivation of migrating local markets can be observed. China and Cuba (, 2006) are two of the excellent countries when it comes to education partly because the government provides the service. However, most of developing countries have less control to the institutions, especially private ones. State-owned or subsidized universities are minimal relative to the number of private ones. Besides, being a cost leader, public schools lack the ability to generate its own fund through tuition fees unlike the private ones. Once they do, expect freedom of speech and freedom of education shouted to school premises. This lack of revenue generation capability and “public service” nature of public schools accommodated sub-optimal number of college students. Sub-optimal because the public’s motivation to study in such school is largely stemmed in low tuition fees making the choice: “enroll or not to enroll” ignoring what the student really wants, or more importantly in macroeconomic view, what labor market can absorve.
The market-competitive direction ( 1996) of education in the private universities resulted to a more differentiated course offerings to create added value and lure students in the curricula by compensating for soaring tuition fees. Because of this fact, only the elite social class affords to study and celebrates the “additional value” of these private institutions like specialized and trained professors, dynamic and diverse curricula, sufficient science and computer laboratories, including ample security, clean comfort rooms and conducive-to-learning classrooms (oftentimes with air conditioners). However, some of these elite families are aware that studying locally, even in private ones, would lead only to their graduates’ inclusion to low-waged labor sector. This is aggravated by the unstable government, security problems and other discouraging local facts that can disrupt learning and cause disincentive to employment-seeking. In the end, the prominent goal to migrate to other countries seemed to be the overlapping motivation for the elite studying abroad. However, internal doubts in their home countries would be lessened only after graduation and the time they hold college diploma from, say Harvard, that can dictate superiority over the labor market. Either they return or never come back, hopes for the future are relatively parallel— high income levels, prestige, relatively easy access to employment and an eye to management level positions.
The Effects of Educational Migration
Brain drain is an economic condition in which the competent human capital of a country is at low levels as a result of exercising profession abroad. Without this competence and expertise, the economy and government will be stagnant, if not decline, because of sub-optimal ability to make rational and suited decisions. Development drives will tend to be in low levels or even opposite, there is minimal labor force to actively participate in the endeavor. In business, human capital is considered one of the most important resources of a firm, however, for a country; they are considered nation-builders. Their lost in the economic circulation is not as easy as a private firm in which recruitment and hiring could be sought from a pool of aspirants. In a macroeconomic view, such lost would need another stagnant years to invest for another young people with the hope that enrolling their higher education would be made locally.
For the elite and sponsored migrating students, although monetary considerations is not an issue, cultural differences due to different environment abroad demands cultural adaptation on their part. Since they are mostly on adolescent stage, such shift would rather difficult. Discrimination in color and language could ignite untoward psychological impact that can adversely affect academic performance. This is true especially in group works. Foreign students could face exclusion from the local group that could result that could affect self-esteem and increase stress levels. Although international schools like those in United Kingdom had installed anti-discrimination practices in its educational systems, straightforward and isolated intimidation from the dominating majority can leave long-lasting effects to classroom performance of foreign students.
Analysis of Public and Private Higher Education Institutions
Strengths of public-based higher education are eminent in low tuition fee, security of stable school tuition fee and promotion of student empowerment. On the other hand, private institutions confirm strengths in areas of training its faculties, dynamism of course offerings, provision of computer facility and laboratory and relatively wider employment opportunities due to student exposure to the cities where firms are prevalent. Weaknesses for the public and private institutions sourced from the exclusivity of their strengths in most cases. For example, private universities require financial liquidity to continue fostering environment conducive to learning as public counterparts would often rely to students’ acceptance of sub-optimal atmosphere as compensation to low tuition and enrolment fees.
For state-owned universities, an opportunity is cited by focusing in agricultural courses as it can become an export potential sector in the long-run, at least when the trend of industrialization is reached by most countries. The government must have decision-making capability to situate public universities strategic areas, both rural and urban. Since the international trend tends to drive the countries out of the agricultural sector, an opportunity awaits a developing country to monopolize the sector. The local market, on the other hand, is threatened the assurance of agricultural industries to employ their services after graduation. This will motivate them to relive the occupation of their parents and grandparents, possibly, using their own farms to inspire entrepreneurship. With this opportunity, technology should be available in industry- and household-level to maximize application of agriculture graduates of their learning.
For the part of private institutions, opportunities can be derived from its differentiated, technological and specialized course offerings. They can absorb the migrating local market. However, homogenous curricula should be avoided between private and public ones to avoid redundancy in educational efforts. If the location of state universities is likely on the rural municipalities and highlands, it is appropriate for private schools to penetrate the urban dwellers. The prevalence of Internet and information-based resources in cities will provide conducive environment for non-agriculture students.
The obvious threat on the effectiveness of these opportunities is the competition outside the country. Aggravating factors to this is the fact that international schools had created partnerships with developing countries to conduct recruitment of potential enrollee, mostly in the graduate level, endangering the objective implied in such opportunities. Finally, political stability, economic development and social conditions in the country should provide incentive to those elite families that the country has prospects to flourish and obtain stability especially in the field of higher education.
Marketing Plan
Marketing objectives are as follows:
The market will be segmented to the following categories:
1. Rural- and urban-based;
2. Aspiring agricultural/service graduate or technological/ specialized graduate;
3. High-income, middle-income, low-income families
4. Private and public scholars
Market Positioning
Public institutions will be transformed income generating machineries where managers of the unit projects will be students themselves. This will not only promote student empowerment but also a way for state-owned universities to gradually depart from too much reliance to state coffers for funding. Private institutions will be closely monitored by the government to avoid over-increase of tuition fees. Specialized courses from these universities will also be made open to scholars and rural-based secondary level graduates. The level of education in public and private will be directed in two, although not strictly on package, goals— quality and affordability. Key areas or those accredited courses will serve as the competitive advantage of one from the other that makes such goals often separate but public institutions would tend to impart package especially in the field of agriculture which is the government long-term prospect of competitive advantage.
Fees for public and private universities will be maintained to avoid untoward rebellion from the private sector and students alike. The improvement will be done in terms of encouraging investments to provide more jobs for the parents of these students in order to cope with the financial requirements of higher learning. Additional public universities will be situated in rural and urban areas where poverty is prevalent. The same will be made to private institutions although the former will be higher. Funding will be sourced internally and externally through donations and loans. Because the return of the marketing endeavor would take at least ten years, when graduates of the program are competent enough and acquire higher market labor value, terms of loans should be parallel to the period.
Implementation Controls
Marketing plan will need at least ten years to gain viable results. Every end and start of school year, evaluators will get data on the level of student turn-over, aspiring occupation when graduated and level of mental ability and motivation from them. Data gathered will be forwarded to the department that selects the investment opportunity entering the country and situate them in such a manner to establish some balance between the student’s responses to the prospective investor. From the time of graduation, it is projected that these students will enter the newly opened establishments. Two years will be dedicated to building new schools, improving present facilities and training of professors from the public universities including bargaining to private institutions about the strategy. At the seventh year, graduating students’ preference of employment and actual employment pursued will be gathered to study deviations from the past years’ records and to call for another strategy if the need arises. The independence of state from private university improvement will result to limited funding, thus, concentration will be diverted to public ones.
Conclusion
The problems of higher education migration can slow down, even loose, the economic development strategies of a developing country. However, when public and private universities’ plans will be coordinated to each other, an educational system can be formed. It will create synergy that can supply the shortcoming of the government in financial matters. It is the play of demand and supply that counts especially when the problem is an internal one. Also, discrimination of location of a university should be discouraged instead served as an opportunity for student to explore knowledge of their choosing— from rural –based agriculture to technology- and specialized-based industry. The government, on its part, should not simply overlook the importance of funds in the higher education upheaval. More importantly, promoting participation and advocacy to the citizenry of all levels should be of high concern. This could be done through extensive marketing and communication of the advantages and problems in higher education. Besides, higher education involves people, why let money dictate success of strategy?
Bibliography
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
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