MAIN OBJECTIVES
The overall objective is to enhance the international dimension of Kazakhstani and Chinese Higher Education Institutions by defining and implementing strategic and marketing methodologies in order to facilitate and increase incoming foreign students, Professors, and Researchers.
SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
- To carry out a study in Internationalisation of Universities, incoming university stakeholders’ indicators, and marketing actions
- To create a portal of Kazakhstani & Chinese Universities for Internationalisation
- To establish Service-Oriented International Relations Offices at the Universities
- To train the International Relations managers and staff
- To develop and implement Strategic & Marketing plan in Internationalisation on the institutional level
OUTCOME
- Report on the level of Internationalisation of Universities, incoming university stakeholders figures, and marketing actions
- Creation of the Portal of Kazakhstani & Chinese Universities for Internationalisation
- Creation of Service Oriented International Relations Offices at the Kazakhstani & Chinese Universities
- Trained experts in Internationalisation
- Development and implementation of the Strategic & Marketings plans
BACKGROUND
Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, the Internationalisation of Higher Education has become an irresistible trend under the influence of Globalisation. Educational reforms, training, and development of Human Resource are integral areas of the transition towards a democratic society and a market economy.
KAZAKHSTAN
Kazakhstan has made a significant progress in all of these areas since the beginning of the reform in 1990. The challenge for the Ministry of Education and Science has been to promote and support changes that meet the needs of both: new economy and society. Particular attention is paid to inclusive education policies, general policy coordination for the provision of education services, integration in mainstream education, increasing the role of NGOs and donor communities. There are approximately 150 universities in Kazakhstan, the majority located in former capital Almaty and current capital Astana. The country joined the European Higher Education Area in 2011 and the Bologna Process, which aims to standardise Higher Education provision and principles across the area. The country’s progress in establishing itself as a Regional study hub in Central Asia, the information about Kazakhstani universities, features of local life and the application process should be prioritised by Kazakhstani Higher Education Institutions and known by the potentional future international students
CHINA
In the past 30 years, educational reform in Chinese Universities has changed the profile of Chinese Higher Education. Nowadays, the quality of education of some degree in line with internationally accepted standards. China’s rapidly expanding university system aims to balance quantity and quality through a variety of measures, including internationalisation. According to the Ministry of Education (MOE 2011), there were 2723 higher education institutions with 31.05 million students and 1.343 million teachers in 2010. After 1949, the Soviet educational model was introduced into China and deeply influenced Chinese higher education development until the end of the 1970s. Since 1978, with the implementation of the open-door policy and economic reform and networked extensively with other countries in the world and thus made a vast attempt to internationalise its higher education. Apart from sending students and scholars abroad, a series of policies were also made to encourage foreign students, scholars, and experts to China. In 1979, the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Foreign Affairs set a strategic objective of increasing the number of international students in China.
The European Commission’s 2014 report on the ‘Effects of mobility on the skills and employability of students and the internationalisation of Higher Education Institutions’ found that there is clear quantitative evidence to illustrate the value of study abroad for students, both in terms of their initial employability as new graduates, and on their later career development. In this sense, both China and Kazakhstan are countries where international students can take part of the increased and fast development of their industries in the last decade and can be a trigger to welcome more and more international communities.
Nowadays, Kazakhstani and Chinese universities are facing an increase of outgoing international students and the income level is still very low. European universities have been defining and deploying International strategies in the past 20 years in order to face the challenges of mobility of students, teachers, and research in line with the different European Commission strategies, with a high level of competition and different university structures.
Furthermore, the emerging International Campus of Excellence is already starting to be a reality in some Chinese Higher educational Institutions, such as Nottingham’s campus in Ningbo, China, or the University of Catalonia Campus in Tongji university, Shanghai. That trend has continued, with universities beginning to move into previously untried territory to establish teaching centres and branch campuses. The experience of European partners will bring good practices already tested and in place and different national dimensions.
