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Australia-China Services Trade: Opportunities and Challenges of a Free Trade Agreement

Beijing, 24 April 2006

Session Three: Education

Presentation by Professor Stephanie Fahey, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International), Monash University

Introduction

It is a pleasure to be here in Beijing, and to have the opportunity to contribute to a discussion on the future relations of our two nations in a spirit of academic cooperation, reciprocity and mutual benefit.

This presentation focuses on higher education programs and my colleague will talk about vocational education and training.  I would like to address four main topics:

I would like to begin by echoing the words of Mr Cen Jianjun, Deputy Director General, Department of International Co-operation and Exchanges, Chinese Ministry of Education. Speaking last year at the China-Australia Workshop for Quality Assurance and Management in Transnational Education Delivery, he set the guiding principle in the sixteen character phrase—“broader exchange, promoting mutual understanding, strengthening cooperation, achieving win-win situation”.

The International Profile of Australian Higher Education

Australia is a leading provider of international education, highly ranked academically, and with a focus on quality assurance.

Major provider of international education

Let me start with quantity and move to quality:

According to the OECD, in terms of total numbers, Australia has the third largest number of international students in the world (after the USA and the UK – countries with much larger populations than Australia)

In terms of the highest percentage of international students in the total student population, Australia is the second in the world (behind Switzerland).

Australia is the second-largest supplier of higher education to students from the Asia Pacific region (after the USA). 

Here is a summary of the international student numbers enrolled in Australian education, including total numbers and numbers of Chinese students for 2005 (the source is AEI Statistics):

All Education             Total: 345,000                                   Chinese: 81,000

Higher Ed                   Total: 164,000                                   Chinese: 40,000

VTE                            Total: 66,000                                     Chinese: 12,000

ELICOS:                     Total: 65,000                                     Chinese: 16,000

China is the largest source of overseas students in Australia.

Australian education providers are also delivering programs to Chinese students in China.  In the year 2004 it was estimated that approximately 30,000 students studied in Australian programs in China. Australian Bachelors and Masters degrees, diploma and certificate courses are on offer, as well as a number of Australian Foundation Programs/University Preparatory Courses. Courses being provided include English language training, Business, Accounting, Nursing, Public Health, Information Technology, Education/Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, Engineering, Law and secondary education. There are also an increasing number of twinning arrangements - whereby students carry out part of their course in China, and complete the qualification in Australia - across a variety of disciplines and levels of study.

As at June 2004, Australian universities delivered a total of 48 cooperative programs in China, comprised of 34 master level and 14 bachelor level programs.  

Highly ranked academically

The quality of Australia’s academic studies is evidenced by the large number of foreign students wanting to come to Australia to study. 

Our major universities rank highly in the Shanghai Jiao Tong University ranking of the top 100 Asia Pacific Universities.  The ANU and Universities of Melbourne, Sydney, Western Australia, Queensland and NSW rank in the top 23 of this index.  Melbourne Business School and Australian Graduate School of Management were in the top 100 of the Financial Times league table for 2005 MBA programs. Australia is well-represented in the Times Higher Education Supplement rankings of leading universities.

Focus on Quality Assurance

Australian regulators place great priority on maintaining quality of education delivered in Australia and overseas by Australian providers.

Australia has robust and well-established quality assurance systems in place which ensure our qualifications are of the highest standard, and are delivered by high-quality institutions.  A Transnational Quality Strategy, established in December 2005 by the federal government, will build on these systems to further strengthen the quality assurance arrangements that apply to offshore delivery.

The Strategy is underpinned by four key principles:

  1. Australia’s quality assurance arrangements should be well understood and well-regarded internationally;
  2. Providers and consumers should be able to clearly understand the accountabilities in the delivery and quality assurance of transnational education and training;
  3. Quality assurance functions should be effective and efficient; 
  4. Courses/programmes delivered within Australia and transnationally should be equivalent in the standard of delivery and outcomes of the course, as determined under nationally recognised quality assurance arrangements.

The Australian government has provided a program of “Grants for Good Practice in Offshore Quality”. The government has supported providers in the Higher Education and Vocational and Technical Education (VTE) sectors by providing funding for industry-led projects to develop good practice in quality offshore delivery.

Another vital aspect of our quality assurance in Australia is the provision of pastoral care. This includes: providing briefings for students before they leave China, meeting students at the airport, assisting students with finding local accommodation, and providing ongoing help and support for students during their time in Australia.

A brief outline of current cooperation between Australia and China

Education is an important and growing form of bilateral cooperation. Much academic cooperation is already taking place between Australia and China. 

Important academic collaboration between Chinese and Australian education institutions

Australian education providers have already demonstrated their willingness to work cooperatively with Chinese providers, and to transfer skills and knowledge. This can be seen through the high number (over 400) of joint programs and agreements between Chinese and Australian institutions as well as research cooperation and academic and student exchange.  There are also a wide range of collaborative activities with China in which Australian providers are involved in capacity building projects, transferring teaching methods, curricula, skills, and intellectual property.

Government level cooperation between China and Australia

Cooperation at the federal government level includes:

- Australia-China Special Fund for Scientific and Technological Cooperation,
- Young Scientist Exchange Programme,
- Joint Science and Technology Commission,
- Symposia with Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Australia regards China as a priority partner for bilateral collaboration in science and technology. This is in recognition of the current level of interest in China by Australian research agencies and China's rapid rise as a significant player in global science and innovation.

Cooperation between peak education bodies

At the peak university body level, there is formal Co-operation in Higher Education between the Council of Australian University Presidents (Australian Vice-Chancellors’ Committee) and the Chinese Education Association for International Exchange (1998, 2002, 2005).

Cooperation in Quality Assurance

Another example of how we are working together is the joint hosting in Beijing in December last year of the Australia-China Workshop for Quality Assurance and Management in Transnational Education Delivery.   Australian Education International (AEI) and China’s Ministry of Education brought together representatives from, Australian and Chinese Governments, quality agencies, and institutions from all sectors.
There was great interest from Australian and Chinese participants in how to manage partnerships and issues of delivery for transnational education in China. Over 20 Australian and 60 Chinese institutions attended the two-day workshop.

How we could improve future cooperation

Much cooperation is already taking place.  Education cooperation is benefiting both sides, and this is reflected in the fact that it is one of the most important sectors in bilateral services trade.  Australian universities would like to assist China more with modernising its education system and meeting its substantial education needs.  But there are some obstacles in the way of doing this. 

China made good concessions on education as part of its accession to the WTO, but like all regulations in the services sector, there are a number of regulations that impact on the delivery of education in China.  Australian education providers have identified some regulations where if addressed could enable them to work more closely with Chinese education institutions to share their know-how and innovation.

These regulations include:

Approval of academic programs

Approval of academic programs at or above bachelor’s degree is required first at the provincial level and then by the central government (MOE). This can cause confusion for the Australian providers, as requirements can differ at both levels of government. 

Another issue is the time factor: the time taken to approve courses can seem excessive, sometimes as long as 18-24 months.

Qualifications recognition

Lack of recognition for some Australian courses/qualifications offered in China – for purposes of public employment and admission to further study – inhibits the growth of Australian offerings. 

At the same time, Chinese students who have completed part of their academic studies in Australia may experience difficulties having these studies recognised for the purpose of securing employment and admission to programs for further study in China. 

Equally, recognising graduates of Australian courses for employment in China can be a problem.

Payment for services provided

Another issue is the transfer of funds. Chinese law permits the transfer of funds overseas, but in practice it is often difficult to receive payment/recover costs, for example, in Australian dollars for contractual education services delivered.  Streamlining these procedures would make it easier for Australian providers to be confident that they will be able to remit funds overseas in a timely manner would help ensure ongoing smooth delivery of Australian education services in China.

Transparency

Ensuring a predictable and transparent environment for education providers is also important.  For example, sufficient information on regulatory decisions and licensing requirements; consistent interpretation of regulations across levels of government; and prior notification of a change in regulations would strengthen the operating environment for Australian providers.

Australian experience of liberalisation and its benefits

There have been many changes in the education sector in Australia over recent decades, including in particular changes resulting from the internationalisation of education services. 

Before talking about the benefits of liberalisation, it may be helpful to reflect upon Australia’s experience. In Australia, those wary of liberalisation expressed two major concerns.

First, critics were worried that there would be a loss of government control over the education system. This has not been the case. If anything, the government has made the regulations more coherent, transparent and streamlined. Because it has paid closer attention to spelling out requirements – both for foreign and local providers – the government is arguably in a better position to exert influence.

Second, critics were concerned that allowing entry to foreign providers would lead to a reduction of quality in education services. This has not been the case. Indeed quality assurance systems have been tightened up, through the Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA), and other measures. As well as strengthening the quality requirements for foreign providers, the enhanced quality assurance regime has benefited the public accountability of local providers.

The benefits of liberalisation include improvement in the following areas:

While Chinese students will continue to go abroad, we understand that China wants to increase the number of its nationals remaining to study at home, and is increasingly seeking to attract international students to study in China.  An FTA with Australia could assist China meet each of these objectives.  Building on our collaborative approach, an FTA could encourage the delivery of high-quality courses in China to meet increasing domestic and international demand.

An FTA could also facilitate the recognition of academic qualifications, which would benefit both sides, and in doing so support the Arrangement on Higher Education Qualifications Recognition which seeks to facilitate greater qualifications mobility between Australia and China.  For example, broader recognition of Australian qualifications would assist China meet its growing education needs.  It would also protect the investment Chinese students make to obtain an Australian qualification.

I would like to conclude by again quoting the words of Mr Cen Jianjun Chinese Ministry of Education: “we welcome the best practices and best experiences, and we are not about to receive indiscriminately and allow all things to enter”. As discussed above, successful progress in the FTA can help to achieve this important educational goal.