O RGANISATIONS   S UPPORTING   I NTERNATIONALISATION

The concern about quality assurance, harmonisation, and the removal of barriers is not just a one country or one region thing. At regional level there are efforts like ASEAN’s (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) removal of barriers or the Bologna Process in Europe. There are also actions held globally by organisations such as UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation), the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the World Bank, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

(Woodfield, 2010)

The involvement of all these organisations helps to accelerate the internationalisation process. They act as motivators and propellers of the internationalisation process, not just by making statements about the subject, but also by proposing actions and strategies. (Maringe and Foskett, 2010)

One of these great actors is the United Nations. It is involved in education related issues through UNESCO. This specialised agency was the first major international figure to bring into the table education as an area of international interest. Even though its labour initiated focused on primary and basic education, soon it also started having initiatives on higher education. (Bassett, 2010)

This organisation established the Conventions on the Recognition of Qualifications, which is a framework that looks for the promotion of cross-border recognition. Member States from Africa, Asia and the Pacific, the Arab States, Europe, and Latin America have already ratified the document. (Bassett, 2010)

The Organisation for Economic Development and Co-operation (OECD) is a second great actor. Despite OECD is more focused on a commercial and economic side, it has as well been involved more and more in education related issues. Such is the case that they have created strategic objectives concerning the topic, and a Directorate for Education. The Directorate for Education presents

annually statistics and indicators helping to make international comparisons on education systems. (OECD, 2012-2013)

Bridging the two prior organisations is the World Bank. Its work focuses on providing “low-cost loans to nations working to improve their economic conditions”. (Bassett, 2010: 285) Concerning higher education, it looks forward to create a balance by committing to it as it has committed to other education issues. According to Bassett (2010) it supports research on higher education, produces publications, conferences, and seeks to spread its research findings.

By doing such, the WB ensures access to information for all its members despite their economic situation. The supplied information gives countries the opportunity to act having a clear panorama of tendencies and current actions in other regions. Through this, countries that are not as advanced in the internationalisation process have the chance to project, and plan their actions targeted to reach those more advanced nations.

Another relevant actor in the race towards internationalisation is the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Given the current global situation, it has approach the topic of internationalisation of higher education from the trade point of view. Such is the case that education has been included in the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS).

Great part of international students is self-funded making it

“the largest source of funds for international education”. (Altbach and Knight, 2007: 294) This panorama is one of the reasons why education was included in the GATS in 2003. According to Maringe (2010), GATS pursued the liberalisation of trade in goods and services, in industries, and in education. The author continues by pointing out that HE was described in GATS as an international service industry.

On the Agreement the education sector is divided into five parts: primary, secondary, higher, adult, and other services. (Knight, 2006) GATS provide a regulatory framework that looks forward to

encourage international trade in education, besides other services.

GATS focuses on facilitating mobility through cross-border supply, consumption abroad, commercial presence, and presence of natural persons. (Altbach and Knight, 2007)

Due to the fact that developing countries have special needs, GATS has provisory articles, and preferential treatments that might help to make up for those needs. (Knight, 2006) This might not be the perfect scenery, but it is a way of helping and encouraging developing countries to advance rapidly, and to get where developed countries are in the topic of internationalisation of higher education.

According to Altbach and Knight (2007), developed countries provide most international higher education services, while Asian and Latin American middle-income countries are the ones buying those services. This might be a reflection of those special needs GATS foreseen. It can be due to aspirational necessities of individuals, communities and states. And it could be related not just to economic reasons but also to social and cultural desires. (Foskett and Maringe, 2010)

The internationalisation process is not new. It has had many forms throughout the years. It has involved cooperation, academic exchanges, and now it also includes commercial initiatives. It is a process that needs the collaboration and willingness to work of institutions, organisations, countries, and the entire academic community.

Despite the strength internationalisation has, it is susceptible to changes in its pace. Due to its nature, global events can affect it greatly. Among those events are government policies, study costs, e-learning, English knowledge, quality assurance, trade agreements, and the global context in general. (Altbach and Knight, 2007) Therefore not everything is set concerning internationalisation. It is necessary for the actors to pay attention to global events, and try to be up to date not just

with new tendencies, but also foreseeing how the internationalisation context might develop.