The Ways of Impact of Globalization Trends on Key Education Policies in the UK - Essay Example

?In what specific ways, if any, have key education structures and policies in the UK and elsewhere been affected by globalization trends? Globalization is a process of amalgamation and communication amongst the populace, companies and government of different nations. International investment and trade mainly drives in the process of globalization aided by its most important tool the ‘information technology”. It is a process in which the ‘environment’, ‘culture’, ‘the political system’, ‘the economic development’ and ‘prosperity’, ‘the human physical well being in societies’ and the other sector of an economy undergoes a continuous transformation which includes the education sector of the economy as well. (Duan, 2002, p.1) The ‘worldwide’ discussion, ‘process’ and ‘institutions’, which affect the local educational policies and practices of a nation, are referred to as the ‘globalization of education’. It is considered to be “an intertwined set of global process affecting education, such as worldwide discourses on human capital, economic development, and multiculturalism; intergovernmental organizations; information and communication technology; non-government organization; and multinational corporations” (Spring, 2008, p.1) The process of globalization is a continuous dynamic transformation involving the exchange of ideas between the global ideas of schooling practices and the local schooling systems. Nations do continue to have an independent control on their schooling system but still the ‘super structure of Global Educational processes’ influences them The global institutes that affect the educational system throughout the world are ‘World Bank’, ‘Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)’, the ‘World Trade Organization’ and its General Agreement on Trade in services (GATS), The ‘United Nations’, ‘UNESCO’ and ‘intergovernmental organizations (IGO)’ and the ‘nongovernment Organization(NGOs)’. These international organizations influence the national schooling system either directly or indirectly. In the last decades, owing to the globalization, most of the nations have gone for educational reforms, which became a priority for both the developed and developing countries. According to some reputed educationalists, the pre- requisite of a better standard of living in a nation lies in improving its education system. (Carnoy, 2005, pp.2-3, Zadja, 2010, p.49). Despite all the disadvantage globalization of education has in terms of commercializing and marketing of education, it has to be noted that quality education is the key word for economic growth of a nation, which requires the intervention of both the public sector and private sector In the global economy, the presence of competition among countries always exists for acquiring ‘markets’, getting ‘foreign investments’, ‘technological developments’, and for ‘hosting of Multinationals’ hence education and training are imparted in a manner that it caters to the growing need of quality education. The country with the most educated workforce is expected to have an edge over the others. ‘High quality education’ has become synonymous with ‘self sustained domestic development’ and hence the need of Educational policy restructuring. UK is of the opinion that the content and quality of the curricula and teaching has to be monitored for which national endeavor is required and hence responding to the change in the global village due to the introduction of ICT (Information and Communication technology) as a medium or source of imparting education has introduced the “personalize” learning system which will enable the student take the test when s/he is fully prepared. The nation has also introduced a “national level and school level aspirational target focused on “raising the rate of progress between the different stages of education”. (Change on way in tests and tables, 2007; Your child’s education: what’s new for 14 to 19 years old, 2011; Baker, 2007) According to the research report published by ‘The UK Council for Industry and Higher Education (CIHE), in the Global economy, the higher education stands at the center of the country’s competitive advantage. The aspirations of having a better standard of living by earning well had made individual get into universities in Wales and elsewhere. Globalization has a significant effect on the employment patterns of Wales so the higher education systems of the country have been designed to meet the constraints of globalization. As predicted in the report by “The Sector skills Development Agency”, Wales witnessed a decline in the demand for manufacturing, clerical and manual jobs and at the same time an acceleration in the demand for managerial, professional and technical personnel due to the ICT innovation which require less manual jobs and more professionalism to handle the sophisticated machines implying an increase in the graduates skills. The report published by the UK Council for Industry and Higher Education (CIHE) predicted an increase in net new jobs in Wales and UK, which would require professionals with management and technical skills. Hence the University would play an important role in generating skilled personnel. Wales had stepped forward towards the making of the nation into a knowledge economy, by facilitating the transfer of knowledge for ‘innovation’, ‘raising skills’ and ‘productivity levels’ of the labor force of the economy. This act of the country is a “part of the strategic response to the threat to the UK jobs of imports from low wage economies” as a result of globalization (Globalization and its impact on Wales, 2009, p.468). The Wales University had already started taking in steps for generating skilled professionals. Majority of the University of the Country started providing ‘bespoke courses’ for business at their own workplace and three quarter of the country’s university facilitated ‘business with distance learning courses’ which was only possible due to the ICT (Information and communication Technology) innovation. Some private and external bodies were also helped with consultancy services as well. Having a degree boosts one’s career growth and broadens the horizons. The Higher Education Wales (HEW) is of the opinion that an expansion in higher learning will act as a counter force against the ill effects of globalization like ‘unemployment’, underemployment- that is working at a lower wage rate and low prospects of jobs. It is dynamically working to bring in applicants from all social and geographical background. Acquiring graduate skills have always been a key to improve income and status for the lower income groups. It has also been noted that university can help in the establishment of the knowledge economy by acting as ‘growth poles’ and ‘hubs’, clustered by industries around the universities and thereby recruiting their students. Some reputed economists are of the opinion that the knowledge hubs can act as the ‘principal driver’ of the economic growth in an economy. (Globalization and its impact on Wales, 2009, p.470: Restructuring And policy Change in the UK Higher Education Sector, 2011). Considering the World economy it has to be noted that everywhere education system has been influenced by the globalization in some form or other. The involvement of information technology has somewhat changed the way of delivering education to the learner. Due to the effect of globalization knowledge is spreading faster than before. The advancement in the communication is making it easier for the student to get an access to the world’s best teacher. Globalization has also affected the developing nation as well and the whole structure of education in a country like India is experiencing change as well, which has made the country adopt itself to the modernization where the black boards have been replaced by the ‘Over head projectors’. The lecture delivering in the class has also undergone a change as using the video projectors does most of it. The education system has become electronic in the age of globalization where the students as well as the teachers use the computer for their work. The use of Internets and video conferencing has broken the myth of physical presence in receiving education and thus the distance learning courses are offered in recent times. In the present era when the world is turning into a global village receiving education at any time and at any age is not difficult for anyone. Teaching is done with the help of video conferencing where one need not be present physically, thus saving time. Hence it is seen that globalization with it has bought in the need for quality education and has caused an expansion in the Educational sector. (Chinnammai, 2005, p.5; Education and Globalization 1998, p.1-2) This is a situation of concern as the expansion in the educational system has led to the ‘Commodification and corporate takeover of the education’ (Smith, 2002). The courses and programmes in Britain and North Ireland were restructured so as to combat the expansion of higher education in these countries. This restructuring included courses like ‘MBAs’, ‘Modulization’ and the increase in part time and distance learning courses targeting the working professionals who wants to acquire higher degree in order to boost their career. The students apart from being learner and participants have become consumers of the commodity “education” that is being offered to them through several marketing strategies, “education loan” being one of them. However this cannot be denied that the changing labor market was responsible for the high enrollment rate in the Universities. The disadvantage of not having a degree was soon realized. But this had led to a decrease in the salary level of the other ‘key groupings’. The increase in the bureaucratization and the increased pressure on the Universities to cut down their cost has resulted in the reduced time for “scholarship and disinterested learning” (Smith, 2002). The quality of education also lowered down as the number of student per lecturer had increased leading to dissatisfaction between the student and the teachers as well. The Schools and the non formal institutes were also a part of this corporatization, where in order to maintain and expand their availability of funds; the school had to compete for students and thus created their own “brands” to market their activities. The Educational institutes started selling their learning experience and the quality of the institute, so the complex process was reduced to a packaged, which could be easily identified. The adoption of private sector model in the education system has resulted in the drive towards achieving of specific outcomes rather than emphasizing on community, equity and national building. Education has become a private good rather than being public as it always takes care that the influential consumers and investors are satisfied. According to a report by Giroux in 2000, the “for- profit education market represented around $600 billion in revenue for corporate interest” in US (Smith, 2002). In Britain the whole education management is about to become a big business as opined by some economists. Initially it may seem that the UK government still enjoys the autonomy of intervening in the education system but a closer examination of the situation will reveal that the concern is more for the economic growth and international competitiveness, which makes education merely a tool to promote growth. Globalization has also resulted in “de-localizing” of schools. The primary schooling system still remains localized but when it comes to secondary education most of the proportion of secondary schooling no longer remains localized thus undermining the idea of ‘community- schooling’. The fear and absence of child protection has added to the delocalization all the more. Despite the school being local the access to the neighborhood and vice versa has been restricted. In the age of Internet and computerization of every single thing it can be argued that distance learning do involve localization as it involves studying at home. But this process does not include interaction with anybody. (Smith, 2002; Trowler, 2004, pp.12). The world is taking a shape of the knowledge economy and it is said as in the Middle Ages-the medieval period, traders clustered around the Abbey or the Cathedral and during the Industrial revolution, the commerce and trade mainly assembled around the factory so will be the growth of the industries around the universities in the 21st Century. (Globalization and its impact on Wales: Second Report of Session 2008-2009, 2009; Velde, 2005, p. 61) The process of globalization has encouraged the development of technology, which in turn has facilitated the transition of the society into an information base from an industrial base. Thus, the above discussion reveals the pivotal role of education in shaping the economy to be able to respond to the changing trends following globalization. But as a coin has two sides so does globalization. It has proved to be both boon and curse for the world economy. While the globalization has affected the world education system positively at the same time it has de-valued it. The very essence of educating one own self has disappeared and education is only a source of development. A new way of thinking has to be adopted keeping in mind that there remains a necessary boundary between the educational sector and the market sector. While accepting all the disadvantages of globalization, it cannot be denied even that the need of the hour is growth, which will enable an economy to be in the competitive international world. While the importance of the use of education in nation building cannot be denied, similarly it has to be noted nation building also involves its growth of the economy as a whole. The present knowledge economy needs the aide of education to boost its growth, for which equal intervention of private and public sector in the education system of a country is necessary. Market co-ordination and market failure can be met by more interaction between the private and the public sectors. Education today is being considered as one of the important catalyst for the development of the nation. It no more remains a social obligation only. The education system in the 21st century faces a dual challenge of making the population of the country knowledgeable, skilled and technologically equipped, and at the same time values needs to be imparted in making them responsible and good human beings for both the country and the world. References: 1. Duan, H, (2002), Educational restructuring in the context of globalization and national policy, UK: Routledge. 2. Spring, H, (2008) Globalization of education: an introduction, UK: Taylor and Francis. 3. Velde, DW. 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