| Commercialisation of Higher Education in South | | | | institution of higher education. |
| Africa | | | | · Section D: Four competitive dimensions of |
| Introduction and Literature Review | | | | higher education institutions, including strategic |
| South African education policies place priority on | | | | competitiveness, institutional competitiveness, |
| addressing historical education imbalances,Visit | | | | product competitiveness, and tactical |
| Here | | | | competitiveness. |
| but should also be sensitive to the demands of | | | | · Section E: Open-ended questions, aimed to |
| an ever-increasing global knowledge-driven | | | | identify the reasons why respondents choose a |
| environment. The educational system cannot be | | | | specific institution of higher education, their opinion |
| dominated by the needs of the domestic | | | | on the institution's competitive reputation, and the |
| educational system of South Africa ignoring the | | | | factors that may influence the international |
| trends exerted by the global world (OEDC Annual | | | | competitiveness of the particular institution. |
| Report, 2004:44). Higher education in South Africa | | | | The data was transformed into two opposite |
| should realize that they operate and function in a | | | | categories, namely those who agreed with the |
| knowledge-driven global environment in which both | | | | statements and those who disagreed, enabling the |
| domestic and foreign students demand access to | | | | researchers to derive a hypothesized |
| the best quality education at the best reputable | | | | agreement-disagreement distribution. Those who |
| institutions of higher education in the world. | | | | neither agreed nor disagreed were allocated to |
| In this regard, most definitions of | | | | the disagreement group set giving and expected |
| internationalization of higher education include the | | | | disagreement response set of 57% (p=0.57) and |
| following: "Internationalisation is a process that | | | | an agreement response set of 43% (q=0.43). |
| prepares the community for successful | | | | The Binomial test was employed to determine |
| participation in an increasingly interdependent world | | | | whether the observed distribution correspond with |
| … The process infuse all facets of the | | | | the hypothesized distribution using a significance |
| post-secondary education system, fostering global | | | | test level of 0.05. Furthermore, the level of |
| understanding and developing skills for effective | | | | agreement or disagreement with the selected |
| living and working in a diverse world" (Francis, | | | | competitive statements and the extend of |
| 1993 cited by Patrick, 1997). | | | | agreements between the respondents from the |
| The position of higher education in South Africa | | | | different institutions on the various statements |
| should be evaluated considering the re-integration | | | | were determined by executing four statistical |
| of South Africa into the global community. South | | | | procedures, namely: ANOVA to compare the |
| Africa was rapidly re-integrated into the world | | | | means of respondents from the different |
| community by obtaining almost immediate | | | | institutions; determining how much of the |
| membership of influential international organisations | | | | perception variation could be accounted for by |
| after 1994. Kishun (1998:59) indicated that South | | | | the influence of the different institutions of higher |
| Africa became a member of among others the | | | | education; determining the averages for each |
| following international institutions: United Nations; | | | | strategic dimension to obtain an indication of the |
| Organisation of African Unity; Commonwealth; | | | | level of agreement with the competitive |
| International Olympic Committee; Federation of | | | | statements; and determining the standard |
| International Football Associations; and Lome | | | | deviations to obtain an indication of the extend to |
| Convention. Integration of influential international | | | | which consensus exists within the sample. |
| institutions is a necessary but not sufficient | | | | Findings |
| pre-condition for internationalization of higher | | | | With regard to the strategic competitiveness of |
| education. Sustainable internationalization should be | | | | South African institutions of higher education to |
| closely aligned to the emerging global trends and | | | | engage in a seamless network the respondents |
| events in the education sector. | | | | were of the opinion that South African institutions |
| An analysis of the basis on which | | | | of higher education give low priority to attract |
| internationalization of higher education occurs is | | | | foreign students, are not well known for |
| needed as well as the benefits of the | | | | attracting foreign students, are not actively |
| internationalization process. This research is | | | | involved in exchange programmes of students |
| conducted against this background. | | | | and lecturers, and do not have active |
| Problem Statement | | | | engagements or agreements with other tertiary |
| Whilst South Africa is in a process of transition | | | | institutions, businesses and communities. |
| regarding higher education to address the | | | | On the issue of institutional competitiveness, the |
| imbalances of the past, the question arises | | | | majority of respondents were of the opinion that |
| whether the South African educational sector is | | | | institutions of higher education in South Africa |
| able to compete in the global economy which | | | | have the ability to attract quality students, does |
| regard knowledge as a commercialised | | | | not have an international student culture, offers |
| commodity. | | | | qualifications that are internationally accepted, can |
| Methodology | | | | claim international reputability on post-graduate |
| A sample size of 781 respondents from six | | | | level, offers competitive tuition fees, deliver |
| institutions of higher education in South Africa was | | | | research outputs that are internationally |
| selected. Senior students were randomly selected | | | | recognized, and are not easily accessible. |
| using the convenience sampling technique. A | | | | In terms of product competitiveness the majority |
| semi-structured questionnaire was developed to | | | | of respondents indicated that institutions of higher |
| measure the perceived competitive profile of | | | | education in South Africa have active orientation |
| institutions of higher education in South Africa. The | | | | programmes to familiarise foreign and domestic |
| questionnaire constitutes five measuring foci, | | | | students with the institutions, provide safe and |
| namely: | | | | secure learning environments, provide leading |
| · Section A: Institutional information regarding the | | | | information technology for academic growth and |
| location where the respondent is enrolled. | | | | excellence, do not easily adapt to the needs and |
| · Section B: Biographical information in terms of | | | | wants of students, and provide convenient |
| gender, type of student and country of origin. | | | | service packages to students. |
| · Section C: Decision criteria used to select an | | | | |