IEASA IN THE WORLD

From humble beginnings way back in 1997, the International Education Association of South Africa (IEASA), of which Stellenbosch University is a member, recognised, from the outset, that, after the election of the new democratic government, the focus of universities and other higher-education institutions should be on rebuilding a system that had been divided by the past into a single, unified system. Internationalisation was not part of the debate then and IEASA became the de facto global representative of the South African higher-education system. It did, however, begin to engage the external environment on behalf of the South African system and to champion the internationalisation of South African higher education. It became the voice of South African higher education internationally.

 A paradigm shift was required, one that would catapult the country into the international spotlight and make it an attractive destination for international staff and students. The call to internationalise South Africa’s campuses brought with it the opportunity to offer quality education at an affordable cost in our public higher-education institutions.

IEASA has played a major role in the further development of the internationalisation of higher education at various institutions. It has done this by way of participation at international exhibitions and conferences, where opportunities to showcase individual institutions as well as IEASA itself have led to a growing interest in South Africa’s higher-education sector. As an organisation in the higher-education arena, IEASA has also been responsible for proactively initiating partnerships with key sister organisations globally. It has, over the many years of its existence, now become established as a powerful collaborative and creative force, developing a footprint via numerous ventures with sister organisations throughout the world.

IEASA’s mandate has always been one of service. Part of its mission is to serve the higher-education sector within South Africa’s borders. The Study SA Guide (now in its 17th year of publication) serves as the ideal platform to showcase all the country’s public higher-education institutions, while simultaneously providing the necessary and invaluable information required by external stakeholders. IEASA has also made significant strides in terms of capacity enhancement within the continent by continuing to attract more students from both the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and further afield. The fact that so many of these students choose to return to their home countries upon completion of their studies bears testimony to IEASA’s capacity enhancement initiatives.

More recent initiatives include IEASA’s submission to the national Department of Higher Education and Training’s Draft Policy Framework for the Internationalisation of Higher Education in South Africa. Another includes its continued commitment to international students registered at higher-education institutions by initiating direct liaison with the national Department of Home Affairs; this helps to facilitate queries received from students pertaining to immigration issues. Yet another example is the introduction of appropriate medical cover for the duration of these students’ stay in South Africa.

Arising out of the Nelson Mandela Bay Declaration, signed in January 2014, came the call to host a global conference on internationalisation in higher education. The signatories to the Declaration helped to change the discourse on the internationalisation of higher education not only locally but also globally. It also allowed IEASA to assert itself as a proactive partner and a major international stakeholder in the internationalisation arena. The hallmark Global Conference on Internationalisation in Higher Education, held in the Kruger National Park in August 2016, was a direct result of the Declaration. This represented a major shift in the thinking around internationalisation, as it brought together local and international scholars, partners from both the developed and the developing world, in the field of the comprehensive internationalisation of higher education. The Conference provided the perfect platform for participants to engage in constructive dialogue around the global impact on national and local imperatives.

IEASA responded to the challenges identified at the Global Conference during its strategic planning in 2016. It addressed, for example, the question of whether universities have lost the ability to translate the global into the local; current world trends cannot be ignored in changing societies. Neither can world trends be ignored in the translation of our Africanness into the global. Both IEASA and higher education in the country in general constantly need to rethink how to engage at all levels and, for IEASA to bridge the local to the global, it is imperative that it enhance its capacity. IEASA’s role in skills development also needs to be explored and its membership needs to be broadened to include private higher-education institutions and universities in the SADC region.

IEASA will continue to respond to the challenges in the international higher-education arena. It pays tribute to those who have come before and to those who ensure its continued success.

• Leolyn Jackson is also Director of the International Office at the Central University of Technology, Free State.