FACTORS INFLUENCING MARITIME EDUCATION AND TRAINING GLOBALLY
4.7 INTERNATIONALIZATION
training in MET is not new. Wainaina (1989) asserted the necessity for constant training of maritime professionals but criticised the high costs associated with such a process.
of the general curricula should facilitate faculty and student exchanges in MET programmes at international level. The researchers point out that multinational crewing is common and a seafarer educated in an international environment can acquire intercultural competence which is necessary in the seafaring profession. Furthermore, the maritime industry is an essential part of the world economy. The diminishing seafaring aspirants such as in Western Europe can be damaging to a number of economies. Hence, internationalization of MET programmes can be one answer to the current shortage in the number of seafarers relative to the growth of the world’s maritime industry.
As a result, Lobrigo and Pawlik (2014) remark that there are lessons that may be learned from empirical researche on internationalization of higher education which may be relevant to MET programmes. O’Connor, Farnsworth and Utley (2014), reflecting on internationalization of education, have drawn the following conclusions regarding prerequisites for a greater chance of successful strategy implementation:
• Administrative support is critical to successfully internationalizing curricula, with high support, there is a likelihood of high success however, with low support, there is low success;
• Institution setting has a major influence on an institution’s success in internationalizing programmes and curriculums;
• Positive leadership support can overcome some of the obstacles presented by locations that lack diversity;
• Faculty attitudes about internationalization can have a positive influence on internationalization, but will probably not overcome poor administrative support;
and
• Faculty with significant international experience will be more actively involved in related college programmes and activities.
Issues of educational internationalization concern integration, operation, communication, resource, people, change and culture (Jiang and Carpenter, 2013). These issues are well-rooted in the internal structure of an educational institution reflecting capability and commitment to internationalization strategy implementation. Such an undertaking is not free of challenges which
challenges are, for example, the need for resources such as funds for simulators or other related equipment, the need for qualified MET lecturers, which touches on capacity, and the maritime culture that informs awareness for maritime careers in areas such as Africa. The internationalization of MET brings both benefits and challenges for MET institutions around the world.
Several factors are in play in this regard, such as, for example, location, which to a great degree influences a country’s maritime culture. MET institutions as found in Western Europe have seen dwindling numbers of student intake. MET institutions are found in Nigeria with high numbers of student intake but limited by institutional capacity, the result of the internationalization of MET.
According to Lobrigo and Pawlik (2014:7), internationalization of MET programmes necessarily requires adjustments to comply with an overall internationalization strategy, industry demands, and student market expectations. Such adjustments cannot be established without a strong management approach. Programme curricula may have to be adjusted; and strong administrative support will be necessary in the implementation of internationalization strategy of MET programmes.
Another research on internationalization of higher education in Taiwan points to twelve factors that indicate effective internationalization efforts by international faculties and students:
• Institutional commitments,
• Strategic planning,
• Funding,
• Institutional policy and guidelines,
• Organizational infrastructure and resources,
• Academic offerings and curriculum,
• Internet presence,
• Faculty and faculty development,
• International students and scholars, study abroad, campus life, and
• Performance evaluation and accountability (Chin and Ching, 2009).
Linham (2012) reiterates Altbach and Knight’s (2007) enumeration of internationalization modes, some of which are already in use in MET. These are cross-border supply. Linham’s mode may include distance education (E-learning) and franchising of courses or degrees. An example of these modes is the provision of MET in Scotland. This mode does not necessarily require the physical movement of the educational consumer or provider. Support from the partner university such as received by Turkey’s MET is Linham’s (2012) mode, in which an education institution puts itself into an internationalization context. The partner universities support the joint programmes by sending staff to help teach, assuring and enhancing the programmes to ensure appropriate quality.
Such internationalization strategies have proved greatly beneficial and successful for countries in Asia and the Middle East, for example, Turkey’s international MET partnerships which are aimed at developing, designing and funding MET in the country. Internationalization of study programmes supports the national interest of a country (Lobrigo and Pawlik, 2014).
To add to the challenges of the internationalization of MET, Mthuli (2014) identified that one of the concerns of public higher education institutions offering MET in South Africa was the country’s immigration policy. Institutions lacked local lecturers with relevant qualifications; hence the institutions looked abroad. However, the country’s immigration policies and its lengthy processes frustrated potential well-qualified international lecturers willing to come to South Africa (Mthuli, 2014). According to Lobrigo and Pawlik (2014) an immigration policy is important in a country’s support for its educational institutions. An internationalization strategy, hence educational internationalization and immigration policy ought to be well synchronized to optimize the benefit to national interests. This has not been well achieved in the drive for educational internationalization in countries such as Australia; for example, there has been a failure to maintain and establish prompt consistency with long-term skills shortage goals, according to Shams and Gide (2012).
The internationalization modes introduced by Altbach and Knight (2007) can be practically applied within MET programmes, according to (Lobrigo and Pawlik, 2014). However, Lobrigo and Pawlik (2014:12) identify that funding is indeed one of the usual hurdles in an educational internationalization, which can be significantly addressed by relevant national policy and scholarship organizations. For example, in Kenya, because of its MET institutions not meeting
international regulatory requirement, those students desiring to attain MET certificates which are recognized internationally have had to seek education and training abroad, according to Musa (2000:19); however, noting that this was expensive, hence few students are attracted to this idea.
This is, however, one of many challenges that come with the internationalization of MET, especially for institutions in the developing world with limited resources. This leads to countries such as Kenya, in this regard, establishing legal frameworks to develop their MET system (Mabuti, 2013).
Asian countries such as China, Japan, the Philippines, and South Korea are internationalizing their MET institutions. A good example of this is China. Dong (2014) intimates that shipping services’
fields were ignored and more emphasis was placed on crew training (seafaring) by the traditional Chinese MET institutions. For those who were keen to be exceptional in maritime services sectors such as in finance, the Shanghai Advanced Institute of International Shipping (SAIIS) was developed to assist in such service offerings.
In the year 2012, a Master’s programme was introduced which focused on Shipping and Finance with an initial phase which recruited 30 students by December 2013; more programmes anticipated to be released in the future. For ensuring quality and high standards, the Shanghai Advanced Institute of International Shipping recruits its teachers from well-recognised and accredited institutions such as the Cass Business School and the University of Cambridge in the UK (Shanghai Maritime University, 2013).
In addition, disciplines, for example, maritime archaeology, water sports, and or hydrographic surveying, are uncommon in the country. Wang (2011) observes that a limited number of educational and training institutions are aware of the adverse issues, such a lack of maritime human capital. They have therefore begun to create certain kinds of maritime majors, not only to meet the skills demands of the domestic market, but most importantly, of the international maritime markets. An example of such institutions is one that introduced a maritime programme focused on yacht design and production. This will provide prospective students with skills and knowledge ranging from yachting, manufacturing, materials, engineering systems, to production, technology,
China in the past was faced by numerous challenges to its MET. The international standards and new maritime technology, and new educational methodologies had a serious impact on the traditional way of education in Chinese higher MET institutions (Biwu, 2000). According to Biwu (2000), studying new developments in Chinese higher MET under the requirements of new international legislation, in particular STCW 95 on Chinese ocean shipping and its own development, found that there was revision of curricula and programmes, quality of teachers, replacement of old and out-of-date equipment for training, by new and up-to-date training equipment; however, the main problem lay in the field of English teaching.
Today China prides itself on its MET. The Shanghai Maritime University prides itself on “‘quality seafarers’, referring to excellence in seamanship, good experiences on board ships; English language, up-to-date computing systems/operations, interpersonal communication, commitment, ship management skills and professional virtues” (Shicheng, 2009: 5). This, according to Shanghai Maritime University, has been achieved by strategies of, for example, the adoption of ‘innovative’
and ‘customer-oriented’ MET, and adhering to a ‘quality first’ principle.
However, Shicheng (2009) identified that numerous shipping operations, mainly high-level shipping operations, were being handled in other areas of the globe, rather than in China. As a response to such, the Chinese government decided to forge a fully functional shipping industry, aiming to match her macro economy. This was achieved by building Shanghai into a global shipping and financial centre. The government renders Shanghai more positive policies by means of which to develop ship management, maritime financial operations, and maritime information services and ship brokerage. It has been foreseen that developing Shanghai as a global shipping centre would advance the total ability of the Chinese shipping industry; therefore the Chinese MET system, particularly SMU, has been offered many new opportunities (Shicheng, 2009).
Internationalization of MET programmes requires a holistic approach, both internally and externally. Internally, MET centres must have a clear organizational policy putting the internationalization initiatives forward on the agenda. Externally, MET centres must engage strategic collaboration, and network with partner universities and institutions abroad to facilitate the implementation of relevant tactics. Such tactics may include cross-border supply, consumption
abroad, commercial presence, and the presence of international people within the internationalization context of split-site education, localization of human capital, support from the partner university, and degree-awarding agreement (Lobrigo and Pawlik, 2014:13).
The internationalization initiative of Bruas for the MET study programme considers internal integration by having it aligned with the relevant agenda of the institution. This is essential in eliminating the hurdles of necessarily adjusting the study programme curricula and changing the medium of instruction of the study courses to meet the demands of the international student market.
While external collaboration and network with MET centres abroad is still in a significant process of being established, engaging academic foundations such as the DAAD makes it possible already to have a certain level of international exchanges of lecturers and students. As at any MET centre, Bruas must resolve the financing issues involved for the internationalization initiatives to work.
While the financing issues may be challenging, and must be studied further, exploring sources of scholarships and bursaries is an indispensable part of MET programme internationalization.