Most books, journals, databases, and information and data are produced in the Global North. The rest of the Global South also falls into this unenviable category. In so doing, the continent relies heavily on the knowledge produced by others. African higher education assumes the position of the most internationalised systems by being the least internationally engaged.”Īfrica produces a fraction of the world’s global knowledge – and the most generous statistics put such contribution at 2%. “As the weakest global higher education system, it relies heavily on the discourses, paradigms and parameters set by others, rendering it vulnerable to global whims and idiosyncrasies.
In an edited book entitled African Higher Education in the International Dimension, published over a decade ago now, I argued that African higher education is the most internationalined system in the world – not by participation but by omission. I maintain that internationalisation as regards the Global South, particularly Africa, is far from being an intentional process. The attempt at such a definition by Professor Hans de Wit* and his colleague Fiona Hunter (2015) falls short in capturing reality, particularly in the Global South.Īt the joint St Mary’s University’s 17th Conference and the second Higher Education Forum for Africa, Asia and Latin America (HEFAALA) symposium of the International Network for Higher Education in Africa held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 25 to 27 July 2019, De Wit, who is director of the Center for International Higher Education at Boston College in the United States, expounded a definition of internationalisation which spurred considerable debate.Īccording to De Wit and Hunter (2015), internationalisation of higher education is defined as “the intentional process of integrating an international, intercultural or global dimension into the purpose, functions and delivery of post-secondary education, in order to enhance the quality of education and research for all students and staff, and to make a meaningful contribution to society”. Tweet Many authorities have aspired to provide an all-encompassing definition for the complex term 'internationalisation' as it relates to higher education.
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