Internationalization at Home –
Positon Paper
6th ANIE Pre-conference Workshop, 7TH OCTOBER, 2015 Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
JACKLINE K.A. NYERERE
Kenyatta university, Kenya
Push for Internationalization
 Political, economic, and social developments are
exerting pressures on higher education to “perform”,
“respond”, “innovate”, “incubate”, “evaluate” and
“lead”.
These require an ‘international university’
An International University?
 Internationalization now appearing in international
rankings: e.g the Times Higher Education (THE) Ranking the level of Internationalization; and
 U-Multirank - the international orientation universities.
The two use the similar quantitative indicators
As indicators:
 Times Higher Education uses;
 number of international students,
 number of international staff and
 number of internationally co-authored publications.
 U-Multirank uses;
 strong incoming and outgoing mobility,
 a high proportion of international staff and doctoral
graduates, and
 a strong record of research publication in collaboration
with academics abroad.
‘Internationalization is seen
as..
a process that helps universities to increase the quality of
their education, research and service to society meaning
it is not a goal itself.
 What is an International University?
In a publication by OECD ‘The State of Higher Education
2014’, Knight identifies three “generations” of International
University:
 an internationalized university with a diversity of
international partnerships, international students and staff
and multiple collaborative activities (COOPERATIVE);
 universities with satellite offices in the form of branch
campuses, research centres and management or project
offices (ACTIVE); and
 standalone institutions co-founded or co-developed by
two or more partner institutions from different countries
(OPERATIVE) E.g our centers of excellence-PAU
Where is the world in terms
of internationalization?
 Many countries & institutions are now putting emphasis
on internationalization policy and practice
 Lately, there has been a growing mobility of students
across the world indicating that the trend is likely to
continue into the future
International Student Mobility Trend, 1985-2014
9
8
8
7
6
5.2
5
Number
4.3
4
3
3
2
1.1
1
1.7
0
1985
1995
OECD, 2014
2005
2011
2014
2025
..And where is Africa in this?

Africa is seen as the next frontier for internationalization mainly due its
demographic composition

Africa will enjoy a growing 18- to 22-year-old population for the next
10 years (Therin, 2013)

..but are there efforts to internationalize at home?

Which efforts have your institutions put in place?
New developments in the recent past:
 The World Bank is sponsoring centres of excellence
among African universities, each receiving US$8 million
to strengthen its research and develop new
programmes.
 Lancaster University has is opening of a campus in
Accra, Ghana,
 CEIBIS (the China Europe International Business School)
has been offering an executive MBA in Accra for the
past few years.
 Webster University this year announced the opening of
its first campus in Africa in Ghana.
 a prominent private Malaysian university (Limkokwing)
has opened campuses in Botswana, Lesotho and
Swaziland.
 India has invested in the Pan-African e-Network of the
best business schools in the
How Africa Could Benefit from Internationalization at
Home
 Source of Revenue (US-$24b in 2013/2014; UK- US$21b
& Australia- US$17b in 2011)

Address skills shortages

Achieve intercultural competencies

Enhance global competitiveness
WHAT IS THE POSITION?

The African Higher Education Summit in Dakar, Senegal, agreed to
promote harmonization

the African Union Commission informed the delegates that the
continental strategy for harmonization had been adopted by all
African countries and the roadmap for curriculum development was
underway.

the African Union expressed keenness to strengthen intra-African
academic mobility and collaboration as a key initiative towards
harmonization.
Key outcome of the Summit ‘Revitalizing Higher Education for Africa’s
Future’ was the resolution to develop criteria for categorizing tertiary
institutions in accordance with internationally recognized benchmarks of
excellence.
 The Conference of Rectors, Vice Chancellors and
Presidents of African Universities (COREVIP) held in
Kigali, Rwanda in June, 2015
 Focused on ‘Internationalizing African Universities:
 COREVIP noted that efforts to internationalize in Africa
had been hampered by the slow pace of
harmonization of HE in Africa
 African Universities urged to use internationalization to
expand access, improve institutional governance
through sharing of best practices
 This will revitalize the 1981, UNESCO Regional
Convention on the Recognition of Studies, Certificates,
Diplomas, Degrees and other Academic
Qualifications in Higher Education in African States,
popularly known as the Arusha Convention.
 a new version of the Arusha Convention of 2007 was
agreed on late last year.
In addition…
We have, in support of internationalization at home:
 Continental and Regional agreements
 South-South initiatives
 North to South investments
Through
UNESCO
AAU
AUC
EAC, SADC,
ECOWAS
DAAD
World bank
ANIE among
others
ISSUES HAMPERING
REGIONAL MOBILITY
They include:
 Lack of coherent governmental policies,
 Inadequate financing
 lack of quality benchmarks
 Lack of assessment criteria
–(Jenny and Chika 2015)
THE, U-Multirank, Certificate for Quality in
Internationalisation, or CeQuInt by European Consortium
for Accreditation
Members input?
1. What has been realized in terms of IaH in your
institutions?
2. What are the various regional initiatives put in place to
realize IaH?
3. Where is Africa today in terms IaH?
4. What must be done for Africa to benefit from
internationalization at Home?
5. What do you expect from ANIE in enhancing IaH?
Initiatives to support
Internationalization at
Kenyatta University
Internationalization Policy
The University has an
internationalization
policy which guides the
internationalization
agenda
in
the
University
Centre for International Programmes
 Centre for International Programmes & Collaboration
established in the year 1994, facilitates linkages &
partnerships
 The Centre is key in facilitating internationalization
efforts in the University
 A good idea to have a home for the programmes
Centre for International Programmes
& Collaboration
Under construction, to be officially
opened in September, 2015
KU “Summer” Programme
The KU Summer Programme is an initiative
whose courses are tailor made by the
University to accommodate international
students
The programme mostly runs between May
and August annually
Through the programme, students are
offered teaching, accommodation, service
learning opportunities by the University
They also are exposed to family and cultural
experiences through home stays
Some KU International students
Internships
The Centre for International
Programmes organizes for internship
sessions for international students
In this initiative, international students
are hosted in departments and
laboratories for period
Cultural Exchanges
 Kenyatta University hosts an annual Culture Week
event where international participants from foreign
countries perform
 The event promotes cultural integration and
appreciation among participants
 We have had cultural troops from Botswana, Uganda,
Nigeria, Ethiopia. Rwanda, China, Korea, and many
others countries
Foreign Languages
KU offers courses in various
international languages e.g.
French, Portuguese, Japanese,
Chinese, German, Korea and
English to support our foreign
students/staff
NEW EFFORT:
Intra-Africa Student Exchange Program

The Intra-Africa Semester Abroad Program (IASAP) is a
student mobility program that focuses on encouraging
movement of undergraduate students within African
universities

The program was started in 2012 with signing of
Memoranda of Understanding between Kenyatta
University and several partner universities (see table)
S/No.
1
Country
Institution
Ghana
University of Cape Coast
2
Uganda
Uganda Martyrs University
3
Nigeria
University of Ilorin
4
Tanzania
University of Dar Es Salaam
5
Uganda
Makerere University
6
Rwanda
National University of Rwanda
7
Tanzania
Sokoine University of Agriculture
8
South Africa
University of Kwa-Zulu, Natal
9
Uganda
Kyambogo University
10
Nigeria
Delta State University
11
Nigeria
Kwara State University
12
Egypt
University of Alexandria
13
Ethiopia
St. Mary’s University College
14
Ethiopia
Jimma University
15
Zimbabwe
Bindura University of Science Education
16
Somaliland
Gollis University
IASAP is aimed at building networks that are useful in;

future endeavors,

opening up the student’s mind to new ideas and
diverse cultures, and

allowing sharing of experiences and best practices.

The Programme was started to address the imbalance
created by student exchanges between African
universities and those from outside Africa

The focus of this programme is for students at 200 and
300 levels

Providing opportunities for students to experience
academic and social environments other than theirs
for one semester and to promote continental
collaborations.
Programme Structure
 The programme is open to only 2nd and 3rd year
students who spend an equivalent of one (1)
semester abroad, that is, in an institution other than
their own but within Africa.
 The exchange students are allowed to enroll in
courses that are agreed on by the heads of
departments of the two institutions, the home
institution and the host institution.
 These students are registered at the host university
and are entitled to all the privileges and subjected
to the same rules and regulations, as other students
at the host university.

The exchange students are expected to pay their
tuition, other statutory payments and accommodation
fees to their HOME institutions while the HOST
institutions provide them with accommodation

The HOME institutions cover the travel costs while the
other expenses like insurance and subsistence costs
are met by the exchange students themselves.
CREDIT TRANSFERS

The students take units relevant to their courses and
thereafter credit transfers are effected upon receipt of
transcripts from the host Universities

The students do not need to redo the same units at
their home countries
Number of students who have
benefited so far (34)
Number of Students Number of Students
from KU
to KU
Institution
University of Cape
Coast
Ilorin University
Uganda
University
Martyrs
Delta State University
Total
2
1
6
10
5
7
-
3
18
16
Challenges ….
Finances…
Harmonization
Thank You