HO op afstand wordt wereldmarkt

Nieuws | de redactie

1 mei 2006 | Het hoger afstandsonderwijs is steeds meer in opkomst, in het bijzonder in de derde wereld en het voormalig oostblok. De meest actuele gegevens over deze ontwikkeling laten zien, dat het levenlangleren door werkenden het initieel hoger onderwijs gaat inhalen als investering, met name ook in de derde wereld. In 2015 zou hierin jaarlijks 150 miljard $ gestoken gaan worden.

Het zijn vooral Amerikaanse kennisbedrijven die deze markt weten te ontwikkelen en daarvan profijt trekken. Lees meer hieronder in de analyse van Ron Perkinson, Principal  Educations Specialist van IFC. Zijn zeer uitvoerige presentatie vindt u hier.

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Trends in Global Higher Education. The Changing Landscape

The global education market amounts to more than $2.3 trillion, with around 15% in the developing world. The $2.3 trillion+ expenditures take account of total public expenditures, but only known current expenditures from the private sector. Although private sector capital expenditures are quite substantial, there are no systems in place for tracking them. The landscape for tertiary and adult education is changing, with more growth in financing from non-state sources. Private sector participation is growing while government regulations are becoming more liberalized. The private higher education market is estimated to be worth more than $350 billion on current expenditures alone—and growing. The continuing ICT revolution is one of six forces of change in higher education that are converging globally to help create ‘the perfect storm.’ There is a resurgence of the demand from the global IT sector for training in information technologies. Tertiary distance education makes up 15% of all higher education students.

Of the largest distance education institutions in the world, seven are located in developing countries and all use IT to assist delivery in some of their programs. In 2000, Asia had 3.5 million distance learning students. In Russia, 30% of all tertiary courses are distance. Latin America and Caribbean countries have over 1 million tertiary distance education students, mainly in Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela and Mexico. The European Association of Distance Teaching Universities has 18 members in 14 countries reaching more than 900,000 students. British Open University has more than 210,000 students and also delivers online education programs to developing countries. In Australia, more than 50% of foreign students enrolled on Australian campuses from Singapore and Hong Kong are distance.

The U.S. remains the biggest adopter of online education, with more than 2.6 million students.  An estimated 1 million students in China are now online through Internet and satellite, with 68 universities approved by the Ministry of Education in 2004. There are still few champions (of online education) in developing countries due to regulatory problems, Internet access, affordability and frequently faculty resistance. The use of online delivery in corporate training is overtaking higher education usage in developing countries, where major growth is predicted in developing countries to become an estimated $150 billion industry by 2025. This growth is driven significantly by U.S companies.