Rapid growth in the overseas market for developed country degrees demands fresh thinking from universities, governments and quality assurance agencies: That was the message at a recent British Council-organised forum in Beijing – Quality Assurance of Degrees Awarded in a 3rd Country.

The forum heard of new Asian regional developments from senior representatives of academic accreditation agencies in China, Hong Kong and the UK.

The forum, Quality Assurance of Degrees Awarded in a Third Country, was the fifth of six British Council Global Education Dialogues: The Asia Series 2012-13. Discussions were organised into three plenary sessions, followed by parallel workshops on the same three topics, and a final report-back and summing up.

The opening plenary, Current Trends in Transnational Education set out economic and demographic trends driving third country transnational education. The second plenary, Quality Assurance for Degrees Awarded in a Third Country, explored reforms to quality assurance systems in Asia, where Malaysia, Singapore and Dubai are significant host countries, and raised questions about future evolution. The session on Verification for Degrees Awarded in a Third Country heard presentations from China’s accreditation and verification agencies. Their views and concerns were valuable as China is a major country of origin for students taking overseas degrees within all frameworks -- international, third country transnational and locally-provided transnational.

The multilateral format created “very useful” dialogue, according to one of Hong Kong’s leading academics on transnational education, Enoch Young. “Institutions and accreditation agencies have many talks but involving the government is not easy,” he said. 

The forum was “a unique experience” as it was his first time to join a discussion on TNE,” said the deputy dean of economics at Vietnam’s Hoa Sen University, which has students of finance and fashion design studying for British and French qualifications.

It’s also reported at THE: http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=422342&c=1.

Please contact Ms Zhang Jing at Zhang.jing@britishcouncil.org.cn should you have any queries or need further information.