policy & reform
for universities to consider their operations and how they can be delivered in a more effective and efficient manner,” Paul says.“ In particular, investing in and successfully executing new and emerging technologies urgently is often difficult, which prevents institutions from providing leading-edge tools to students and staff.
“ Further, it is essential to review current service delivery models to ensure that... those services that can be more effectively provided by outsourcing, alliancing or partnering are taken into account as operating margins get squeezed.”
Deloitte recently released a report titled Positioning for Prosperity? Catching the next wave. It identifies higher education as one of five potential super-growth sectors.
Positioning for Prosperity? cites statistics from Australian Education International that show teaching foreign students is Australia’ s fourth-biggest export earner, generating $ 15 billion a year in income and employing 100,000 Australians.
There is no doubt that keeping university places uncapped helps attract foreign students to Australia’ s shores. Global demand for educational services is estimated to soar by 7 per cent a year between now and 2020, with the growing middle class in Asian countries such as China and India expected to provide the majority of students. But that is only one source of revenue.“ We believe there are three keys to boosting the education sector,” Paul says.“ First, we need to restore the prestige of the sector. If we wish to be a premium education destination, we must prize our educators. Competitive entry to fully funded university places, combined with performance-based pay for frontline teachers, would go a long way to growing our current talent pool of educators.” The problem
First, we need to restore the prestige of the sector. If we wish to be a premium education destination, we must prize our educators. Competitive entry to fully funded university places, combined with performance-based pay for frontline teachers, would go a long way to growing our current talent pool of educators.
here is that the Australian Government has committed to enforcing the previous administration’ s multi-billion-dollar funding cuts. This will lead to a knock-on effect in research for universities, combined with salaries inevitably being cut or at least not rising. It is a given that jobs in the sector will go.
This increases the pressure to raise independent finance and that can change the whole dynamic of the sector. After all, tertiary institutions were designed to teach students and prepare them for the outside world, not have whole sections of administration devoted to fundraising, bringing into question who donates funds and what they want out of them.
Paul’ s other keys to the sector involve the issues of pricing and international students.
“ There needs to be deregulation of pricing in the sector,” he says.“ If institutions could operate within a deregulated pricing environment, it would encourage institutions to be more responsive to student needs.
“ We also need to redefine migration pathways to boost international demand: there is nothing preventing Australia leading the world in guiding high-performing international students and academics, from any country, to secure permanent residency and employment in Australia. We should become a magnet for the best and brightest around the world.”
Australia has the world’ s third-highest market share of international students, after the US and UK, the OECD’ s Education at a Glance 2012 report states.
Our market share rose from 5.1 per cent in 2000 to 6.6 per cent in 2010. With long-term forecasts of the Australian dollar continuing to fall and Asia’ s middle class reaching 3 billion in the next 15 years, there is no doubt Australia is in a prime position to capitalise on its location, reputation, sound regulated financial system and stable government.
Still, it is dangerous to throw all your eggs into one basket, especially one that has been dropped before. QUT’ s Coaldrake reiterates the idea that overall improvements in efficiency are the key.
“ For the university sector to function more efficiently it needs reduction in the extent of regulation and policy churn caused by efforts to drive universities according to central government preferences,” Coaldrake says.“ Universities have strong incentives to be efficient, and in the future these will be even [ greater ] under even optimistic scenarios. Market-based solutions, as might be preferred by some observers, are unlikely to work in driving efficiency, and the US experience should be instructive.
“ There are no shortcuts known anywhere in the world, regardless of public or private ownership, in providing the kind of university education we should be offering, though the work of institutions in exploring new efficiencies must continue.” n
THAT’ S NOT A UNION FEE Student union fees have been abolished. It is just a mis-conception that they still exist. According to the website politifact. com. au, compulsory student fees were abolished in 2006 under the Howard Government.
In 2011, the Gillard Government introduced the Student Services and Amenities Fee, which isn’ t compulsory student unionism, it is a charge of $ 273 that universities are allowed to collect if they want.
It must go towards funding student services and amenities, including sport, recreation and entertainment programs, as well as counseling and academic assistance.
David Kemp and Andrew Norton are expected to recommend abolishing the Student and Amenities Fee in their review of higher education.
16 | campusreview. com. au