Internationalisation at a selected university in South Africa

Communicating to prospective students through appropriate sources of information

“…During the past few years, South Africa's higher education sector faced several challenges, including a decrease in government funding for HEIs, enrolment capping resulting from to increased student admissions, a notion of quality assurance to attract quality students, an increase in competition through the emergence of private higher education, mergers of institutions (similar to the mergers in Australia and New Zealand), and global trends of internationalisation (Akoojee & Nkomo, 2007;De Vries, 2007;Hay & Van Gensen, 2008;Louw & Mayer, 2008;Zuber-Skerrit, 2007). While many of these challenges are evident globally, it should be remembered that the situation of higher education in post-apartheid South Africa is quite different on account of the country's distinctive historical, cultural and socioeconomic circumstances (Ngqiyaza, 2009;Zuber-Skerritt, 2007).…”

“…Many authors discuss the pressures and changes in the higher education landscape, including a decrease in government funding, the quest to attract quality students, mergers, an increase in competition between institutions, and also global trends of internationalisation (Espinoza et al, 2002;Haigh, 2002;Louw & Mayer, 2008;Mouwen, 2002;Mok, 2003;Rindfleish, 2003;;Whyte, 2001). The aforementioned authors state that, in response to the pressures of the changing higher education environment, there have been expanded efforts by HEIs to understand and influence the decision-making processes among prospective students.…”

Present-Day Dillemas And Challenges Of The South African Tertiary System

“…Since 1994, there has been a steady increase in the number of international students, particularly from the African continent but also from other parts of the world (Louw & Mayer, 2008). It is therefore important that institutions need to focus on new strategies to manage the global trends of internationalization as globalization affects each country in a different way, depending on the individual history, traditions, culture, and priorities of that country (Knight, 1994).…”

“…The concept of internationalisation describes what happens when students and staff meet across national borders and when an international perspective is integrated into the higher education system (Osborne, 2002). It is a comprehensive strategy with widespread relevance for the multicultural aspects of society (Louw & Mayer, 2008). As such, these strategies should be accepted and supported as an integral part of education policies with the aim of enriching the quality and relevance of education for all (Cambridge & Thompson, 2004).…”

“…Students from other parts of the world should also be catered to. Therefore, it is recommended that there should be carefully constructed orientation and training programmes for first-year students that focus on cultural and identity issues (Louw & Mayer, 2008).…”