Higher Education as a focal point of the market
Letter n°2, november 2002

“When it comes to trade liberalisation, higher education is not a product like bananas or cars”

This remark was made by Stamenka Uvalic-Trumbic, member of the higher education division of UNESCO, quoting John Daniel the assistant-director of education within the same organisation. UNESCO was reacting to the first Forum on Trade in Educational Services, which took place in Washington last May.

According to Ms Uvalic-Trumbic the tendency to commercialise what many previously considered as public goods - education, culture and information - jeopardises the mechanisms of control within these areas and demands new approaches to the protection of the rights of the individual. Unless universally agreed frameworks can be defined, the poor will be denied access to the benefits of globalisation, concluded the UNESCO representative.

Educational International brought into question the impact of the international trade liberalisation of education on the quality of education services in developing countries. Considering the extent of the digital divide, the idea of placing the national education systems in a commercially competitive situation carries risks of inequity and discrimination

«L’OMC et le cycle du millénaire : les enjeux pour l’éducation publique».

Online: http://www.ei-ie.org/main/french/index.html
English/Español/French.

See Also: «La commercialisation de l'éducation publique : Un cheval de Troie menaçant ?»
Online : http://www.acelf.ca/revue/XXIX-2/articles/03-Hache.html
French