The Research On The Prime Minister's Initiative For International Education In The United Kingdom

The internationalization of higher education is the trend and process of the development of higher education when facing globalization.The internationalization of higher education strategies in the United Kingdom have been changed for several times,with different strategic orientations and emphases in different periods.Since the post-colonial era,the UK government emphasized on the development of international higher education,the strategy was mainly lying on the political purpose to cultivate pro-British faction.Then Mrs.Thatcher became the Prime Minister,in the early stage of which Britain was confronting with great economic crisis and the implementation of the "full-cost" policy brought a lot of economic benefits to the United Kingdom.It was the policy that played an irreplaceable role in helping the United Kingdom to get over the crisis smoothly.Meanwhile,countries around the world have begun to pay more attention to the internationalization of education and the United Kingdom has felt great pressure.In view of this,Tony Blair,as the new leader,has embarked the “Prime Minister's Initiative” in 1999 and it has gained obvious effects.The UK government then carried out the “Prime Minister's Initiative for International Education” in 2006.This international higher education strategy profoundly influenced the internationalization of higher education in the United Kingdom.This paper makes a comprehensive analysis of the objectives and the implementation process of the “Prime Minister's Initiative for International Education” from the perspective of the development strategy of international higher education,and explores the status and influence of it in the development of international higher education in the United Kingdom.Based on these analysis,this paper also tries to provide useful enlightenment for China 's international higher education development.The main contents including five parts are listed as below.The first part presents the background of the “Prime Minister's Initiative for International Education”: the intensification of competition in the global higher education,the promotion of the Blair education policy,the benefits of the internationalization of higher education and the practical difficulties of the internationalization of higher education.The second part analyzes the content of the “Prime Minister's Initiative for International Education”,including strategic objectives and organizational structures.These factors mentioned above have prompted the UK to start the new international development strategy of education,which has changed the focus of strategic development: beginning to focus on a broader international agenda,from expanding size of international students and taking economic interests to improving the international students' learning experience,establishing of strategic partnership alliance and enhancing and consolidating the UK in the global internationalization of the status of leadership in higher education.The third part introduces the implementation strategy of the “Prime Minister's Initiative for International Education”,which includes the following four aspects: the diversification development of international market and the consolidation of emphasis;by developing and launching the “Education UK” brand and building an international recruitment agency network to reach the global publicity and promotion of UK higher education;a series of measures to improve students' experience,such as improving the ability and professional level of higher education internationalization service,diversifying the visa system,implementing "Teaching International Students" project,and a variety of measures to improve the students' social experience and to increase students' employment rate;establishment of international partnerships and alliances to expand communication and cooperation within higher education.Then it presents and analyzes the implementation results of the “Prime Minister's Initiative for International Education”,including effects and existing problems.The main effects are: the number of students who study abroad has expanded rapidly;the economic and social benefits has increased;overseas students who study in the UK have been more satisfied;international partners have increased;the international influence of higher education has enlarged;the international leadership of education has been consolidated.And the existing problems of the “Prime Minister's Initiative for International Education” include: the marketing campaign of "Education UK" brand does not carry out well;investment in the internationalization of education is insufficient;the international service of education is insufficient;the student visa system is confusing;projects do not cooperate with each other well.On the basis of the problems mentioned above,this paper analyzes the reasons for the suspension of the “Prime Minister's Initiative for International Education”: the international development of higher education in Britain is under huge pressure;the market situation of higher international education development is changeable,and asks for new development strategy;the coalition government came to power with different ideas.The fourth part,on the basis of the analysis above,explores the experience of the UK in promoting the internationalization of education: the methods to promote the attraction of higher international education is marketing and publicity;the key to maintain the sustainable development of higher international education is to balance development scale and education quality;The way to improve and enhance the status of higher education internationalization lies in cooperation with overseas countries;and the emphasis on internationalization of higher education should be adjusted timely.And the enlightenment to the internationalization of China's higher education is put forward.