ABSTRACT
In today’s universities, the incentives, accolades and career progressions for academics are all geared towards the international, which is seen as far more significant and prestigious than anything achieved at the local level. For some reason, recognition by people elsewhere is of greater value. Universities also actively seek international students rather than home-grown students. I have regularly taught postgraduate classes of thirty or more, none of whom have been from the UK. Not only is this detrimental to our own young people, it also does a disservice to those students from abroad who are expecting to learn alongside and get to know their British peers. And, in our increasingly marketized education system, we have created franchise campuses in Dubai, Beijing, Kuala Lumpur and Accra – anywhere but here. It is a pattern led by the corporate model of globalization and free trade that has so devastated communities, eradicated manufacturing bases and, for many, eliminated any hope of quality employment.
