Rethinking Trade in Education Services: A Wake-Up Call for Trade Negotiators

摘要

The educational market has grown in size with more exporters entering the field to satisfy growing demand worldwide. The education sector today truly operates in a global context with institutions, programmes, and people supplying services across borders at an unprecedented scale. Yet, one of the anomalies of the education sector is that, despite the rapid internationalization of education services, limited progress has been achieved in trade negotiations. Education services remain one of the least committed sectors under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), as well as in Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs). Firstly, this article reviews the factors behind the growth in trade in education services, particularly at the tertiary level.~1 These include a combination of demographic changes, technological developments, national development goals, and governmental reforms to the funding and provision of higher education. Secondly, it argues that trade policy and negotiations need to wake-up to the global nature of the education sector and address the complex international trade and regulatory challenges. That would not only better reflect the reality on the ground but, through the formulation of negotiating positions, also ensure an informed debate of efficiency and equity considerations.