Transnational Education takes centre stage at the British Council’s South Asia Deep Dialogues event in Colombo

The British Council's South Asia Deep Dialogues event took place from 10-11 December in
Colombo. With the theme of: Widening access to quality tertiary education through
transnational education’, Deep Dialogues brought leading experts, policymakers, and
education sector professionals from the UK and South Asia to discuss the potential of
transnational education (TNE), particularly as a significant driver of educational
transformation, the knowledge economy and sustainable development goals.

Key insights that emerged from the sessions included:

Trust and respect are fundamental to establishing mutually beneficial partnerships
that will significantly improve the quality of teaching, curricula, policies, and,
ultimately, the student experience.

Quality assurance needs to be at the heart of TNE development and delivery so
that students receive high quality education. At the same time, higher education and
quality assurance systems must be resilient enough to navigate the evolving
landscape of course delivery, content, and student diversity, while fostering trust and
confidence among all stakeholders.

As TNE expands and transforms, education leaders face increasingly complex
challenges in balancing local contexts with internationalisation goals. We need
resilient, culturally intelligent leaders to navigate diverse stakeholder expectations.
Notable discussions at the Deep Dialogues revolved around creating an understanding of
how TNE can make positive contribution to social development goals, lead to employability,
exploring various TNE models, discussing quality assurance and approaches to
implementation of TNE policy frameworks.

Helen Silvester, Regional Director, South Asia at the British Council, said:

“TNE not only provides an opportunity for affordable international education but also
facilitates ‘brain circulation’ rather than ‘brain drain’, something heavily valued by
governments across South Asia. Critically, it helps countries respond to the very high
demand for Higher Education that outstrips the capacity of public education systems to meet.
 It develops the quality of teaching, research and supports national competitiveness. The
discussions and recommendations at the Deep Dialogues feed into our wider work to help
support young people to gain the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in life and work
in a global society.”

Orlando Edwards, Country Director of British Council Sri Lanka said:

“Our work in TNE has created opportunities for over 50,000 students to access world class
UK qualifications, establishing Sri Lanka as the second largest TNE partner country for the
UK after China. It is fitting, therefore, that Sri Lanka was selected to host the first ever
regional Deep Dialogue. The rich dialogue discussions included a focus on policy and quality
assurance, with a number of recommendations which we are excited to take forward in
collaboration with our partners.”

Through the British Council’s work in Transnational Education (TNE), we increase the
understanding of policy makers of the potential of TNE in their country and increase

awareness and reputation of the UK TNE sector. In Sri Lanka our recent research report on
Transnational Education has contributed to strengthening TNE development and delivery
including quality assurance in the country.

The report can be viewed here: Transnational education in Sri Lanka: Operational and quality
assurance landscape | British Council Sri Lanka

Deep Dialogues are focused events organised by the British Council that foster meaningful
international engagement on important higher education themes. 

About the British Council

The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and
educational opportunities. We support peace and prosperity by building connections,
understanding and trust between people in the UK and countries worldwide. We do this
through our work in arts and culture, education and the English language. We work with
people in over 200 countries and territories and are on the ground in more than 100
countries.

British Council’s South Asia Deep Dialogues event in Colombo

Nishat Riaz MBE - Global Head of Higher Education Systems Internationalisation TNE Lead British Council, Nizam Razzaq – Founder Director and Chief Executive BMS Campus, Dr Suzanna Tomassi – Higher Education Specialist Department for Business and Trade (DBT), UK and Prof. Uma Kanjilal – Vice Chancellor Indira Gandhi National Open University. 
 

Moderator Griff Ryan - Head of TNE, Universities UK international, Kenneth Fleming - Director, SLIIT Global Education Sri Lanka, Saad Wasim -  Regional Head for South Asia, University of London Regional Advisor for South Asia at University of Kent, Sampath Perera - General Manager, ICBT Sri Lanka and Dr Theresa Cronin - Transnational Partnership Manager at Queen Margaret University, UK