The international flow of scholars and students: A vehicle for cross-cultural understanding,international co-operation and global development?

This article is a shift away from the narrow socio-psychological focus of student flows towards an examination and analysis of the mutual educational, political and economic advantages and disadvantages to both sending and receiving countries and to global development through educational exchange. The, article within its limited framework goes on to outline the impetus for the origin and development of the international flow of scholars and students in a global context. It then examines the implications and contribution this movement makes towards cross-cultural understanding, international co-operation in higher education and a global development in knowledge. It outlines the educational, cultural and economic advantages and disadvantages that sending and host countries have derived and continue to derive from these flows. However, the benefits seem to outweigh the disadvantages, particularly in the light of the growing new international economic order accompanied by an interdependent world economic system. In spite of this, a number of the developed host countries, mainly for parochial economic and political reasons, have introduced a series of protectionist measures to curtail the number of overseas students coming into their institutions of higher education. This has adversely affected particularly the poorer developing countries and their students. The article also points out that this exchange of scholars and students is a useful marketing mechanism for the developed countries, as students returning home take back with them a considerable amount of knowledge of their host country and this is helpful in a highly competitive world market system.