First SA Private Higher Education Institution In Line For US Accreditation

COVID-19 and population lockdowns have physically isolated us and imposed restrictions on our ability to move freely. But it has also brought us together in some rather unexpected ways and reminded us that we are far more connected than we imagined. Our workplaces have been decentralised with remote working interventions and brought with it some positives that have long been recognised by those early-adopters of remote working: less traffic congestion, fuel savings, fewer hassles associated with travel, time-saving, and a measure of flexibility in terms of work hours.

While physically isolated, this global pandemic is surfacing the importance of leveraging our connectivity and the technologies on which we have become so dependent so that we remain active within a globally interconnected economy. Moreover, participation in the global economy raises some critical question about the relative currency of academic qualifications.

Ari Katz, CEO of Boston City Campus, proposes that a crucial value-add to academic qualifications is international recognition. He notes, “today, companies and industries have become quite flat structures, enabling more opportunities for more people on a global scale. As part of the fourth industrial revolution, employers and employees have to embrace new ideas, concepts, and strategies. Organisations aim to remain competitive and relevant by operating on a broad platform, liaising with international businesses for the exchanging of goods and services. Employees and business owners will need to be armed with ‘international’ skills so that they can operate on a global scale to remain competitive and relevant.”

A successful career in the management domain needs to have a global orientation. ‘Internationalisation’, therefore, is integral to establishing and maintaining a presence in today’s marketplace. While focusing on delivering-producing local services-products, there also needs to be an international reach to sell those skills and services. Especially now, our services come at a really low cost to international buyers. It’s an excellent opportunity to be selling South African based skills and services in IT, programming, telecommunications, call centres, project management, and sales, to name a few.

Internationally accredited qualifications thus become a highly valued aspect of one’s CV. “An international degree helps you create a robust bridge between you and your future career, through which you can achieve a greater exposure to attain the opportunities in the first place,” says an international consultant. Moreover, even when you operate locally, it makes you more attractive to local employers because you have a global mindset.

Boston City Campus has positioned itself as a private higher education provider that is sensitive to the needs of the local economy while having an eye on the global picture. In addition to accreditation as an Independent Higher Education Institution with the British Accreditation Council in the UK, Katz adds that Boston is now also a candidate for the accreditation of specific programmes by the ACBSP (Accreditation Council of Business Schools and Programs) in the USA.

“Higher education institutions increasingly have to locate themselves within the global context of an ever-changing educational landscape and must do everything they can to stay in touch with the needs, skills, and demands of business to remain relevant,” says Dr Hendrik Botha, Head of Institution at Boston. In this space, higher education as an industry needs to think local and act global. Put another way; higher education institutions must ensure that their approach to education is sensitive to the realities of life in South Africa while at the same time maintaining an active link with what is happening globally. “Boston’s goal to gain international recognition for its graduates is a strategic move for the institution. And, the voluntary accreditation with the BAC and the ACBSP gives expression to the Department of Higher Education and Training’s (DHET) draft policy on the internationalisation of higher education,” says Dr Botha.

“We believe strongly in the importance of higher education being locally accredited (by the Council on Higher Education) as well as globally recognised through international accrediting bodies,” says Katz. “The world becomes a small operating system due to work borders falling away when you hold a globally recognised qualifications.”

Boston City Campus (Boston) is recognised and awarded accreditation as an Independent Higher Education Institution with the British Accreditation Council (BAC). The BAC is recognised globally as an influential voice on standards and quality for the education sector. Boston is a candidate for the accreditation of specific programmes by the Accreditation Council of Business Schools and Programmes (ACBSP).

Watch the informational video here…