从WTO-GATS规范论跨国高等教育的质量议题

WTO-GATS and Its Implications for the Quality Issues of Transnational Higher Education

跨国高等教育的质量议题,开始挑战各国内部的高等教育质量保证机制的效力,因为这些过去纯然地规管各国境内本国高等教育机构之品保机制,现在是否足够规管那些进入境内所开设的跨国高等教育的质量呢?以及是否可规管本国高等教育机构到他国开设的跨国高等教育的质量呢?目前有关高等教育质量保障机制,从国际层次、各国政府层次、高等教育机构、到各专业学科领域,各式的质量标准、程序及认可等,呈现出一个质量保证的大丛林;而在这样的丛林现象下,又出现了世界贸易组织(WTO)的服务贸易总协议(GATS),其究竟可扮演一个怎样的角色呢?难道就只有如文献所说,一旦将高等教育纳入GATS规范下,各国高等教育的质量管理机制将会被视为一种服务贸易的障碍吗?本文拟提出之主要论述为:在目前高等教育质量保障机制的大丛林中,倚赖国际间出现跨国高等教育质量规范统一准则是不切实际的,因为目前有力主导控管跨国高等教育质量的仍在各国政府的手上,而GATS规范虽无力规范各会员国如何制订相关的质量及学位采认的实质内容,但却有强制力要求各会员国必须将其内部涉及跨国高等教育运作有关的法规(现有、将来设置)与程序加以公开,而这种约束力方有可能使各国的质量保证及学位采认机制达到透明化的目地,而这个结果是过去质量保障丛林一直努力要达成但却无法完成的部份。鉴于此,本文主要探讨范围将包括:(一)跨国高等教育发展(背景、理由、与运作实例)与质量议题;(二)GATS规范与跨国高等教育;与(三)GATS规范对跨国高等教育质量议题的意涵。

The quality issues of transnational higher education （TNHE） challenge the validity of the national quality assurance mechanisms since the latter normally look after the quality of domestic higher education, but still ignore the quality of TNHE home provided by foreign providers and of TNHE abroad provided by their own higher education institutions. The state- of-the-art picture of all forms and mechanisms of quality assurance and degree recognition, developed by international, national, higher education institutional levels to professional associations, is like a big QA jungle. Adding on this complicate jungle picture, another agreement, the General Agreement on Trade in Services （GATS） of the World Trade Organization （WTO）, came in. What role can the GATS play in the process？ Or is it just like the claim in the literature that national quality assurance mechanisms will be treated as a trade obstacle if higher education is under the GATS？ The main argument of this paper is that the expectation of a uniform international quality guideline on TNHE is unrealistic if considering governments still as the main regulator of the TNHE. While the GATS is unable to intervene into the affairs of individual members in making policy regarding the quality assurance and recognition of qualifications, it has legal-binding power to require the members to make the relevant QA and qualification recognition information and regulations of TNHE transparent and public. Such king of transparency through the regulation of the GATS is the ultimate aim which all forms of QA mechanisms and stakeholders have long desired to achieve, but full of difficulties in materializing. Thus, the following issues are covered in this paper. 1） the development of transnational higher education （backgrounds, rationales, and examples）; 2） GATS and transnational higher education; 3） the implications of the GATS for quality issues of transnational higher education.