A Study On International Exchange And Cooperation Of The University Of Yaoundé I Cameroon

The rapid development of globalization,knowledge economy and the network information technology has had an increasingly profound influence on the politics,economy,society and culture around the world generally.Higher education is not exceptional.Currently,the African higher education system is the weakest system in the world,so it faces unprecedented opportunity and challenge brought by internationalization in the era of globalization.The internationalization is one of the most important responses to the globalization,includes“internationalization at home"and "cross-abroad education"(it is marked by exchange and cooperation).They are the internal and external pillar of the internationalization respectively.Due to historical and socioeconomic factors,international exchange and cooperation is the main form of internationalization of African higher education.The aim of this study is to choose the University of Yaoundé I as the object,from the perspective of the exchange and cooperation to explore its main activities and contents in the new era,analyzing the main achievements and the role of meeting the needs of the African university,through the methods of literature analysis,interviewing and case study.In general,International exchange and cooperation in higher education institutions in African countries can be viewed in two dimensions:regionalization in Africa and internationalization outside Africa,North-South cooperation with developed countries and South-South cooperation with developing countries.The University of Yaoundé I was the first university established with the help of France after the independence of Cameroon.Due to the difference of history,politics,economy and society,there are a variety of international path types of higher education institutions and international exchange and cooperation path types.Cooperation with the former suzerain is an important condition for the establishment of higher education in Cameroon.In the era of globalization,Cameroon has had some achievements during the development of internationalization,through exchange and cooperation with the higher education institutions around the world and international organizations.In the international exchange and cooperation,there is a situation called "France dominance" for the close relationship with France.France provides a lot of help in the scientific research,personnel training,funding support to the University of Yaoundé I.Germany and the United Kingdom were also the main two suzerains of Cameroon,but because the University of Yaoundé I mainly follows French tradition,so it has less communication and impact with higher education institutions of Germany and the UK.Other higher education institutions of developed countries,such as Canada,the United States,Italy,have more exchange and cooperation with the University of Yaoundé I.There are sporadic projects with the higher education institutions of Spain and Portugal.The World Bank and the European Union's Higher Education Program have a greater impact on the University of Yaoundé I among the international organizations.About the exchange and cooperation with the developing countries,the Chinese university Zhejiang Normal University is remarkable.The main field is about education management,educational research and language education not the natural science and engineering science.The other dimension of internationalization is regionalization.The University of Yaoundé I actively cooperates with institutions of higher education in Africa,establishing the mechanisms of exchanges and cooperation and actively taking part in the relevant activities of African regional organizations.From the result of the exchange and cooperation,the university of Yaoundé I has achieved some success in the inter-school cooperation programs.Some cooperation areas attract the education funds and strengthen internal research capacity building.The object of cooperation is extended from developed countries to developing countries and the emerging economies,especially China.In terms of cooperation projects,contacts and the investment,the influence of China is increasing.From the content,the natural science is the main field in the cooperation with the European and American countries and the exchange and cooperation with China focus on the field of humanities and social sciences.In the aspect of the international regionalization,the University of Yaoundé I attaches great importance to the cooperation with higher education institutions and international organizations of the African region.But the African international organizations also rely on the support and assistance from the international organizations outside the African region.On the one hand,the University of Yaoundé I actively participates in international organizations of the African region.On the other hand,it actively seeks international assistance from international organizations outside the region.The regionalization and internationalization are indispensable.External international activities need the cooperation of the internal internationalization.However,the University of Yaoundé I lacks of institutional strategies,education funds,scientific research ability and personnel training ability.There is a serious dependency in the process of cooperation.International exchange and cooperation is only external factors,whether the University of Yaoundé I can realize the central mission by the international exchanges and cooperation.It depends on making the systematic,scientific strategy on government and institutional level,setting up the perfect organization to enhance the autonomous and self-reliant ability of the scientific research and personal training to realize the" local growth" of the university.