Estados de amenaza y conservación de pteridofitos

At a South African university, foreign African students experience xenophobia in different dimensions, right from the class room, their academic departments, the student administration, student residences, and other services offered. Researchers, such as Rouhani (2007) and Kishun (2007) argue that the absence of an internationalisation policy at some South African institutions of higher learning aggravate xenophobic attitudes in these institutions. Yet, as suggested by Sichone (2006: 6) in his study specifically on universities, the only way for South African Universities to reduce the extent to which this incidence reaches and affect the non-nationals students lays in ensuring adequate internationalisation and institutional policy. Even so, one has to understand that this policy cannot be achieved in isolation of various stakeholders such as government departments, international agencies, institutions themselves and body of students (Rouhani, 2007).

However, my central argument is that looking at policies alone is not enough, since the main issue behind xenophobia is the history of social exclusion, ignorance and the lack of knowledge about the migrants; either the policy is in place or not. Some South African universities are better informed about international students and the importance of internationalisation4 than others. Rouhani (2002) distinguishes the different

4 _{According to Altback & Knight (2007), internationalisation of higher education includes the policies and}

practices undertaken by academic systems and institutions and even individuals to cope with the global academic environment. It is “a process of integrating an international dimension into the research, teaching, and service functions of an institution of higher education” (Louw & Mayer, 2008). Likewise Mclellan (2009) defines internationalisation of higher education at the system, institutional, and individual levels, as “the process of more intensively and/or strategically engaging in international activities, in preparation for an increasingly

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internationalisation strategies of South African universities as following either a pro-active, reactive, passive or „unable-to-cope‟ approach, as responses to the presence of international students and their adjustments. The universities, which have adopted a proactive approach, are those that see international students as a positive development. These universities recognise that through hosting international students, South Africa and institutions acquire research and cultural benefits on top of economic benefits (IEASA, 2006 as quoted by Dzansi, 2006). Such universities in South Africa according to Rouhani include UCT, and the universities of Stellenbosch, Natal, Wits and Rhodes, i.e., comparatively wealthy, previously white institutions.

The reactive institutions, on the other hand according to Rouhani (2002), appear to have no long term plans in place. They do not have a concerted plan or a vision of how they want to benefit from internationalisation. Their responses are usually arrived at in reaction to a situation such as the arrival of a group of students or delegation of faculty from universities abroad. A third group are those who have adopted a passive or laissez-faire approach. For them, internationalisation is a distant reality, one which they would rather not be a part of.

The last group of institutions are those which see internationalisation as an added burden. These are mainly the Historically Black Universities (HBUs) (of which UWC is part) who went through a tough and demanding transition to ensure equality and low fees to all South African students. Due to UWC history for instance, the university holds a number of staff who have been in positions for years but who are not really the professionals that the university needs.

Consider the response that the UWC SRC deputy President got from the university registrar, during their informal discussion with regard to the treatment of the international students on campus. The registrar said that “With top management the university has got people who are educated up to a certain point, then it goes down as you go to frontline offices, the problem might be the certificate and the stereotype, where they have people who have been staff at the university since 1970s so, they call them the “old guard”, they have their way of thinking but it is different from what is required in new South Africa. At the same time the university cannot dismiss them because there is an issue of poverty and unemployment coupled with

global society”.Countries therefore seek to attract foreign students to their universities for many reasons such as improving the quality and cultural composition of the student body, gaining prestige, and earning income (Altback & Knight, 2007:6).

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issues of organisational change that are coming to place, so the registrar acknowledged that and said they were going to have staff retreats where they will address some of these” (Interview with the SRC Deputy President, 2011).

Consequently their attitude when serving students is questionable and can be perceived as very xenophobic in the eye of a foreign student. It is at however very true that UWC ensures low fees for its students, where students from any country on the African continent pay the same fees as those paid by SADC students and local nationals. Nevertheless, as I show in this study, as a black university that ensures the education access to the marginalised, you find that there is much discriminatory practices towards foreign students when it comes to payment of fees where foreign students are requested to pay the upfront fee on the registration day, whereas arrangements of paying in instalments are made for local students.