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Musayev B.Sh. independent researcher Samarkand Institute of Economics and Service
SCIENTIFIC AND THEORETICAL VIEWS ON THE PROMOTION OF
HIGHER EDUCATION SERVICES
Abstract. Development of higher education services and increasing their efficiency is currently one of the main priorities of the state policy in the field of higher education of Uzbekistan. Competitive mechanisms of resource allocation among higher education institutions are increasingly being used. In particular, the granting of academic and financial independence to higher education institutions, the establishment of admission quotas, and independence in creating and offering educational programs leads to a sharp development of the market of higher education services.
It is important to accelerate promotional activities aimed at including higher education institutions in international rankings and ensuring the competitiveness of national higher education services. The process ofpromotion of educational services is important in attracting potential consumers to educational services, organizing the interaction of the participants of the educational process in the market and the offer of services. This article describes the theoretical issues ofpromotion of higher education services.
Keywords: higher education services, marketing service, promotion, promotion tools, target audience, potential consumers, advertising, public relations.
INTRODUCTION. Based on the priorities of socio-economic development and the requirements of the labor market, which have been implemented in Uzbekistan in recent years, the following important tasks are being solved by HEIs. Including:
- forming and increasing admission quotas based on necessity;
- digitalization of higher education services;
- To improve the quality of education in HEIs;
- training of highly qualified personnel for economic sectors and branches,
etc.
We can see that state HEIs are working in the following 4 main priority directions in solving the above tasks:
The first direction is to gradually increase the role of management boards of state higher education institutions and expand the powers of departments.
The second direction is to adapt the educational process to market requirements, to ensure integration with production, and to create an environment for students to work on themselves.
The third direction is to increase the scientific potential of higher education institutions, to develop science and innovation.
The fourth direction is to reduce red tape for faculty and students, drastically reduce bureaucracy and corruption by digitizing the field.
In recent years, as a result of significant work in these areas, we can see that financial and academic independence has been granted to many state higher education institutions, and healthy competition between higher education institutions has arisen as a result of the entry of the private sector into the market of higher education services. Therefore, the issue of increasing the competitiveness of higher education institutions operating in our country is becoming urgent. We know from world experience that the only way to increase competitiveness in all spheres of production and service is the wide use of marketing opportunities.
THE MAIN PART. Today, as a result of putting an end to the state monopoly of higher education services, a healthy competitive environment is emerging. As a result, today many higher education institutions are re-examining the activity of their "Marketing" department and realizing the need to organize it effectively. Because the marketing department is basically the main link that ensures constant interaction of higher education institutions with the market, that is, with potential consumers (applicants, students and their parents, employers, buyers of scientific developments, etc.). At this point, it would be appropriate if we dwell in detail on the meaning of the concept of marketing service in higher education and give a definition to this concept.
Marketing service in higher education is a special body that is engaged in tasks such as studying the demand for educational fields and specialties in the labor market and forming admission quotas corresponding to these educational fields and specialties, strengthening the position of higher education institutions in the market and increasing their competitiveness, and promoting educational services. is considered.
In general, if we pay attention to when marketing and its tools were first used in the higher education system, in the mid-1980s, the first theories were put forward by foreign expert scientist Tom Hayes. According to him, "...marketing in higher education was viewed as part of marketing in health care in the mid-1980s." We can agree with this opinion in terms of achievements. Because consumers make their decisions based on their results and achievements in the field of health care or OTMs. In such a situation, other marketing elements such as price of services, location become secondary. But if we look at it from the point of view of today's increased competition, the given definition does not quite match today's demand. This is because healthcare marketing and higher education marketing and promotion processes differ. For example, the health sector attracts customers with health complaints, or sells medicine to a healthy person who cannot be cured. In this case, promotion and advertising activities require specific
approaches. If this approach is used in the field of education, the expected results may not be achieved.
Another foreign expert, Graeme Drummond, suggested that "marketing in higher education institutions will become a necessary activity after having to compete for funding and attracting more students." Generally speaking, any business owner wants to sell their product or service at a high price. Or they don't want any of their HEIs to fall short of their allocated quotas. Therefore, this given definition is appropriate, but it does not mean that it fully corresponds to the marketing activities of HEIs today.
According to Philip Kotler, a leading marketing expert, "marketing in the higher education system is the analysis, planning, implementation, control, informing and motivating of potential consumers, effective pricing of services, and educational programs designed to meet the needs and wants of target markets. and extensive use of marketing communications. This definition corresponds to today's demand and reflects the marketing activities in the field of higher education. Because marketing activities in the higher education system mainly consist of tasks such as analysis, acceptance and approval of educational programs, its implementation, control, informing and motivating potential consumers, effective pricing for services and extensive use of marketing communications.
Promotion of higher education services, participating in various exhibitions, organizing open-door days, holding conferences in various directions, using direct marketing opportunities, carrying out work to communicate educational services to potential consumers on web pages and social networks. enters.
Also, many researchers have conducted their research on the promotion of higher education services. In particular, O.S. Batalova put forward such an opinion in his research. "As a result of the development of the educational services market, competition between higher education institutions appears and continues to increase. Consumer demands and target audience are always changing. This increases the need to advertise and promote their services in higher education institutions." In fact, this theory was also observed in the field of higher education of our country. Since 2016, the increased focus on education has resulted in healthy competition among higher education institutions. The requirements of learners are changing day by day. That is, if earlier, due to the small number of admission quotas, they did not apply for the fields of study they were interested in, but instead applied for the fields of study with high admission opportunities, today's applicants want to study at the HEIs of their interest, which provide prestigious and high-quality education. This increases the need for higher education institutions to promote and promote their services.
According to M. N. Krivtsova, "the world market of educational services is rapidly developing and growing year by year. All educational institutions, institutes, universities, academies are direct participants in market relations.
Increasing competition in the educational services market is increasing the demand for advertising and PR. Because in order to operate stably in a competitive environment, any higher education institution should form positive opinions about its services. This opinion is reasonable from the point of view of market economy, it can be added. However, higher education institutions must first be financially and academically independent and pay serious attention to the activities of the marketing department in their HEIs in order to form positive opinions about their services. Because, if the activity of the marketing department in HEIs is not given serious attention and the necessary funds are not allocated to it, there will not be enough opportunity to form positive opinions among the consumers of higher education services and bring them to the brand level.
Currently, higher education institutions around the world are paying great attention to promoting their services. Because, future students began to pay attention to the choice of a higher educational institution and the direction of education. G. Krayukhina describes promotion as follows: "promotion is a set of activities aimed at informing potential consumers about the advantages of the product and inducing their desire to buy". In the promotion of higher education services, attention should be paid to strengthening the communication and promotion of information aimed at drawing the attention of potential consumers to the advantages of higher education services.
In the promotion of higher education services, it is necessary to pay serious attention to increase the effectiveness of sales through various promotional activities aimed at the interested parties of higher education institutions mentioned by F. Kotler and Fox, that is, to the audience that can be contacted.
E. I. Bulin-Sokolova in her research on the issue of promotion of higher education services states that "the main achievements of marketing in higher education are related to the use of modern technologies for advertising and promotion of educational services." In its research, Hanover Research, "Despite the fact that HEIs place great importance on open days and other similar events in attracting new students, the means of promoting higher education services through digital technologies show that they are the most effective". Another foreign expert, C. Maslowsky, believes that "the website remains a very important tool for marketing promotions among higher education institutions and their various stakeholders, while focusing on the effective use of social media marketing (SMM) opportunities. necessary". From the opinions of these researchers, it can be concluded that in today's era of advanced information and communication technologies, it is necessary to widely use digital technologies, that is, Internet marketing, digital marketing opportunities, in the promotion and promotion of higher education services.
Our local scientists and young specialists are also conducting their scientific research on the current issues of promotion of higher education services based on digital technologies and digitization of higher education services. For example, according to the opinions of S.S. Gulyamov, R.Kh. Ayupov, M.Q.
Abdullaev, "... at present, the tasks of transition to the digital economy before universities and other higher education institutions are transverse: directions and specializations announced in advance One of the most urgent tasks is to expand the set of programs along with the preparation of bachelor's and master's degrees and create the necessary conditions for students to acquire the skills and knowledge required by the digital economy. From this we can conclude that it was mentioned that higher education institutions should pay attention to the fact that the graduates of higher education institutions not only have thorough knowledge of their specialty, but also master the skills and knowledge required by the digital economy.
CONCLUSION. The characteristics of the educational process in higher educational institutions and their tasks before the society and the economy are changing. Currently, HEIs in the world are competing with each other to attract students, leading professors and financial resources. In such a healthy competitive environment, the SOEs that keep up with the times, choose their development path and take advantage of digital marketing opportunities are gaining an advantage over other SOEs. I. Rustambekov expressed the following opinion in this regard. That is, "Digitalization creates new opportunities for education and management, facilitating data collection and analysis, interaction and communication. The benefits of digitization include increased productivity, increased student engagement, personalized learning, and the use of new teaching methods. In addition, digitization facilitates the management of universities, curricula, faculty, staff, and resources. One of the main advantages of digitization in HEIs is to further increase student engagement. By using digital tools such as online learning platforms, social networks and mobile applications, universities can further increase students' interest in learning. Digitization also provides opportunities for universities to use new teaching methods such as games and virtual reality. These methods are easily used in interactive learning experiences to explain complex concepts and theories to students.
References:
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