Higher education systems

IIEP Policy Brief
prepared in conjunction with ADEA and AAU

Private Sector: Partners in Higher Education Development
in Africa

by N.V. Varghese
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IIEP Training materials on " External quality assurance: options for higher education managers"

Module 1:
Making basic choices for external quality assurance systems

Module 2:
Conducting the process of external quality assurance

Module 3:
Setting up and developing the quality assurance agency

Module 4:
Understanding and assessing quality

Module 5:
Regulating and assuring the quality of cross-border providers of higher education

The increasing role of institutions of higher education and specialized training

Universities are potent agents for social change, and higher education plays a critical role in development:

  • Universities are essential institutions in modern knowledge-based economies and societies.
  • They train the personnel that operate the key institutions of society.
  • They generate knowledge and translate it into new applications and products.
  • They preserve cultural heritage and variety.

The past decade has raised new challenges which institutions are now facing along with the resulting impact:

  • declining public funding: erosion of research capacities and facilities for teaching
  • demographic changes: expansion, varying composition and structural diversification
  • globalization: internationalization of research, increased international flow of students and commercialization of education. Risks include inequity, decreased quality and brain drain
  • new knowledge: information and communication technology offer opportunities both for teaching and research, yet the digital divide is growing.

Six research projects addressed these new issues:

  • enhancing capacity of higher education in developing countries
  • restructuring university administration, finances and technology to adapt to the new dynamic environment
  • new mechanisms for assuring quality in the global higher education market
  • managing changing university-industry linkages
  • ICT and the 'virtual university'
  • improving professional education and facilitating the transition to the labour market.

More on the higher education market >>