Dhaka Thursday February 25, 2010

Education in a competitive world

Dr S.M.A. Faiz
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Higher Education has profoundly changed in the last two decades, and those involved in academic enterprises are yet to grapple with many implications of those changes. The field is so vast that it is beyond my capacity to succinctly address the whole caboodle, and even if I try to do so, it will not, I am afraid, make a good spread. I shall, therefore try to underline some points only, based on my presentations at the Association of Commonwealth Universities of Executive Heads held in the University of Adelaide, Australia and the Oxford Round Table held in the University of Oxford, UK recently.

With globalisation, academic institutions and systems have been confronted with pressures of increasing number of students and demographic changes, resource constraints, nature of demand for accountability, social and economic role of higher education, and the impact of new technologies, among other things. Though academic systems function in a national environment, the challenges play themselves out on a global scale. Since institutions worldwide stem from common historical roots and face common contemporary challenges, it is especially important that international interactions take place on emerging issues.

A change in trend in university education
There is considerable convergence among the world's universities and higher education systems. Universities as agents for setting societal tune must focus on all aspects of public awareness, education and training to develop the knowledge, skills, perspectives and values which will empower people of all ages to assume responsibility for creating and enjoying a sustainable future.

Academic institutions have frequently been international in orientation with common curricular elements and English has been the primary international language of science and scholarship, including the internet. Now, with millions of students studying outside their borders, with countless scholars working internationally, and with new technologies such as internet fostering instantaneous communication, the international roots and the contemporary realities of the university have become even more central.

Globalisation has also induced a shift whereby higher education systems are moving from the elite to the mass. Indeed, demands for access come into conflict with the mode of funding. Ironically, current approaches to higher education funding emphasise the need for “users” to pay for the cost of instruction instead of conventional thinking that university education is “public good” where the benefits accrue to society as a whole. The new trend, combined with constriction on public expenditure, has caused academic institutions serious financial problems as a result of which it is difficult for them to function. The difficulties come at a time when higher education systems are trying to provide expanded access. This state of affairs poses serious challenges to university leadership, which has to strike a balance between the social obligations of universities on the one hand and their financial viability, on the other. The case of Bangladesh is a relevant example in this regard, where the role and image of a university for long been premised on “public good”. The universities, the public universities, are facing serious financial constraints with ninety per cent of the cost of education coming from the exchequer and only ten percent coming from what the universities are earning, including what the students pay. With increasing demand for higher education and the constraints on government funds, academic infrastructures, including library and laboratory facilities are starving of necessary financial and logistic support. Very little is being spent on basic research despite the growing needs and demand for research and publications by the universities. The universities in private sector, which are new in Bangladesh, are suffering more seriously and though the “users” are paying for the cost, quality education is seldom ensured. Here the access to education is almost confined to the ones who can pay with only a limited number of scholarships for the meritorious students.

The challenges of brain drain faced by developing countries
In the past two decades university education has been assuming a higher profile both nationally and internationally in terms of educating people to cope with new economies and new knowledge. But ironically the world of globalised higher education is not equal. Although millions of students study across geographical jurisdictions, large number of professors travel cross-borders in pursuit of knowledge, and substantial number of academics migrate abroad to pursue their careers, their experience is often not favourable. As immigration rules favour people with high skill levels and as universities and research organisations prefer to hire the best talent available worldwide, the global marketplace is bound to expand. Such situations invariably result in brain drain from the developing countries. Along with the shortage of required funding, the migration of academic talents has created further challenge for the university leadership in the developing world. Besides, since most international students pay for their own studies, it boosts the income of the host countries but causes a drain on the economy of the developing world.

The role of university leadership in managing challenges
Education is a critical lever in social, economic, and cultural development, and leadership is a necessary factor in creating quality education systems. The focus on leadership is grounded primarily in the belief that academic leaders make a difference in universities worldwide. It is necessary to identify the means by which leaders achieve results.

In order to address challenges of globalisation, the following policy options may be considered.

Increased national and international collaborations
Such collaboration must focus on sharing knowledge, undertaking collaborative research, and deriving benefits based on mutual gains. International relationship in research is crucial and must be pursued effectively. If universities are to keep up with the knowledge production system they also need to participate in the knowledge distribution system. Universities of the 21st century should develop different kinds of links with other universities globally and jointly address the problems and issues confronting contemporary society.

Faculty development programme
A large number of academics after completing their degrees get attracted by the higher compensation packages and better lifestyles in developed countries. They devote their talents to augment the already intellectually and financially enriched developed countries to the detriment of their own countries which are faced with the loss of huge talent potentials along with the burden of foreign aid, through which scholarships are financed. More collaborative programmes between developed and developing countries will ease this problem. Where possible, university faculty members of developing countries can undertake doctoral and post-doctoral programmes with minimum residency requirement in developed countries and pursuing the programs under joint supervision of scholars from both ends.

Installing a good accountability system
Higher education has lately been suffering from a dearth of accountability at various levels. Recent times witness an unwarranted shift in priorities in the higher education system that has greatly eroded social accountability resulting in a fall of education standard. A good accountability system should clearly define a university's goals, priorities, initiatives, and where it intends to add value, and layout measures or indicators of progress in attaining these goals. Also, compliance to legally mandated processes and reporting should be focused on in the process of increasing accountability.

Course curriculum and research priorities
The course curricula must be kept up-to-date with clear proposals and directions to improve the quality of life and preserve the environment, ensure social justice and economic opportunity, balance of natural resources consumption and all else to promote sustainable development. Research priorities should focus the issues and problems confronting the society encompassing the universities and also extend to regional and global aspects. Higher education is beleaguered by resource constraints at various levels. The government must enhance fund allocation for undertaking scientific research which can be a costly affair. Increased allocation of public resources to the education sector and the enhancement of internal income at all public universities, with adequate provisions for scholarships and research grants for deserving students, would essentially contribute to additional resource mobilisation.

Since climate issues are extremely important for Bangladesh today, climate change related aspects should be emphasized on not only in relevant departments and institutes of the universities but also incorporated substantially into the freshman and sophomore levels of education in all disciplines. Besides, the university leadership should utilise the hugely potential youth forces to combat climatic disasters in sustainable ways.

Improving compensation package for academics
In order to achieve academic standards, the compensation package, including salary and fringe benefits, for university academics must be at a level that is comparable to regional and international standards. This has become an impending necessity today, or else, time will come soon when it will be impossible for the universities to attract their best talents for teaching and research. Most of our neighboring countries have already made good progress in this regard. There are examples where a professor of the university gets more than twice the salary, with significant tax benefits, compared to those in other professions in the government. Besides, in order to encourage the expatriate scholars to return to their countries, policies have been introduced to pay the same compensation package that they used to draw overseas. A condition of promoting quality research and producing significant number of Ph.D.s is attached for them, for a certain period of their stay in the country of origin. There is an urgent need for the government to review pay structures of higher education systems and accordingly, increase budget allocation significantly for improving the sector in terms of service delivery and retention of talented academics.

Historically, the academia has always been international in scope and as such, no academic system can exist by itself in the in the world of the 21st century.

With the progress of modern information, communication and technology and the flow of students and highly educated personnel across national borders, it is important to ensure that globalization does not place developing countries in a disadvantageous situation. Each institution of higher education should envisage the creation of an appropriate mechanism for managing challenges and advancing towards their respective goals. In this context, higher education sector can benefit immensely from pragmatic policies that emphasise on issues of quality assurance, relevance and outcome of education and effective measures for ensuring citizen's right to intellectual development.

We are at a stage when globalisation has unified populations through cross-cultural exchanges in the contexts of learning, economics, finance and technology. Current events in world politics are affecting progress in education in multi-dimensional ways. Nonetheless, we have to deal with the contradictions and the exigencies that beset the world today in innovative and sensitive ways. By living, learning and working together, we have the option to better understand each other and to appreciate our inherent differences as well as our commonalities. We can build on our unique experiences in devising clear guidelines for future cooperation and human resource development. This would certainly enable us to meet current and future challenges in a rapidly transforming world.

The author is Professor of the Department of Soil, Water and Environment, University of Dhaka and former Vice-Chancellor, University of Dhaka and former Chairman, Bangladesh Public Service Commission.

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