Expanding access to quality tertiary education is a critical challenge for developing countries. Kenya is typical: less than 50% of the 50,000 qualified students applying annually for admission are absorbed by its seven public universities and 20 private universities. Fewer than 10% of people in the relevant age group have access to tertiary education in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Malaysia plans to raise its age participation rates to 40% by 2010, India to 15% by 2012, Trinidad & Tobago to 60% by 2015, and Jamaica to 30% by 2015. Barbados hopes to have one university graduate per family by 2020. However, countries are unlikely to meet such targets by conventional means. Commonwealth African countries aim to establish up to seven new open universities within the next three years, and campus universities will need to adopt what is called dual-mode provision by adding distance learning programmes. The University of the South Pacific, which has long operated in this manner, is focusing on increasing student retention and performance.
Faced with burgeoning demand for higher education, various African countries are planning to establish open universities and are seeking COL’s help. Although ODL is now deployed by many conventional institutions, there is still a pressing need for professional development in the different aspects of ODL.
Over three years, COL will:
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support the training of trainers in both curriculum and instructional design in tertiary institutions, using technologies that are appropriate to each setting;
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provide technical assistance to new open universities;
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support the transition of colleges into universities;
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offer scholarships to support the training of academics in and through ODL methods;
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develop and disseminate a quality assurance toolkit for use in self-
evaluation by universities; and
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design and develop a low-cost institutional audit model for wider application.
COL will also create a consortium of universities to generate imaginative programmes to promote respect and understanding, targeting students, teachers, youth, the police and local communities. Continued support will be given to institutions offering the COL Executive MBA/MPA Programmes and Post-Graduate Diploma Programme in Legislative Drafting.
Exploring the future of international for-profit higher education and quality assurance
Available to the right (under Further Reference) is a CHEA-UNESCO meeting report. Exploring the future of international for-profit higher education and quality assurance:where are we now and where do we go from here? (Washington, DC; March 2011)
The meeting:
A meeting on for-profit higher education was convened on 21 March 2011 in Washington, DC by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). It brought together some 25 participants representing executives of for-profit colleges and universities, academic researchers who focus on this sector and accreditation and quality assurance experts. The executives of for-profit universities and colleges were mainly from the leading U.S. institutions such as Kaplan, Inc.,The University of Phoenix, Laureate Education and Career Education Corporation. A representative of an Indian for-profit provider, NIIT (USA) Inc., attended the meeting. Other participants included quality assurance agencies and academics from Egypt, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States, the International Finance Corporation and the Commonwealth of Learning.
Purposes of the meeting:
Following the various discussions of private and for-profit colleges and universities that occurred at UNESCO’s 2009 World Conference on Higher Education, this meeting had three purposes:
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To frame the emerging role of for-profit higher education as it relates to the international activity of colleges, universities and quality assurance/accreditation organizations and, in particular, the role that the for-profit sector plays in providing additional opportunity for those seeking higher education.
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To explore the feasibility of developing some common principles of accountability and transparency across all higher education institutions nationally and internationally.
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To prepare and publish a summary that provides a foundation for future consideration of international for-profit higher education and provides background for a possible UNESCO Forum on Private Higher Education to be held in 2012.
Conclusions:
The discussion showed that the for-profit sector can deliver education in the public interest. Accreditation and quality assurance are important services to the public and are helping to make governments more comfortable with a variety of business models in higher education. It is important to pursue the dialogue about for-profit education within the academy as well as with governments. This will help to build bridges and increase trust.
Sir John Daniel
Rapporteur