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Higher education comprises all post-secondary education, training, and research guidance at educational institutions such as universities that are authorized as institutions of higher education by state authorities. It includes all the activities a given country deems to be higher education - not only those that take place within ordinary universities and graduate schools, but shorter-term education and training courses that are 2-3 years in length, and even correspondence courses that make use of information technology and are targeted at a broad population of students.
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Chapter 1 Overview of Higher Education
Chapter 1 Overview of Higher Education
Higher education is 1-1 Definition
education, training
and research Higher education comprises all post-secondary education, training
guidance that takes
place after at the post- and research guidance at education institutions such as universities that are
secondary level. authorized as institutions of higher education by state authorities. 1 It
includes all the activities a given country deems to be higher education - not
only those that take place within ordinary universities and graduate schools, but
shorter term education and training courses (polytechnics, junior colleges, and
various forms of technical specialty schools) that are 2-3 years in length, and
even correspondence courses that make use of information technology and are
targeted at a broad population of students.
Higher education institutions - most prominently universities - have three
functions in total. In addition to education, these are research and contributing to
society.2 The research and education functions are two sides of a coin; research
makes a higher level of education possible and education, in turn, develops the
human resources to do research. Recently, contributions to society have
increasingly been demanded of higher education institutions. This means the
higher education institutions need to have activities to ensure that accumulated
knowledge is circulated directly back to society and that they do not become
“ivory towers.”
All three functions are intimately connected and none can be separated
out when considering higher education. Thus, in this report, we will address not
only the educational activities at higher education institutions, but the research
and contributions to society of these institutions.
Representative examples of JICA’s cooperation in the area of higher
education are establishment or expansion of agriculture and engineering
faculties/departments or graduate schools (for example, Kenya’s Jomo Kenyatta
University of Agriculture and Technology, King Monkut’s Institute of
Technology in Thailand, etc.) Also included in JICA’s higher education
In the World Declaration on Higher Education adopted by the World Conference on Higher Education in 1998, higher education
was defined as: “all types of studies, training or training for research at the post-secondary level, provided by universities or other
educational establishments that are approved as institutions of higher education by the competent state authorities.” UNESCO,
the World Bank, UNDP and others use this same basic definition.
However, the importance placed on each of these functions varies greatly depending on the type of higher education institution.
For example, large universities may have departments, graduate schools and affiliated research facilities, and there are therefore
many that pursue education, research and contributions to society. However, there are many polytechnics, teacher training
schools, specialized technical schools and other institutions that clearly have educational activities as their main function.
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Approaches for Systematic Planning of Development Projects / Higher Education
cooperation is aid to medical and nursing departments for development of
specialists. Although JICA statistics place some of these examples and others in
technical categories such as “Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries” and “Public
Health and Medicine” rather than education per se, in many cases during the
implementation of these projects structural problems in higher education have
proven to be obstacles. For this reason, we felt it necessary to examine these
projects from a higher education perspective. Thus, we will also treat these cases
as higher education examples. The higher education examples taken up in this
report are the following concrete types of cases:3
• Projects for the establishment, expansion or reform of
faculties/departments of agriculture, engineering or medicine
• Projects for the establishment, expansion or reform of graduate schools
of agriculture, engineering or medicine
• Projects for the establishment, expansion or reform of short-term
education institutions (less than 4 years) such as polytechnics and
colleges
• Projects aimed at increasing research capacity closely related to
education at departments/faculties, graduate schools and university-
affiliated research institutions
Chart 1-1 Position of Higher Education within Educational Cooperation
Areas (Excluding Non-formal Education)
(Educational Institutions) (Educational levels) (Main Functions)
Graduate School
University (Undergraduate)
Education
Junior College/Polytechnic
Research
Technical Training School Higher
Education Contributions
Broadcast University to Society
Online University
Virtual University
High School
(General/Vocational Education) Secondary
Education Education
Junior High School
Elementary School Basic Primary Education
Education Education
Kindergarten Pre-school Education
Education
Nursery School Care
Much of the teacher training is at the higher education level, but JICA’s education sector statistics categorize it as cooperation for
the basic education. Therefore, for convenience, we will omit if from this report. Concerning teacher training, JICA/IFIC (2002)
has detailed information and can be used as a reference.
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Chapter 1 Overview of Higher Education
1-2 Current Situation
1-2-1 Environment Surrounding Higher Education
Even as higher education has been based on a Western “university
model,” it has developed in a way that is deeply rooted in the societies of which
it is a part. However, the environment surrounding higher education is changing
rapidly. The recent rise of a knowledge-based society; social, economic and
information globalization; increased demand for higher education; and changes
in the political and social environment of developing countries are all deeply
connected and are having a significant influence on higher education.
The rise of a (1) Transition from an Industrial Society to a Knowledge Society
knowledge society in In the latter half of the 20th century we have seen a change from
which the creation of
economic growth led by mass production industry based on the established
new knowledge and
its application are the technology to knowledge-based growth in which hard and soft innovation
key to economic (“creation of knowledge”) has a higher economic value. In the past, material
and human capital like abundant natural resources and cheap and abundant labor
were the source of economic growth. However, the application of science and
technology and the production and use of “knowledge” of the quality of
information and management have now become the keys to economic growth.
At present, there is a strong demand for the ability to create and apply this
“knowledge” which is essential to economic growth.
In order to participate in this kind of knowledge-based economy, social
infrastructure that will contribute to this is necessary. At the national level,
access to information must be secured, and promotion of information disclosure
and legal protection and management of information like patents and copyrights
are needed. Also, higher education institutions must maintain their status as
places for the creation of knowledge and have an intimate connection with
society to ensure that the new technologies developed can be applied in
economic activities.
Globalization of (2) Globalization of Society, Economy and Information
people, goods, money Because of the striking development of information technology in recent
and information
years, the movement of people, goods, money and information has become
much easier and the globalization of the world economy has accelerated.
Already the information society has caused borders to cease to exist, and if one
has access to an information network it is possible to get information from it and
share newly created things with many people. In this way, the information
revolution has provided rapid access to knowledge and spurred the creation of
new knowledge. This also contributes to the production of new wealth and
services. The development of information technology has diversified the forms
of higher education, and on the one hand is connected to improved quality and
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expansion to a wider target of students. However, the information technology
gap within and among countries is causing a new gap in higher education.
At the same time with globalization of information, economic
globalization is also proceeding at a rapid pace. Multinational corporations are
on one hand in a dominant position. On the other, the economies of developing
countries are easily affected by trends in the globalized economy. Because of the
declining costs of moving and the rise of the information society, globalization
of the labor market is also progressing. While this contributes to human
resources exchanges necessary for the development of higher education, it is
also connected to the deepening brain drain of the knowledge workers, who are
the main source of the creation of knowledge, to a relatively small number of
industrialized countries.
Rising demand for (3) Rising Demand for Higher Education
higher education: Following World War II, higher education expanded throughout the world
• The necessary of remarkably, though there have been different degrees. If one looks at increases in
mastering new
knowledge and enrollment rates, one sees that the increase for higher education was greater than
technology that for primary and secondary education. From 12 million students in 1960, the
• The rise of a society number of higher education students rose to 88 million in 1997, an approximate
based on
educational seven-fold increase.4 Universities in developing countries had been small in scale
credentials and extremely intended to train elite persons, but from the time colonies became
independent, higher education underwent rapid expansion.
One of the reasons for this rapid expansion was that the demand for
human resources who had underdone higher level education or training
grew with the increasingly complicated society and economy and the earlier-
mentioned changes in the social environment. Furthermore, over the past 50
years, developing countries which had put their energy into expanding basic
education produced a result whereby the expansion of primary and secondary
education led to an increased need for higher education. In other words, as
there is a relative increase in the schooling of a country’s citizens, the middle
class starts to demand a higher level of education in order to secure success in
the society.
In response to this kind of increasing demand, at a global level, higher
education also changed from the elite style prevalent earlier to mass higher
education. Also, trends towards greater diversity among students and institutions
and towards lifelong education have progressed. This movement towards mass
education can be seen as a worldwide trend. However, it is not uniform; there are
gaps between the situations in developing and developed countries, within urban
and rural areas of the same countries, between the wealthy and the poor, males
and females, and among different ethnic groups.5
UNESCO (2000) p.67
For example, the gross enrollment ratio for higher education in the Philippines is 30%, 20% in Egypt, and 39% in Argentina,
while there are many countries in Sub-saharan Africa with a rate around 1%.
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Chapter 1 Overview of Higher Education
(4) Changes in the Political and Social Environment
of Developing Countries
Changes in the The political and social environment of developing countries from the
political and social 1990s and the recent international situation were not unconnected with higher
environment of
education. For example, when the socialist system of the Soviet Union and other
developing countries:
Increasing need for Eastern European countries collapsed, in many countries democratic movements
building civil society increased and issues of governance, civil society and human rights became to be
and cultivating social
debated. On the other hand, regional conflicts disputes and frequent occurrences
cohesion
of terrorism led to voices demanding peace and multiculturalism. Based on this
background, higher education is expected to contribute to the development of
a healthy civil society and the cultivation of social cohesion.
1-2-2 Roles of Higher Education
While there have been great changes in social environment as above-
mentioned, roles of higher education are required to be recognized anew.
Roles for higher (1) Development of Human Resources Necessary
education in society: for Economic and Social Development
• Training of leaders
For a long time higher education has fulfilled the role of producing
• Training of a wide
array of human government and private sector leaders. Developing high-level human
resources resources with the necessary knowledge and skills for economic and social
• Creation and
development has been the most important role of higher education.6 Added to
communication of
knowledge this, in the current knowledge society where an entire society’s knowledge level
• Higher education as is at issue, higher education cannot just develop a small number of leaders.
a common
It is becoming important to expand higher education so that a wide range of
intellectual asset
• Development of a human resources can be developed and the entire society’s level of knowledge
healthy civil society can be raised.
and cultivation of
social cohesion
(2) Creation and Diffusion of Knowledge
In the creation and transmission of knowledge in a knowledge society,
higher education is demanded to play a central role. In particular, the ability
to apply knowledge and technical skills is extremely important to economic
development.7 Thus, higher education must not merely teach new technology,
but must develop human resources who can evaluate the need for these
technologies and apply them.
With the rise of a knowledge society, consciousness that higher education
is no longer a luxury item and indispensable to a nation’s social and economic
For example, in educational development, international society has formed a consensus around the expressed goal of universal
primary education. However, in order to realize this, the development of teachers via higher education and research in the field of
education are essential.
For example, Asian countries which are in the position of following the technology of more advanced countries have witnessed
dramatic growth as a result of the application of their technology.
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Approaches for Systematic Planning of Development Projects / Higher Education
development has increased. Higher education is required to be reconceptualized
as a common intellectual asset. As a common intellectual asset, higher education
needs to be not an entity isolated from society, but to be connected with society
and to actively respond to society’s request. To make it possible, higher
education is first of all required to concern itself in the development and
diffusion of technology closely connected with society’s needs.8 In addition, in
order to respond to diversifying needs, one must diversify educational content
and the ways to provide services. One of the examples is the realization of
distance education which can accompany the development of information
technology.
On the one hand, the knowledge and technology society demands are
extremely varied. But at the same time, the speed of technological innovation has
increased and the period of usefulness for particular knowledge and technology
has shortened. Because of this, it is necessary to have a system for continually
gathering and choosing among the knowledge and technology and renewing it,
and further developing the opportunities for lifelong education.
(3) Development of a Healthy Civil Society and
Cultivating Social Cohesion
A role in reforming the social system and cultivating social cohesion is
also demanded of higher education. This may be accomplished through the
production of the common asset of new knowledge, including the spread of
democratic values and respect for multiculturalism, the promotion of political
participation, the strengthening of civil society and promotion of democratic
governance.
Higher education’s (4) Means of Self-realization
roles for individuals: For a nation, higher education is a means of developing the human
• Increase in income resources necessary for economic development. At the same time it is a means
and improvement of
quality of life to achieve self-realization for individuals. Concretely, people can improve their
• Broadening of income and quality of life through increasing knowledge or skills and then
choices expand on their own choices available in life, including those related to work
life. In addition, lifelong education, which constantly renews individual
knowledge and skills, needs to be guaranteed throughout the lifetime to respond
to individual learning needs. Therefore, juts as one should guarantee basic
education for all, one should guarantee opportunities for higher education
equally, based on individuals’ hopes and abilities.
From the 1960s, the idea of “vocationalism,” which held that universities should provide appropriate curricula to master the
diversification of jobs, was debated. It was a way of thinking that for industry meant an expectation that knowledge and skills
necessary at a job site would be reflected in university curricula based on industry’s demands (Altbach (1994)). However, in the
recent debate surrounding the knowledge society, more than a focus on strengthening curricula in particular specialized fields, the
main emphasis is placed on sharing knowledge and on its application.
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Chapter 1 Overview of Higher Education
1-2-3 Current Situation and Issues in Higher Education
Added to the need to expand higher education opportunities, with the
recent change in the needs for the quality, higher education in developing
countries is faced with the following issues:
Issues: (1) Enrollment Expansion and Gaps between Groups
• Expansion of The number of higher education enrollees which was 12,000,000 in
enrollees
1960 grew to 88,000,000 in 1997. Particularly the rate of increase in developing
• Lack of financial
resources countries is much more remarkable than in developed countries: in Africa - a 24
• Declining quality fold increase, a 16 fold increase in Latin America and an 11-fold increase in
• Diversified needs
Asia and Pacific. However, this did not necessarily alleviate gaps among regions,
between male and female, and among ethnic groups. Improvement regarding the
male-female gap can now be seen in many regions, but the countries of West
Africa are notable for their remaining gap.
(2) Limited Financial Resources
Even while the demand for higher education continues to grow,
higher education institutions face a constant situation of limited budgets. On
the other hand, in Sub-Saharan African countries where the financial situation is
most severe, the per capita public expenditure on higher education is much
higher than that for other educational levels. Among sub-Saharan African
countries with the exception of South Africa, per capita public expenditure on
higher education (operating expenditures only) is more than 100% of the per
capita GNP;9 there are many countries where this figure is several times the per
capita GNP. Excepting India and Nepal, all countries in the Asian region have a
per capita higher education expenditure that is up to 30% of per capita GNP.
Comparing this, one should become conscious of just how poorly the per capita
higher education expenditures in Sub-Saharan Africa match with the scale of the
countries’ economies. In order to respond to the rapid increase in enrollees in the
future as well, it is indispensable to introduce the “user pays” principle, to
diversify f inancial resources and to design programs with higher cost-
performance by making use of information and communication technology.
In addition, in order for each country to survive in the globalized
economy, it is necessary to have a clear higher education policy that is strategic
about the development of human resources and the results expected of higher
education, as well as strong political commitment. Because many higher
education institutions are connected to the vested interested of the existing
administration, in countries where the political system is unstable, the lack of
political commitment can be a big obstacle to the development of higher
education.
The per capita public expenditure on higher education is especially high in Francophone African countries. One cause is the
provision of scholarships.
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(3) Declining Quality
In many developing countries, an expansion of higher education
brings about declining quality. To secure quality education while responding to
continued increasing demand, it is necessary to raise the quality of various
aspects, including teachers, students, facilities, equipment, educational materials
and methods, and financing. The quality of teachers is particularly indispensable
for raising the quality of higher education; therefore, it is an urgent task to
expand the number of students who complete graduate school. In addition, when
higher education rapidly expands, the gap among different higher education
institutions widens. In particular, in many countries, the lower quality of private
universities compared to national public universities has been noted, and there is
a need to create a system that will guarantee the quality of education and
research.
(4) Diversified Needs
As a result of the expansion of higher education and the increasing
complexity of society and the economy, higher education has needed to
target the diverse backgrounds and needs of its students. Furthermore,
various skills and abilities are demanded and to master them the levels of
training have also become more diversified. The development of scientists and
leaders at the elite higher education institutions is necessary, but the
development of generalists through mass higher education is also necessary. Still
on one more hand, together with the overall spread of education, specialized
education that in the past took place at specialty schools or at the secondary
level is now taking place at higher education institutions,10 and higher education
is expanding its scope from the academic to the professional sphere.
Furthermore, demand has been not just for education for those who have
completed secondary education, but to offer places of study for the general
citizenry throughout the course of their lives. However, it is impossible to
encompass all the functions of higher education at a single higher education
institution. Thus, one will have to address the needs from now on by dividing
higher education institutions by their specialties. In addition, broadcast
universities and others that make use of information technology can offer many
formats of education to respond to varying needs.
1-3 International Trends
1960s-1980s:
Assistance to 1-3-1 1960s - Early 1980s
vocational and In developed countries higher education has witnessed signif icant
technical education
changes over the past 50 years, and its positioning among donor countries has
Nursing education and teacher education are representative examples.
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Chapter 1 Overview of Higher Education
had a large influence on trends in international aid.
In developing countries which achieved independence from their colonial
past, higher education expanded with an unbelievable energy. The common idea
arose that higher education institutions should provide the kind of curriculum in
response to the needs of jobs that had been increasingly diversif ied and
advanced. At the same time, based on the understanding that development
assistance should efficiently develop human resources to promote economic
growth, investment in education as a whole increased. At the higher education
level, technical education and vocational training directly connected with
economic growth came to be emphasized.11 To donor countries, it was easy to
limit cooperation to technical education where the connection to economic
development as clearer than it was for basic or secondary education. It was also
generally through that the results of such cooperation could be seen easily over a
relatively short time.
1980s: 1-3-2 1980s - Early 1990s
• Government Entering the 1980s, amidst the world debt problem, a framework was
expenditures constructed with World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) structural
reduction through
the structural adjustment programs at the core. In order to stabilize the macro-economy, the
adjustment IMF set on developing countries austere policies such as loan conditionality,
• Basic education reduction in budget expenditures and subsidies, higher taxes, and the
emphasized as
fundamental human reduction of wages of government workers. As a result, educational
rights expenditures were reduced drastically, and higher education budget in which
per capita public expenditure (unit cost) was high was significantly affected.
Furthermore, the movement to recognize once again the importance of basic
education as fundamental rights gained strength and the idea that primary
education’s social rate of return was higher than that for higher education was
advanced, 12 leading to primary education becoming the main current of
educational aid.
With this flow of events, in 1990 “The World Conference on Education
World Conference
on Education for for All” was held in Thailand and a consensus for “Education for All” (EFA)
All in 1990 was built. Because of this, developing countries and donors united to take on the
issue of expanding basic education.
Among the works that introduced the concept of “human capital” and called for the necessity of investment in education were
Schultz, T.W. (1961) and Gary S. Becker ((1964) (1975)).
Main proponents for the idea that the social rate of return of higher education is low include Psacharopolous, G. (1985).
However, following this, various arguments were made about this research. The World Bank in a recent report concludes:
“Methods of evaluating the benefits of higher education have been traditionally quite narrow, neglecting higher education’s role
in generating public goods. The rate of return to the individual has generally been measured in terms of higher salaries, with only
the increased taxes these incur counted as a public benefit. By this measure, investment in higher education delivers significantly
small public and private returns.” (World Bank (2000) p.39)
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Approaches for Systematic Planning of Development Projects / Higher Education
From the latter half of 1-3-3 From the Latter Half of the 1990s
the 1990s: In the 1990s, rapid globalization of society and the information
• Changes in the
technology revolution brought about changes in society. The role of
environment
surrounding higher knowledge in economic and social development became relatively larger and
education reevaluation of the role of higher education was demanded (Refer to 1-1 for
• Re-evaluation of the
detail).
role of higher
education The World Bank took as its theme for its annual World Development
• Search for a new Report 1998/99 “Knowledge for Development,” and discussed the role of
form assistance
knowledge in promoting economic and social development. Regarding the field
of education, the report stated: “To narrow knowledge gaps, societies must
ensure basic education for all and provide opportunities for people to continue to
learn throughout their lives. Basic education is the foundation of a healthy,
skilled, and agile labor force. Lifelong education beyond the basics enables
countries to continually assess, adapt and apply new knowledge.” It also stated
about necessity of lifelong learning opportunities and the role for higher
education in this point. Concretely, as an effective way of using the government’s
limited sources, the private education sector should be used and encouragement
should be given to private and nongovernmental provision of education. Also the
decentralization of educational administration was mentioned. Furthermore, if
communication infrastructure could be set up, through virtual universities,
increased access to higher education could be planned and the quality level of
education raised.13
In October 1998 as this movement to reevaluate the role of higher
World Conference
on Higher
education was strengthening, the World Conference on Higher Education
Education in 1998 (WCHE) was held in Paris led by UNESCO and with 2500 education specialists
from 162 countries in attendance. At this conference, the World Declaration on
Higher Education was adopted and a consensus reached among the involved
institutions on the importance of higher education and its future direction. The
declaration contained 17 articles delineating a future direction for higher
education reform and priority actions for change at three levels (national level,
level of systems and institutions, international level). (For main points, refer to
Boxes 1-1 and 1-2.)
Besides this conference, among other things, in 2000 the World Bank put
out a report reviewing aid to higher education. Thus, one could see a new
movement toward higher education cooperation.
Box 1-1 World Declaration on Higher Education for the Twenty-First Century:
Vision and Action
In every country, higher education faces great challenges and difficulties on many sides. These include
financing, access, improving quality and sustainability, employment of graduates, etc. In the latter half of the 20th
century, higher education expanded conspicuously, but gaps in educational opportunities between industrialized
World Bank (1999)
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Chapter 1 Overview of Higher Education
and developing countries and among different socio-economic classes within countries widened. Education is a
basic pillar for human rights and democracy, sustainable development and peace; higher education in particular is
necessary for solving the various problems we find as we approach the 21st century.
Missions and Functions of Higher Education:
1) Mission to educate, to train and to undertake research
2) Ethical role, autonomy, responsibility and anticipatory function
Shaping a New Vision of Higher Education:
3) Equity of access
4) Enhancing participation and promoting the role of women
5) Advancing knowledge through research in science, the arts and humanities and the dissemination of its
results
6) Long-term orientation based on relevance
7) Strengthening co-operation with the world of work and analyzing and anticipating societal needs
8) Diversification for enhanced equity of opportunity
9) Innovative educational approaches: critical thinking and creativity
10) Higher education personnel and students as major actors
From Vision to Action:
11) Qualitative evaluation
12) The potential and the challenge of technology
13) Strengthening higher education management and financing
14) Financing of higher education as a public service
15) Sharing knowledge and know-how across borders and continents
16) From “brain drain” to “brain gain”
17) Partnership and alliances
Source: UNESCO (1998b)
Box 1-2 Framework for Priority Action for Change and Development of Higher Education
This part of the conference document takes the actions presented in the Declaration and shows who should
pursue these actions and how, by dividing the actions into three levels: national, level of systems and institutions,
and international.
Priority Actions at National Level:
1) Ending of discrimination, merging of research and education, student participation, academic freedom and
institutional self-government
2) Expansion of access to higher level education in developing countries and provision of services matching
needs
3) Linkages between secondary education and lifelong education, and implementation of assisted training
4) Shrinking of gaps between industrialized and developing countries through provision of cooperation from
industry and national governments
Priority Actions at the Level of Systems and Institutions:
1) Clarifying the missions of each institution so that they meet society’s needs now and in the future
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2) Strengthening cooperation between higher education and industry
3) Diffusion of uses of new science and technology
4) Strengthening of management capacity of educational institutions (e.g. interdisciplinary academic
approaches, increased access for people with motivation and enthusiasm, strengthening of activities involving
the community, building of relations with industry, establishment of transparent organizations that can
withstand evaluation, improvement of teachers’ educational capability and understanding of learning
methods, promotion of research and strengthening of research in the higher education system
5) Expansion of access to higher education for adult learners
Actions to be Taken at International Level and, in Particular, to be Initiated by UNESCO:
1) Cooperation towards a comprehensive system
2) Promotion of academic mobility at the international level
3) UNESCO initiatives connected with other international linkages, clear setting of goals
4) Activities to change the “brain drain” to a “brain gain”
5) Promotion of improved relations with other international and national institutions and NGOs. Concretely,
provision of information to other donor organizations, creation of databases, etc. Assistance to the poorest
countries and regions where there is conflict or natural disaster.
Source: UNESCO (1998c)
Higher education and 1-4 Trends in Japanese Assistance
technical education
have been
traditionally the Japan’s assistance to higher education, outside of the Technical
priority areas for Cooperation implemented by JICA, includes the grant aid by the Ministry of
Japan’s educational Foreign Affairs, loan aid from the Japanese Bank of International Cooperation
assistance.
(JBIC) and acceptance of foreign students and research assistance of the
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). Under
the motto “Developing a country means developing its people,” priority of
Japan’s ODA has been placed on human resource development in higher
education and technical education areas because they are thought to
contribute directly to economic activity and technological progress. Because
of this, up until the 1980s, the main area of aid was that directed to
establishment and expansion of faculties/departments in technological and
scientific fields. However, towards the latter half of the 1980s, assistance for
improving the research capacity of graduate schools and research centers in a
wider array of fields began to be implemented. Recently, the target of the aid has
widened even to university management and the field of higher education
administration, and targets and forms of cooperation have been diversified.
Below is an overview of trends in Japan’s assistance to higher education
covering the recent five years between 1997 and 2001.
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Chapter 1 Overview of Higher Education
Technical 1-4-1 Technical Cooperation
cooperation: JICA’s assistance in the area of higher education amounted to 19% of
Higher Education
its educational assistance over the period. Thus, along with vocational
takes one of the
pivotal positions training/industrial and technological education and basic education, it
among education sub- constituted one of the central pillars of JICA’s educational cooperation
sectors by number of
(Chart 1-2).
projects and
personnel dispatched. Within JICA’s technical cooperation, the number of higher education
projects was large, second only to those in the vocational training/industrial and
technological education category. In 2001, 20 of 93 education projects, or
approximately 20%, were in higher education. In technical training of overseas
participants, in addition to counterpart training and third-country training, from
2000 long-term courses were started where academic credits could be earned,
and in 2000-2001 163 long-term trainees were accepted into the program.
Among those accepted into this training scheme, trainees in science and
engineering, agriculture, environmental sciences, and medicine were numerous,
but recently areas in educational administration such as school management and
school office administration have been included.
In the area of dispatch of technical cooperation experts, higher education
accounts for about 40% of education overall, which makes for a declining trend.
The number of higher education experts dispatched in 2001 was less than 80%
of the number in 1998. The specialty of the experts dispatched centered on
science and engineering as in the past, but the number in social development
fields like politics, political participation and gender as well as IT areas has been
increasing.14
On the other hand, the number of JOCV and Senior Volunteers dispatched
shows an upward tend. Those dispatched in the higher education area amounted
to approximately 20% share of those in education overall (2001). Nearly 40% of
those dispatched were teachers of Japanese language. Next were systems
engineers and math and science teachers.
Diversifying Besides them, in recent years, higher education assistance through other
cooperation schemes schemes than typical Technical Cooperation Projects has been implemented,
and areas even though the number of such projects is small. For example, Student Loan
Program was established by use of the “Development Study” and projects such
as “HIV Voluntary Counseling and Testing Center” and “Integrated Cooperative
Research for Malaria Control” were implemented through the “JICA
Partnership Programs.”
In this way, the defining characteristics of JICA’s technical cooperation
are:
For example, “Participatory Rural Development Methods and Approaches” (1998) and “Participatory Rural Development
University Outreach Project” (2001) in Sri Lanka, and “Educational Applications of Internet Media” (2002) in Saudi Arabia
were implemented.
−13−
14.
Approaches for Systematic Planning of Development Projects / Higher Education
1) Cooperation for higher education remains a significant part of
JICA’ overall education cooperation.
2) In addition to the traditional assistance for strengthening science and
technology specialties, cooperation for educational administration
or other social science areas is increasing.
3) Among the target regions, Asia comprises a large part but recently the
dispatch of JOCVs and experts to Africa is gradually increasing.
Grant Aid: 1-4-2 Grant Aid
“Japan’s Grant Aid for Grant Aid projects continue to be used to establish and construct schools
Human Resources
Development and centers and outfit such facilities with equipment - relatively large-scale
Scholarship” assistance of “hardware” type.15 The majority of Grant Aid projects have assisted
Asian countries, and grant aid to other regions has been rather limited. In
addition, from 1999 “Japan’s Grant Aid for Human Resources Development
Scholarship” (JDS) was introduced. Based on the needs of developing
countries, JDS would give financial assistance to Japanese universities with
well-organized system for accepting foreign students. In 2001 4 of 7 Grant Aid
projects in higher education were implemented under JDS, which has become a
pillar of Grant Aid funding.
Loan Aid: 1-4-3 Loan Aid
• Importance has The Japanese Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC)’s yen loans to
been placed on Asia.
• Assistance by
the education sector have been limited compared to loans for other sectors. Of
combination of the 2,561 yen loan projects implemented from 1977-2002, only 51 were in
“hardware” and education and the monetary figure amounts to only 1.6% of the loan total.16
“software.”
However, in the latter half of the 1990s, particularly following the Asian
f inancial crisis, consciousness that human resource development was
increasingly necessary had risen. Especially the idea that economic growth could
be directly affected by higher education gave hope and became emphasized. Of
the yen loans in the education area, 37 of the 51 were for higher education.
Of the loan aid projects in higher education as of 2002, all 37 were
implemented in Asian countries. Of them, Indonesia had the most at 15,
followed by South Korea (11). Recently, projects in China have been increasing.
Fields targeted for these loans have been areas like basic science, chemistry,
agriculture, and fishery and marine science. Thus, almost all have been in
scientific and technical fields. Up until the mid-1980s, the main content of loan
aid was provision of “hardware” for equipping facilities, and through that
improving the environment for education and research. However, after the mid-
In 1997-2001, the content of grant aid in higher education was 7 projects (35%) for establishment and construction of education
and research institutions, 5 projects (25%) for provision of equipment, 7 projects (35%) for aid for foreign students and 1 project
(5%) for university faculties/departments reform programs.
JBIC (2002a) p.85
−14−
15.
Chapter 1 Overview of Higher Education
Chart 1-2 Higher Education Cooperation within Overall JICA’s Educational Assistance
Not possible to categorize Educational administration 5%
4%
Pre-school education 2%
Other 7% Primary and secondary education
17%
Secondary-level technical education
3%
Vocational training
Industrial and technical Non-formal education
education 8% Higher education 19%
35%
＊2001 JICA Educational Cooperation Project Expenditures by Sub-sector
Chart 1-3 JICA Higher Education Cooperation
Training participants
Other
7% Individual technical
7%
cooperation experts 9%
Volunteers 40%
Technical cooperation projects 37%
＊2001 JICA Higher Education Cooperation Project Expenditures by Scheme Type
Chart 1-4 JICA Educational Cooperation
million yen
12
10
Non-higher education
8
Higher education
6
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＊2001 JICA Educational Cooperation Project Expenditures by Scheme Type
−15−
16.
Approaches for Systematic Planning of Development Projects / Higher Education
1980s, added to this assistance for “hardware,” there was an increase in aid for
“softer” things related to human resource development such as loans for foreign
students and exchange programs for teachers at higher education institutions.17
Box 1-3 JBIC's Cooperation to Higher Education in China
In China, in addition to economic and social changes such as the
widening gap among regions resulting from rapid economic growth and the
promotion of restructuring, the spread of primary and secondary education has
brought about a rapid expansion in needs for higher education. Based on this
background, in 2001, JBIC provided a 30 billion yen loan to the Chinese
government to rectify regional inequities and train human resources to
contribute to growing a market economy and promotion of industry. There were
six target regions: the five provinces of Shaanxi, Gansu, Sichuan, Yunnan, and
Hunan and the municipality of Chongqing. A total of 64 universities and normal
schools in these areas received both “soft” and “hard” assistance. The “hard”
assistance included better provisioning of the universities for their education
work, including expansion and reconstruction of facilities, establishment of
language laboratories, research equipment, and the introduction of an
information network. “Soft” provisions, on the other hand, included a training
and research program in Japanese universities for teachers from the targeted
universities as the main content of assistance.
Source: JBIC (2002b) p. 24.
Assistance based on 1-4-4 Acceptance of Foreign Students
the “Plan to Accept The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
100,000 Foreign
Students.”
(MEXT or Monbukagakusho), based on the “Plan to Accept 100,000 Foreign
Students”18 by the beginning of the 21st century, has actively developed a
system to support foreign students in Japan. The measures include the “Japanese
Government Scholarship” (“Monbukagakusho Scholarship”), financial aid to
privately financed students, assistance for foreign government-sponsored
students with university preparatory course and living accommodation.19 45% of
all the foreign students in Japan and 14% of Monbukagakusho Scholarship
students studied at universities (undergraduate) while 80% of them were enrolled
in graduate schools. In addition, 30% of Monbukagakusho Scholarship students
majored sciences and engineering.20 Thus, the assistance has been welcoming to
graduate students and those in the sciences and engineering.21
However, if one compares these numbers with those of other
JBIC Institute (2002) p.23
MEXT (2001)
The number of foreign students in 2001 was approximately 79,000.
MEXT (2001)
The costs for accepting the Japanese Government Scholarship (Monbukagakusho Scholarship) students amount to between one
half and one-third of educational ODA. JICA’s educational assistance is hoped to have systematic cooperation with MEXT.
−16−
17.
Chapter 1 Overview of Higher Education
industrialized countries, as in the past, the number of foreign students is still
small. Thus, it is an urgent task to revolutionize the qualitative structure of
universities by developing and expanding educational programs, taking care to
address the obstacles faced by foreign students, and improving the systems and
preparation for foreign students.
Bilateral scientific 1-4-5 Promotion of Scientific and Academic Research
exchanges and Core
In order to plan for the promotion of scientific and academic research
University Programs
in Asian countries through international research exchanges, MEXT of Japan is implementing
through the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) technical
cooperation such as bilateral scientific exchanges and Asian Science
Seminars. JSPS gives financial support for joint research projects and scientific
seminars organized by Japanese and foreign researchers. JSPS also implements
the Core University Programs providing a framework for international
cooperative research in specific fields and topics at universities in Japan,
ASEAN 6 countries, China and South Korea.22 The Asian Science Seminars are
held several times a year in Japan or other countries and introduce of the latest
scientific advances and promote exchanges with between Asian researchers.
Cooperation through 1-4-6 Cooperation through International Institutions
UNESCO –
MEXT of Japan cooperates with UNESCO and United Nations
UNITWIN/UNESCO
Chairs University in higher education. For UNESCO’s educational projects,
approximately 200 million yen of MEXT’s ODA budget was appropriated
(FY2003), and in the higher education area, cooperation was given for the
establishment of UNITWIN (University Twinning) / UNESCO Chairs.23
UNITWIN aims to build networks of higher education institutions between
and among regions and has as its goal developing collaborative relationships
among various schools and universities, between developing and industrialized
countries. At present, Japan’s Bunkyo University is participating in the Asia-
Pacific Distance and Multimedia Education Network (APDEM), and is linking
with universities in Australia, China, Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, the
Philippines, Viet Nam and Thailand and developing a distance and multimedia
education research network within the region. UNESCO Chairs program aims to
promote interuniversity cooperation between high-level, internationally
recognized and researchers and to develop Centers of Excellence (COE) in the
region. At present, activities in several fields are taking place: 1) environmental
management and development and design of infrastructure; 2) shipbuilding
design; 3) sociology of comparative agriculture; 4) information and
communications, and so on.
JSPS (http://www.jsps.go.jp/english/index.html)
MEXT “International Cooperation” (http://www.mext.go.jp/english/org/exchange/65.htm)
−17−
18.
Approaches for Systematic Planning of Development Projects / Higher Education
Box 1-4 Report of the Committee for International Cooperation
in Education
The Committee for International Cooperation in Education, set up as a
private advisory body for Japan’s Minister of Education, Culture, Sports,
Science and Technology submitted a final report concerning the Ministry’s
future policy for international educational cooperation on July 30, 2002. In the
first part of the two-part report, based on current situation of the global tide
towards Education for All evident at the Kananaskis Summit (2002) and the
importance of educational cooperation for nation-building in Afghanistan,
measures for “strengthening the structure of MEXT for the promotion of
international cooperation,” and “International cooperation system in primary
and secondary education sectors” were recommended. In the second part of the
report, “conversion of the international development cooperation system at
Japanese universities” and “solidification of research and analysis system for
ODA strategy” were included. In particular, a proposal was made for improving
organization of Japanese universities for the development assistance.
The concrete recommendations about “conversion of the international
development cooperation system at Japanese universities” include the shifting
from the “individual” cooperation by university experts to the “organizational”
cooperation in order to promote international development cooperation through
universities. Also proposed were ideas like the establishment of a support center
to strengthen mutual relationships between Japanese universities, international
organizations and consulting companies, as well as overseas universities.
Source: MEXT (2002)
Besides above-mentioned cooperation, in order to promote academic
cooperation between Japanese universities, academic associations and United
Nations University (UNU), from 1992 MEXT provides assistance to the Japan-
UNU Joint Research and cooperates for its effective and efficient management.24
MEXT “International Exchange and Cooperation”
(http://www.mext.go.jp/english/org/eshisaku/ekokusai.htm)
JICA/IFIC (2000) p.120
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