Governments are becoming increasingly aware of the important contribution that high performance universities make to competitiveness and economic growth. This book explores what are the challenges ...involved in setting up globally competitive universities, also called elite, or flagship universities.
Against this background this book explores the crucial role played by tertiary education towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. It observes that tertiary education finds itself at a ...crossroad today, as national systems are pulled in several directions by a combination of factors--crisis factors, rupture factors, and stimulation factors--bringing about both opportunities and challenges. How these forces in the tertiary education ecosystem play out in each country will determine the new "perils" and "promises" that are likely to shape the contribution of tertiary education to economic and social development in the years to come.
This open access book includes a series of relevant policy research articles, elaborared in the framework of the “Quality in higher education: internationalisation and databases to enhance the ...Romanian education system” project, implemented by the Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation Funding (UEFISCDI), together with the Ministry of Education. The project aims to develop and implement systemic measures at tertiary education level, leading to an increased quality of the overall higher education system and universities better prepared for labour market requirements and international standards. The book focuses on areas of interest for Romanian higher education, such as systemic measures to improve access, participation and completion for (vulnerable) students, better promotion of the Romanian higher education to attract students, as well as instruments for a more efficient use of data at higher education level. Each article includes evidence-based policy proposals that could support new strategic initiatives in higher education, including new legislation. Additionally, the collection of articles tells a comprehensive story about the audacity of a higher education system which went through significant challenges to align itself with both European and international trends, as well as respond to national imperatives. Over the last three decades, since the fall of the Iron Curtain, Romanian higher education has undergone significant transformations, aiming to align itself to the latest developments and trends at European and international level. The National Law on Education no. 1/2011 has set the stage for a full implementation of the Bologna Process action lines, taking into account that Romania was already a part of the largest European intergovernmental process – currently the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) – as a founding member. However, since the adoption of this normative framework, the law suffered numerous amendments, making it challenging to observe and achieve coherence in its implementation. Furthermore, Romania is also currently redesigning the strategy for the alocation of European structural funds 2021-2027, based on two strategic documents - the new Education and Employment Operational Programme and the National Recovery and Resilience Plan which highlight the reform and investment priorities at a national level. At the same time, 2021 is a good time to analyze the level of implementation for the objectives and measures included in the National Strategy for Tertiary Education 2015-2020, the Europe 2020 Strategy, and the Bologna Process action lines in the 2010 – 2020 timeframe. Therefore, the present moment may be an important time to assess the impact of strategic documents and actions in the last decade and, possibly, to draft a new National Education Law, better adapted to current realities, starting from the recent initiative by the President of Romania – the Educated Romania strategic vision which was also politically assumed by the Romanian Government.
Higher Education; Educational Policy and Politics; International and Comparative Education; International higher education arena; Higher education reforms; UEFISCDI; Evidence-based policy making; ...Higher education in Romania; Higher education public policies
As the Government of Malawi investigates options to expand access to higher education and
improve the quality of higher education provision, the objective of this report is to contribute to an
...improved understanding of the challenges confronted by the higher education sub-sector in
Malawi.
The report summarizes the key findings of an in-depth study of factors affecting access and equity
in the Malawian higher education sub-sector, the quality and relevance of educational outputs, the
financing of the sector, and the frameworks structuring governance of the sector and its
management.
The study was initiated in response to a request from the Government of Malawi, to the World
Bank, to support the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) in its pursuit of
financially sustainable policy options to increase equitable access to higher education, and to
improve the quality of higher education provision in alignment with the needs of the labor market.
Considering the extensive social and private benefits that higher education generates, ensuring inclusive access and success is essential to achieve social justice and economic efficiency. With this ...premise in mind, this article reviews current knowledge about equity promotion policies in higher education and what is known about the effectiveness of various policies, drawing from experience in various parts of the world. It starts with reviewing definitions of under-represented groups in higher education, which can be considered as 'equity target groups'. After examining the depth and scope of disparities across regions and countries, it analyses studies focusing on the effectiveness of equity promotion policies and measures. For this purpose, it distinguishes between financial aid programmes (grants, loans) and non-monetary interventions (outreach, affirmative action, retention, specialized institutions, etc.) that seek to remove the barriers facing students from under-represented groups. It concludes that policies matter and can make a significant difference.
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