Reforming Higher Education: Lessons Learned from the Transition Countries

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Reforming Higher Education Lessons Learned from
the Transition Countries

• Prof. Marek Kwiek
• Center for Public Policy
• Poznan University, Poznan, Poland
• kwiekm_at_amu.edu.pl
• www.policy.hu/kwiek

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Introduction/Overview

• Introduction/Overview
• Briefly authors experiences with reforming HE
• Transformations of HE global
• Transformations of HE the European Union
• Transformations of HE CEE countries
• Some statistics CEE and SEE
• Two major reform agendas in transition countries
  today
• global (World Bank, OECD, development agencies)
• European (Bologna Process and European Research
  Area)

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Introduction/Overview

• Reforming HE in transition / EU countries
  differences
• Lessons Learned
• Discussion, questions answers

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HE transformations global (1)

• HE more influential than ever before for the
  economic growth of nations and regions
• Passage from industrial (work-based) to
  postindustrial (knowledge-based) economies and
  societies (OECD)
• Consequently, knowledge viewed as the major
  driver of economic development
• Old and new challenges in HE. Old challenges
  include
• shifting from elite to mass (expanded) systems
  under severe resource constraints
• inequality of access and opportunities

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HE transformations global (2)

• low quality and relevance of education to the
  labor market
• rigid governance and administrative structures
• inability (or unwillingness) of governments to
  finance expanding public HE
• inability (or unwilingness) of governments to
  finance ever-expanding research in public sector
  institutions (partnerships)
• New challenges in HE
• crucial role of knowledge production,
  dissemination and application for
  knowledge-driven societies
• consequently, HE in the center of public scrutiny
  (nationally, regionally, and globally) EU, WB,
  OECD, IMF, WTO etc.
• emergence of powerful market forces

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HE transformations global (3)

• unprecedented growth of new for profit and
  virtual providers in HE (consortia, franchises,
  corporate universities foreign/ borderless
  institutions
• unprecedented differentiation of HE (from
  community colleges to elite institutions)
• rapidly changing demographics (EU, CEEs and
  Balkans)
• globalization of economies and cultures
• internationalization of academic disciplines and
  research communities
• rapid spread of the English language
• advent of new technologies (especially
  telecommunications)

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HE transformations global (4)

• New challenges for HE in more general terms mean
• new questions asked What is it that society
  needs from higher education? - and no longer
  What is it that higher education needs from
  society?
• radical move away from the state and more
  reliance on the market, for both teaching,
  research and service functions
• changing social status of the academic profession
  (from Herr Professor to knowledge analyst),
  changing working conditions
• commodification of research, marketization of
  educational offer, corporatization of academic
  governance and management structures
  (collegiality vs. CEO/corporate models
  managerialism)
• diversification - growth of the private sector

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HE transformations global (5)

• research - increasingly goes to the corporate
  sector (EU goal - 3 of GDP for research - but
  increase from private funds, and considerably for
  the private RDstudents - increasingly
  consumers, HE institutons - providers of
  services tighter links between
  university/corporations/military
• Unfortunately, the transition countries today
  face both old and new challenges at the same
  time! Western European countries faced old
  challenges 20-30 years ago, when they moved
  towards mass systems of HE. HE is working
  increasingly under both types of pressures.

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HE transformationsEuropean Union (1)

• Majority of aspects of global transformations
  present - but in softened versions
• Majority of aspects of global transformations
  confirmed in the Lisbon strategy (2000) to
  make Europe by 2010 the most competitive economy
  in the world
• Consequently, emergent European Research Area
  (ERA) and increasingly Bologna - directed to
  economic goals
• European Welfare Model in conflict with the
  global market orientation of HE (but not of
  research)
• Bologna process for EU countries - to make EHEA
  compe-

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HE transformationsEuropean Union (2)

• titive to American and Australasian HE, to have
  bigger share in global market of international
  students
• current transformations of HE mean highly
  skilled professional workforce for the new
  knowledge-economy comparability of educational
  outputs and diplommas across Europe mobility of
  graduates and workforce growing employability of
  graduates
• next moves pan-European - accreditation schemes,
  quality assurance, framework of qualifications,
  and descriptions of educational outputs and
  competencies

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HE transformations Central Europe (1)

• Three dimensions of wider social transformations
  relevant for HE in transition countries
• move from totalitarianism/communism to free, open
  democracies
• move from centrally-planned to market economies
• move towards integrated Europe and global economy
• Different degrees of the above in Central
  Europe, Eastern Europe, and Balkans
• In CEE, mixed policy influences of the EU and
  transnational/American developmental (USAID) and
  lending (World Bank, IMF) agencies

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HE transformations Central Europe (2)

• Majority welfare reforms closer to neoliberal
  recommendations than to EU welfare model
  (healthcare, pensions, higher education)
  development of private provision, freezing of
  welfare expenditures, freezing of public budgets
  as lending conditionalities etc
• Higher education in CEE witnessed
• getting rid of politics from HE institutions
• huge increase in enrolments, accompanied by
  constant number of faculty
• generally, (relative) pauperization of the
  academic profession
• diversification of levels and modes of study
• huge increase in a number of institutions

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HE transformations Central Europe (3)

• booming of the private sector (in some countries)
• steadily decreasing public funds for research and
  students assistance
• reform attempts along Bologna lines, including
  new laws on HE
• development of rigid accreditation procedures,
  both state and independent (Rectors Conferences,
  business associations etc)
• highly increased exchange of students and faculty
  with EU countries (EU projects)
• full access (for EU-accession countries) to EU
  research programs
• the net result of these transformations in shown
  in enrolment rates below (Poland as an example
  from CEE)

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Student enrolments (global comparison)
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Number of students per 100,000 (SEE)
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Number of students per 100,000 (CEE)
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Student enrolments - Kosova, in thousands
(1970-2003)
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Transition countries agendas for reforms (1)

• Two major agendas transnational and EU
• Transnational reform agendas for HE set by the
  WB and OECD, within wider reforms of the state
• the minimal state provides an enabling
  framework for functioning of the market forces
  and competition between (private) providers
• privatization (in the long run) of major welfare
  services healthcare, pensions, (higher)
  education
• the burden off the states shoulders (and to
  users of services)
• to keep budget deficits as low as possible, lower
  taxes etc
• to downsize the public sector
• HE seen more as a private good, not a public good
  (also WTO)

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Transition countries agendas for reforms (2)

• EU reform agendas for EU accession countries
  similar to the transnational agenda in general
• for HE, crucial role of Bologna process and ERA
  towards Europe of Knowledge, research for
  applications, institutions for students
  employability
• traditional EU concerns about the European
  welfare model generally irrelevant for
  EU-accession countries
• Bologna process crucial new European framework
  for reforms
• ERA crucial access to research funds (16 billion
  EUR 2004-08)

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Transition countries agendas for reforms (3)

• necessity to combine transnational views of
  downsizing the public sector (no resources
  available soon, growing other social and economic
  needs taxation) and European views of HE crucial
  for economic growth (future common European labor
  market)
• HE will be competing strongly with other sectors
  for shrinking public funds. Private funds fo HE
  grew faster than public funds in all major OECD
  economies

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Reforming HE in transition / EU countries
differences

• reforms in transition countries / EU countries
  are
• deep / part of an organic process of evolution
• high speed needed to avoid collapse / moderate
  speed
• part of overall reform agendas / relatively
  independent
• structural, systemic / piecemeal, bit by bit
• under severe budget constraints/ in still
  affluent societies
• under pressure to increase enrolments/ no similar
  pressures
• towards postindustrial societies / already in
  knowledge-societies

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Lessons learned

• HE systems in transition countries must
• successfully compete with other sectors for
  public funds (expect less)
• radically differentiate its institutions and
  modes of delivery
• develop the private sector (in the absence of
  accessible, adaptable public providers)
• radically reform curricula for the labor market
  needs
• radically increase enrolments (high social and
  public returns from HE)
• have clear accreditation schemes and quality
  assurance systems
• closely follow European developments (Bologna and
  ERA) and adapt what is best for local needs
• see comprehensive reforms as a very long-term
  process

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Thank you very much for your attention, let us
remember that

• Changing a university is difficult. It is like
  moving a cemetary hard work and there is no
  internal support, Clark Kerr