Innovations in Knowledge and Learning

Postsecondary Education Reform to Support Employment and Inclusive Growth

Jouko Sarvi, Hitendra Pillay

• Publisher: Asian Development Bank
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9789292579722
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Higher Education

To meet modern-day challenges of improving quality and relevance, responding to new knowledge, and strengthening teaching and learning, the postsecondary education space must revise system structures, content designs, and delivery strategies, i.e., engage in disruptive thinking. Governments need to implement effective regulatory processes to ensure quality and equitable access by all students. Education programs must be in sync with workplace needs and built around "knowledge clusters" rather than specialized fields. Diverse and multiple disruptions will become the norm.

Footnotes

1 Charles Handy wrote in 1989 about the emergence of “portfolio workers,” individuals who reject the notion of a single, permanent job, rather using their varied skills, interests, and achievements to secure a number of often-temporary roles with a variety of organizations.

2 The flipped classroom is a pedagogical model in which the typical lecture and homework elements of a course are reversed. Short tasks are given to do at home—video lectures or online learning materials are viewed by students at home before the class session—while in-class time is devoted to exercises, projects, or discussions. https://ed.ted.com/on/i8Pk1e3C

1 See J. Sarvi and H. Pillay. 2015a. Innovations in Knowledge and Learning for Competitive Higher Education in Asia and the Pacific. Manila: Asian Development Bank (ADB).

2 ADB. 2008. Strategy 2020: The Long-Term Strategic Framework of the Asian Development Bank 2008–2020. Manila.

3 By 2020, only two ADB DMCs are expected to remain low-income countries. ADB. 2014. Midterm Review of Strategy 2020: Meeting the Challenges of Transforming Asia and the Pacific. Manila.

4 Demand is increasing for innovative approaches for postsecondary education reform to help improve graduates’ employability and support inclusive economic growth. ADB presented issues of this paper in the Central Asia Regional Forum held on 7-8 July 2017 in Bishkek, the Kyrgyz Republic. The paper incorporates feedback from forum participants. The analytical work and forum are activities of Regional Technical Assistance (TA -8744 REG): Education and Skills for Employment in Central and West Asia.

5 For example, the International Baccalaureate (IB) program includes university-level subjects in its secondary education program that give credit toward first-year university programs. IB programs are offered as normal education service in Australia and New Zealand, integrated with national programs in state and private schools. See http://www.exfin.com/ib-schools-australia

6 Information technology graduates of universities often seek, for example, either a Cisco or MS network engineering certificate to enhance their work opportunities. Accounting graduates seek technical qualification to use accounting software.

7 See, e.g., ADB. 2015. Key Indicators for Asia. Special Chapter on Smarter Future: Skills, Education and Growth in Asia. Manila; ADB. 2014. Framework of Inclusive Growth Indicators. Part I—Overcoming Education Inequities: Pathway to Inclusive Growth. Manila; ADB. 2012. Counting the Cost—Financing Asian Higher Education for Inclusive Growth. Manila; ADB. 2010. Strengthening Inclusive Education. Manila.

8 ADB. 2012. Private Higher Education Across Asia. Expanding Access, Searching for Quality. Manila.

9 There are twinning, off-shore distance education, joint ventures, public-private partnerships, off-shore campuses, etc.—all with different legal requirements. See ADB. 2012. Regional Cooperation and Cross-Border Collaboration in Higher Education in Asia. Ensuring that Everyone Wins. Manila.

10 This is particularly important for DMCs that are exporting labor—to protect their citizens from exploitation by employers in foreign countries who may not fully recognize their qualifications.

11 ADB. 2009. Good Practice in Technical Education and Vocational Training. Manila; ADB. 2012. Private Higher Education Across Asia: Expanding Access, Searching for Quality. Manila.

12 See Australian Qualifications Framework. http://www.aqf.edu.au/aqf/in-detail/aqf-levels/

13 Ministry of Education’s presentation on National Strategy on Development of Education, at donor coordination meeting, Baku, Azerbaijan, 22 February 2016.

14 Information on lists of courses approved by, e.g., the German Government and the European Union, can be found here: eurhttp://www.bibb.de/en/occupationsinfo.php/certificate_supplements/en

15 J. Sarvi, G. Dhanarajan, and H. Pillay. 2015. Open Educational Resources: Enhancing Education Provision and Practice. Manila: Asian Development Bank.

16 ADB. 2012. Report and Recommendation of the President to the Board of Directors: Proposed Loan to the Republic of Indonesia for the Polytechnic Education Development Project. Manila; ADB. 2011. Report and Recommendation of the President to the Board of Directors: Proposed Loan to the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam: University of Science and Technology of Hanoi Development (New Model University) Project. Manila. The Nazarbayev University was established to modernize higher education in the country. It has international staff, uses English as the medium of instruction, and has many international partners that collaborate in teaching and research. See http://nu.edu.kz/portal/faces/mainmenu/aboutus1?_afrLoop=466059904306274&_afrWindowMode=0&_afrWindowId=wg9ok7w69_32#%40%3F_afrWindowId%3Dwg9ok7w69_32%26_afrLoop%3D466059904306274%26_afrWindowMode%3D0%26_adf.ctrl-state%3Dwg9ok7w69_49. The Korean Aid supported Uzbekistan to modernize its TVET College in Tashkent. http://news.uzreport.uz/news_4_e_129254.html

17 ADB. 2015. Scoping Study for Development of Student Accommodation in Baku, Using the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Delivery Model—Student Accommodation PPP in Azerbaijan. Manila; ADB. 2015. Rapid Assessment of the Technical and Vocational Education and Training System for Employment in Uzbekistan. Reports of ADB’s Regional Technical Assistance Project: TA -8744: Education and Skills for Employment in Central and West Asia. Manila.

18 https://www.tumo.org/

19 Tata operates universities (see http://www.tiss.edu/academics/schools-centres/), specialized technical training (see http://www.tatatechnologies.com/training/), and joint ventures such as the Nettur Technical Training foundation (see http://www.nttftrg.com/campuses/jamshedpur.php#).

20 The global online Cisco Networking Academy for network technicians; see https://www.netacad.com/

21 ADB. 2012. Regional Cooperation and Cross-Border Collaboration in Higher Education in Asia. Ensuring that Everyone Wins. Manila. Also see Huang, F. 2015. Internationalization in Asian Higher Education in the Era of Globalization. In R. Bhandari and A. Lefébure, eds. Asia: The Next Higher Education Superpower? Global Education Research Reports. New York: Institute of International Education and AIFS Foundation.

22 For example, the Kazakhstan-based Abiroy Technical Training has trained employees of oil and gas and energy companies in several countries. Since 2005 a total of 1,350 employees have been trained. See https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ru&u=http://www.abiroy.com/&prev=search

23 http://www.kasipkor.kz/

24 Cisco Networking Academy is a private company in the United States offering IT training services globally and having local and regional partners. Aptec is an Indian private company that is working in developing countries in Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific; see http://www.aptech-education.com/

25 Approximately 10% of higher education graduates in the People’s Republic of China are unemployed. See Chan, Wing Kit. 2015. Higher Education and Graduate Employment in China: Challenges for Sustainable Development. Higher Education Policy. 28 (1). pp. 35–53.

26 Sarvi, J. and Pillay, H. 2015a. Innovations in Knowledge and Learning for Competitive Higher Education in Asia and the Pacific. Manila: Asian Development Bank.

27 Bespoke courses are customized by the students as per their needs. See https://www.une.edu.au/bespokecourses

28 Most students these days, irrespective of initial or CPD training, have a job—they are part-time students. Increased demand and the shrinking public budget for education require students to seek some form of employment to support themselves. The opportunity cost is increasingly becoming a major consideration when individuals invest in education and training.

29 Specialized universities such as the Azerbaijan State University of Economics and Tashkent State Agrarian University have their strengths but can be limited in innovation, something that happens at the boundaries of discipline areas—cross-discipline research and teaching underpin the strength of comprehensive universities.

30 As noted previously, in some countries increasing graduate unemployment has seen graduates taking up more skills-based courses to supplemen...

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Figures
• Abbreviations
• Executive Summary
• Background and Context
• Governance and Regulations
• Diversification of Education and Training Service Providers
• Pathways in Program Design
• Delivery Modalities and Challenges
• Final Remarks
• References
• Footnotes
• Back Cover