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2009 World Conference
on Higher Education: The New Dynamics of Higher Education and
Research For Societal Change and Development (UNESCO, Paris, 5 –
8 July 2009) Draft Final COMMUNIQUE (8 July 2009)
PREAMBLE
We the participants of the 2009 World Conference on Higher
Education, held on 5 to 8 July 2009 at UNESCO Headquarters in
Paris, recognising the abiding relevance of the outcomes and
Declaration of the 1998 World Conference on Higher Education and
taking into account the outcomes and recommendations of the six
regional conferences (Cartagena de Indias, Macau, Dakar, New
Delhi, Bucharest and Cairo) as well as the debates and outcomes
of this World Conference, 'The New Dynamics of Higher Education
and Research for Societal Change and Development', adopt the
present Communique.
Higher education as a public good and a strategic imperative for
all levels of education and the basis for research, innovation
and creativity must be a matter of responsibility and economic
support of all governments. As emphasised in the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights "higher education shall be equally
accessible to all on the basis of merit" (Article 26 paragraph
1).
The current economic downturn may widen the gap in access and
quality between developed and developing countries and within
countries, presenting additional challenges to countries where
access is already restricted. At no time in history has it been
more important to invest in higher education as a major force in
building an inclusive and diverse knowledge society and to
advance research, innovation and creativity.
The past decade provides evidence that higher education and
research contribute to the eradication of poverty, to
sustainable development and to the progress toward reaching the
internationally agreed development goals, including the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Education for All (EFA).
The global education agenda should reflect these realities.
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF HIGHER EDUCATION
1.
Higher Education as a public good is the responsibility of all
stakeholders, especially governments.
2.
Faced with the complexity of current and future global
challenges, higher education has the social responsibility to
advance our understanding of multifaceted issues, which involve
social, economic, scientific and cultural dimensions and our
ability to respond to them. They should lead their societies in
generating global knowledge to address global challenges, inter
alia food security, climate change, water management,
intercultural dialogue, renewable energy and public health.
3.
Higher education institutions, through their core functions
(research, teaching and service to the community service)
carried out in the context of institutional autonomy and
academic freedom, should increase their interdisciplinary focus
and promote critical thinking and active citizenship which
contributes to the advancement of sustainable development,
peace, well being and development, and the realization of human
rights, including gender equity.
4.
Higher Education must not only give solid skills for the present
and future world, but contribute to the education of ethical
citizens, committed to the construction of peace, the defense of
human rights and the values of democracy.
5.
There is need for greater information, openness and transparency
regarding different missions and performance of individual
institutions.
6.
Autonomy is a necessary requirement to fulfill Institutional
missions through quality, relevance, efficiency and transparency
and social accountability.
ACCESS, EQUITY AND QUALITY
7.
In the past 10 years tremendous efforts have been made to
improve access and ensure equity. This effort must
continue, however, access alone is not enough. Much more needs
to be done. Efforts must be made to assure the success of
learners.
8.
Expanding access has become a priority in the majority of Member
States and increasing participation rates in higher education
are a major global trend. Nevertheless, great disparities
persist and constitute a major source of inequality. Governments
and institutions must encourage women's access and participation
at all levels of education and guarantee access and success.
9.
In expanding access, higher education must pursue the goals of
equity, relevance and quality simultaneously. Equity is not
simply a matter of access - the objective must be successful
participation and completion as well as assuring student
welfare, with the appropriate financial and educational support
to those from poor and marginalized communities.
10.
The knowledge society needs diversity in higher education
systems, with a range of institutions having a variety of
mandates and addressing different types of learners. In addition
to public institutions private higher education, pursuing public
objectives has an important role to play.
11.
Regulatory and quality assurance mechanisms should be put in
place for the entire higher education sector that promotes
access and create conditions for the completion of studies.
12.
Our ability to realize the goal of Education for All is
dependent upon our ability to address the worldwide shortage of
teachers. Higher education must scale up teacher education, both
pre-service and in-service, with curricula that equip teachers
to provide individuals with the knowledge and skills they need
in the 21 st century. This
will require new approaches, including open and distance
learning (ODL) and information and communications technologies (ICTs).
13.
Preparing education planners and conducting research to improve
pedagogical approaches also contributes to this goal.
14.
Open and Distance Learning (ODL) approaches and Information and
Communications Technologies (ICTs) present opportunities to
widen,
access to quality education, particularly when Open Courseware
are readily shared by many countries and higher education
institutions.
15.
The application of ICTs to teaching and learning has great
potential to increase access, quality, and success. In order to
ensure that the introduction of ICTs adds value, institutions
and governments should work together to pool experience,
develop policies and strengthen infrastructure, especially
bandwidth.
16.
Higher education institutions must invest in the training of its
faculty and staff to fulfil new functions in evolving teaching
and learning systems.
17.
Greater emphasis on the areas of Science, Technology,
Engineering and Mathematics, as well as social and human
sciences is vital for all our societies.
18.
The results of scientific research should be made more available
through information and communication technologies and through
Open Education Resources (OERs).
19.
The training offered by institutions of higher education should
both respond to and anticipate societal needs. This includes
promoting research for the development and use of new
technologies and ensuring the provision of technical and
vocational training, entrepreneurship education, and programmes
for lifelong learning.
20.
Expanding access poses challenges to the quality of higher
education. Quality assurance is a vital function in contemporary
higher education and must involve all stakeholders. Quality
requires both establishing quality assurance systems and
patterns of evaluation as well as promoting quality culture
within institutions.
21.
Quality criteria must reflect the overall objectives of higher
education, notably the aim of cultivating in students critical
and independent thought and the capacity of learning throughout
life. It should encourage innovation and diversity. Ensuring
quality in higher education requires recognition of the
importance of attracting and retaining qualified, talented and
committed teaching and research staff.
22.
Policies and investments must support a broad diversity of
tertiary/postsecondary education and research, including but not
limited to universities, teaching and learning approaches, and
must respond to the rapidly changing needs of new and diverse
learners.
23.
The knowledge society requires a growing differentiation of
roles within higher education systems and institutions, with
poles and networks of research excellence, innovations in
teaching/learning and new approaches to community service.
INTERNATIONALISATlON, REGIONALISATION, AND GLOBALISATION
24.
Institutions of higher education worldwide have a social
responsibility to help breach the development gap by increasing
the transfer of knowledge across borders, especially towards
developing countries, and working to find common solutions to
foster brain circulation and alleviate the negative impact of
brain drain.
25.
International university networks and partnerships are a part of
this solution, and help to enhance mutual understanding and a
culture of peace.
26.
For globalisation of higher education to benefit all, it is
critical to assure equity in access and success, to promote
quality and to respect. Cultural diversity as well as national
sovereignty.
27.
Globalisation has stressed the need for establishment of
national accreditation and quality assurance systems and to
promote their networking.
28.
Cross-border provision of higher education can make a
significant contribution to higher education provided it offers
quality education, promotes academic values, relevance, and
respects the basic principles of dialogue and cooperation,
mutual recognition and respect for human rights, diversity and
national sovereignty.
29.
Cross-border higher education can also create opportunities for
fraudulent and low-quality providers of higher education that
need to be counteracted. Spurious providers ('degree mills') are
a serious problem. Combating 'degree mills' requires
multi-pronged efforts at national and international levels.
30.
International cooperation in higher education should be based on
solidarity and mutual respect and the promotion of humanistic
values and intercultural dialogue. As such it should be
encouraged despite the economic downturn.
31.
New dynamics are transforming the landscape of higher education
and research. They call for partnerships and concerted action at
national, regional, international levels to assure the quality
and sustainability of higher education systems worldwide, in
particular in Sub-Saharan Africa, Small Island Developing States
(SIDs) and other Least Developed Countries (LDCs). This should
include South-South and North-South-South cooperation as well.
32.
Partnerships for research and staff and student exchanges
promote international cooperation. The encouragement of more
broadly based and balanced academic mobility should be
integrated into mechanisms that guarantee genuine multilateral
and multi-cultural collaboration .
33.
Partnerships should nurture the creation of national knowledge
capabilities in all involved countries thus ensuring more
diversified sources of high quality research peers and
knowledge production on regional and global scales.
34.
Greater regional cooperation is desirable in areas such as the
recognition of qualifications, quality assurance, governance,
and research and innovation. Higher education should reflect the
international, regional and national dimensions in both teaching
and research.
LEARNING RESEARCH AND INNOVATION
35.
Given the need for increased funding for research and
development in many countries, institutions should seek new ways
of increasing research and innovation, through
multi-stakeholder public-private partnerships including with
small and medium enterprises.
36.
lt is increasingly difficult to maintain a healthy balance
between basic and applied research due to the high levels of
investment needed for basic research and the challenge of
linking global knowledge to local problems. Research systems
should be organised more flexibly to promote science and
interdisciplinarity in the service of society.
37.
lt is important for the quality and integrity of higher
education that academic staff has opportunities for research and
scholarship. Academic freedom is a fundamental value which must
be protected in today's evolving and volatile global
environment.
38.
Higher education institutions should seek out areas of research
and teaching that can address issues related to the well-being
of the population and establish a strong foundation for
locally-relevant science and technology.
39.
Indigenous knowledge systems can expand our understanding of
emerging
challenges; higher education should create mutually beneficial
partnerships with communities and civil societies to facilitate
the sharing and transmission of appropriate knowledge.
40.
ln the face of increasingly scarce resources stakeholders are
encouraged to explore and intensify the use of electronic
library resources and tools to support teaching, learning, and
research.
HIGHER EDUCATION IN AFRICA
The
2009 World Conference on Higher Education gave special focus to
the challenges and opportunities for the revitalization of
higher education in Africa, where the revitalization of higher
education is an important tool for the development of the
continent. The issues raised for African higher education are
integrated throughout this Communique.
Participants welcomed the recommendations of the Dakar Regional
Preparatory Conference of November 2008, and noted the progress
recorded since the 1998 World Conference on Higher Education
especially increased enrolments in higher education.
Participants underscored the critical need to confront emerging
challenges relating to gender and racial inequality, academic
freedom, brain drain and the lack of preparedness of the
graduates for the labour market. They underlined the urgency for
the adoption of new dynamics in African higher education towards
the comprehensive transformation to sharply enhance its
relevance and responsiveness to the political, social and
economic realities of African countries. This new momentum can
provide a trajectory in the fight against under-development and
poverty in Africa. This will demand greater attention to higher
education and research in Africa than has been the case for the
last eleven years. Higher education in Africa should foster good
governance based on robust accountability and sound financial
principles.
41.
The evolution of a quality African higher education and research
area, will be stimulated through institutional, national,
regional and international collaboration. There is, therefore
the need for a strategic orientation towards the
establishment/strengthening of such collaboration. African
countries with well-developed higher education systems should
share with those with less-developed systems. We must commit to
making African higher education an instrument for regional
integration.
42.
The development of the higher education area in Africa will also
be catalysed by the establishment of a quality assurance
mechanism at the regional level. In this connection, we urge the
fast-tracking of the initiative of African Association of
Universities (AAU), with support from UNESCO towards stimulating
the setting up of national, sub-regional and regional quality
assurance systems. Equally, staff and student mobility within an
African higher education area will be fostered through the
active implementation of the Arusha Convention on mutual
recognition of diplomas, certificates and degrees. The
indispensability of the Pan African University in fostering
African integration should be stressed.
43.
Access: To meet the rapidly increasing demand for higher
education and research in Africa, there is an urgent need for
differentiated institutions, ranging from research universities
to polytechnics and technical colleges, as well as diversified
programmes within each institution, to cater to different types
of learners as well as the needs of the country. The increasing
demand for higher education will hardly be met by traditional
face-to-face delivery alone. Other approaches such
as open and distance and online learning, will have to be
resorted to, especially for areas such as continuous adult
education and teacher training.
44.
Curriculum relevance: A number of areas of expertise are crucial
for the diversification of African economies, yet are not
receiving required attention. These include agriculture, natural
resource extraction, the environment, indigenous knowledge
systems, and energy. A focus on these areas in higher education
can contribute to ensuring the competitiveness of African
economies.
45.
Funding,: Education remains a public good, but private financing
should be encouraged. While every effort must be made to
increase public funding of higher education, it must be
recognised that public funds are limited and may not be able to
fully cater for the rapidly developing sector. Other formulae
and sources of funding especially drawing on the public-private
partnership model should be found.
46.
Students should be given a voice in governance of higher
education at all levels.
47.
Participants expressed deep appreciation for the ongoing support
to the development of African higher education by several
countries and organizations. They also welcomed the new pledges
made by several new partners, notably the Republic of Korea,
China, and India. They also applauded the concrete proposals
from the African Development Bank, the African Union and
association of universities notably African Association of
Universities (AAU), Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie
(AUF) and Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) on the
issue of governance and higher education delivery models.
48.
The participants appreciated the priority accorded Africa at
this conference by UNESCO.
CALL FOR ACTION: MEMBER STATES.
49.
Members States, working in collaboration with all stakeholders,
should develop policies and strategies at systems and
institutional levels to:
a)
Maintain, and if possible, increase investment in higher
education in order to sustain quality and equity at all times
and foster diversification in both the provision of higher
education and the means of funding.
b)
Ensure adequate investments in Higher Education and research to
reflect growing expectations and societal needs.
c)
Put in place and strengthen appropriate quality assurance
systems and regulatory frameworks with the involvement of all
stakeholders.
d)
Scale up pre-service and in service teacher training with
curricula that equips them to prepare students as responsible
citizens.
e)
Guarantee women's access to higher education as well as their
participation and success.
f)
Guarantee equal access to underrepresented groups such as
workers, the poor, minorities, differently abled, migrants,
refugees and other vulnerable populations.
g)
Develop mechanisms to counteract the negative impact of the
brain-drain while encouraging academic,staff, and student
mobility.
h)
Support greater regional cooperation in higher education
conducive to the establishment and strengthening of regional
higher education and research areas.
i)
Empower Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island
Developing States (SIDs) to benefit from the opportunities
offered by globalisation and foster collaboration between them.
j)
Pursue the goals of equity, quality and success by developing
more flexible entry pathways and assuring better recognition of
prior learning and work experience.
k)
Enhance the attractiveness of the academic career by ensuring
respect for the rights and adequate working conditions of
academic staff in accordance with the 1997 Recommendation
concerning the status of higher education teaching personnel.
I)
Assure active student participation in academic life, ensuring
freedom of expression and the right of organisation, and to
provide adequate student services.
m)
Combat degree mills through multi-pronged action at national and
international levels.
n)
Develop more flexible and organised research systems which
promote science excellence, interdisciplinarity and serve
society.
o)
Support the fuller integration of ICTs and to promote ODL to
meet increasing demands of higher education.
CALL FOR ACTION: UNESCO
50.
In the context of significant progress towards achieving
Universal Primary Education, UNESCO should reaffirm the priority
of higher education in its future Programmes and Budgets. In
pursuing this priority UNESCO, within its five functions of
laboratory of ideas, catalyst for international cooperation,
standard - setting, capacity - building and clearing house
should pay particular attention to:
a)
Assist with the formulation of long term, sustainable strategies
for higher education and research in tune with internationally
agreed development goals and national/regional needs.
b)
Provide platforms for dialogue and the sharing of experience and
information on higher education and research and assist in
building capacity in the formulation of higher education and
research policies.
c)
Help governments and institutions address international issues
in higher education such as:
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Continuing to implement its standard-setting instruments,
in particular the new generation of regional conventions for the
recognition of qualifications; and the 1997 Recommendation
Concerning the Status of Higher Education Teaching Personnel.
-
Pursuing its work in capacity building for quality
assurance in higher education in developing countries.
-
Fostering international collaboration in teacher
education in all regions, especially in Africa through TTISSA
(Teacher Training in Sub-Saharan Africa).
-
Encouraging the transfer of knowledge through UNITWIN
Networks and UNESCO Chairs, in collaboration with other
agencies, to further capacity development to realize
internationally agreed goals such as Education for All (EFA),
the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the United Nations
Decades.
d)
Encourage international mobility and exchanges of students and
staff, while developing strategies to counteract the negative
impact of brain drain
e)
Enhace student participation in UNESCO forums and support global
student dialogue.
f)
Ensure the follow up to the 2009 World Conference on Higher
Education, through the identification of the most important
issues and priorities for immediate action, the monitoring of
trends, reforms and new developments, and the promotion of
regional integration and academic cooperation, and by supporting
the creation and development of regional areas of higher
education and research and strengthening the regional UNESCO
units in coordination with the existing networks.
g)
Reinforce and extend the UNESCO-ADEA Task Force for Higher
Education in Africa, which includes major partners and donors to
developing countries from other regions, to ensure effective
follow up to the 2009 World Conference on Higher Education to go
beyond talk and recommendations.
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