Where to go from here? Maureen McLaughlin World Bank October 2005 Tertiary Education: Quality, Financing, and Linkages with Innovation and Productivity Where to go from here? Maureen McLaughlin World Bank October 2005

“Brains Business” Economist Magazine special issue on higher education “Mass higher education is forcing universities to become more diverse, more global and much more competitive. A more market-oriented system of higher education can do much better than state-dominated model.” Challenge How to balance increased access with quality and equity How to take the advantages of market mechanisms while avoiding the pitfalls

Transition Economies Extra challenge: moving from closed societies and economies to open ones You are in the middle of these challenges and opportunities now but you are not alone Every country in world is dealing with tertiary education challenges--developed, developing, in transition Different countries at different points in the change process Learn and share with each others in the region and from those outside the region Learn from those further along in the process—learn from their mistakes, use their successes Adapt the solutions to own country circumstances Get the incentives right We can help in a variety of ways

Systemic Reforms Systemic Reforms—develop approach and strategy; build support, sequencing of changes, political economy realities, performance indicators Benchmarking against other countries--neighbors, EU, OECD, for ex—choose most relevant comparators Bring together countries in subsectors of the region for more in-depth look—new EU members, candidate countries, SEE, Caucuses, Central Asia, FSU, for ex EU8 Fiscal study done and very effective for countries Sector-wide approaches—ex, Croatia/World Bank

Quality Assurance Market system and expansion in tertiary offerings make quality assurance even more important Role of government— Set up the framework and institutions for QA for public and private institutions; Ensure accurate and transparent information; Monitor performance of institutions Accreditation—institutional, program, technical programs Emphasize outputs and outcomes in addition to inputs Consider coordinated/cooperative approaches across subregions Information—powerful tool and basic assumption for successful markets--for students, society, institutions, government Accountability mechanisms

Financing Public/Private roles and responsibilities Government, students and families, private institutions, links to business How to split between public/private Who pays fees? How much? Funding of public institutions—many options: lump sum, per-capita, performance based, etc Institutional autonomy and governance Support for students—grants—merit and measure of at risk; student loans-for whom? How financed? Level of subsidy? Consider coordinated/cooperative approaches across subregions We can help to support these activities and reforms

Innovation Increased ties to private sector and improved business climate Allow and encourage risk and failure Improve science and technical education at all levels Restructure research – competitive, peer review, centres of excellence, aplied research only if clear link and support of private enterprise,etc Coordinated centres across countries—for ex Balkans Look to traditional industries as well as new technologies

Closing “The best is yet to come” -- Economist Keep working together. Encourage activities across countries We look forward to continuing to work with you.