Higher education in Asian countries and the role of international ...
Higher education in Asian countries and the role of international ...
Higher education in Asian countries and the role of international ...
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
4.8 Economic Growth <strong>and</strong> higher <strong>education</strong><br />
87<br />
The <strong>role</strong> <strong>of</strong> human capital <strong>in</strong>creases with <strong>in</strong>dustrial development <strong>and</strong> overall level <strong>of</strong> <strong>education</strong>al<br />
atta<strong>in</strong>ment <strong>and</strong> eventually human capital equipped with knowledge <strong>and</strong> skills becomes <strong>the</strong><br />
strongest driver <strong>of</strong> economic growth (OECD-UIS, 2002). Human capacity build<strong>in</strong>g measures<br />
help to m<strong>in</strong>imize <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>efficient <strong>and</strong> under-utilization <strong>of</strong> available resources. Unfortunately, <strong>in</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> most <strong>of</strong> low <strong>in</strong>come <strong>Asian</strong> <strong>countries</strong>, <strong>the</strong> process <strong>of</strong> human capacity build<strong>in</strong>g is very slow or<br />
not accord<strong>in</strong>g to societal needs. This problem can be overcome through association <strong>and</strong><br />
collaboration with o<strong>the</strong>r <strong>in</strong>stitutions <strong>and</strong> organization at sub-regional, regional <strong>and</strong> global levels<br />
(Ali, 2011). In this regard many <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> IGOs play an affective <strong>role</strong> human capacity build<strong>in</strong>g. The<br />
forums <strong>of</strong> such IGOs‟ can be <strong>of</strong> great use for <strong>countries</strong>, which are fac<strong>in</strong>g capacity poverty.<br />
It is true that <strong>education</strong> <strong>and</strong> development are positively correlated. The impact <strong>of</strong> <strong>education</strong> on<br />
<strong>the</strong> knowledge societies <strong>and</strong> knowledge driven economies is still not fully known. For that<br />
reason, Policy attention <strong>in</strong> OECD <strong>countries</strong> has begun to focus on <strong>the</strong> outcomes <strong>of</strong> higher<br />
<strong>education</strong> <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g how higher <strong>education</strong> <strong>in</strong>stitutions contribute to regional development<br />
(Marmolejo & Puukka, 2006).<br />
Whereas <strong>in</strong> many less developed <strong>countries</strong> <strong>the</strong> higher <strong>education</strong> has not been given same status<br />
as <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> high <strong>in</strong>come <strong>countries</strong> by reason <strong>of</strong> it is still tertiary priority <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> governments. This<br />
all is due to <strong>the</strong> lack <strong>of</strong> awareness about <strong>the</strong> crucial <strong>role</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>education</strong> particularly higher<br />
<strong>education</strong> <strong>in</strong> socio-economic development, <strong>in</strong> many <strong>countries</strong> government policies <strong>and</strong> strategies<br />
still put emphasis on traditional factors <strong>of</strong> development such as capital, natural resources <strong>and</strong><br />
cheap labor (Bubtana, 2005). <strong>Higher</strong> <strong>education</strong> <strong>in</strong> most <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>countries</strong> is faced with double<br />
pressure; a need to accommodate grow<strong>in</strong>g number <strong>of</strong> students <strong>and</strong> a dem<strong>and</strong> for relevance. At<br />
present higher <strong>education</strong> <strong>in</strong>stitutions <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> world are faced with ris<strong>in</strong>g dem<strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong> new programs<br />
<strong>and</strong> areas <strong>of</strong> studies that show a deep change <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> societies <strong>and</strong> new <strong>role</strong>s for HEIs (Thierry,<br />
2002)<br />
Psacharopoulos (1991) has given three rationales for <strong>the</strong> rapid <strong>in</strong>crease <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> dem<strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong> higher<br />
<strong>education</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> less developed <strong>countries</strong>: <strong>in</strong>dustrial development, <strong>in</strong>crease <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> per capita GDP<br />
<strong>and</strong> need for graduate labor. Accord<strong>in</strong>g to him, <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> post World War era <strong>in</strong>dustrial expansion<br />
co<strong>in</strong>cided with economic growth gave birth to <strong>the</strong> development model, which is known as<br />
manpower forecast<strong>in</strong>g. Accord<strong>in</strong>g this model for a country to grow economically it should have