Higher education in Asian countries and the role of international ...

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and international levels and overall productivity of a nation (Bleiklie, 2007). In this regard
nations struggle to reform, reframe and restructure policies and system pertaining to higher
education to increase the share of highly educated population to stay in and to compete with the
globalized knowledge based economy.
In Asia education particularly higher education is expanding at an unprecedented rate. Asian
continent being an emerging economic region, vast hub of human capital and natural resources
has a prominent place at international stage. Globalization has profoundly influenced higher
education all regions (Altbach, Reisberg, & Rumbley, 2009). In Asian higher education the role
of external forces is significant that is evident from the process of reforms, restructuring,
innovation, and transformation at different levels. These external forces are of many forms and
types: IGOs, networks, forums, peer pressure and even countries. Asian region has acquired an
important position in and focus of IGOs. At present many IGOs are engaged in this region to
develop and promote education at all levels, from pre-primary to higher education.
In recent years there have been increasing demands to measure the effectiveness of international
development projects launched by the IGOs (Bamberger, Rao, & Woolcock, 2009). This demand
is due to three major reasons: these organizations have been spending a huge amount of human
and material resources for the last many decades; most reports and research studies presented by
these IGOs give information on the outputs not outcomes; and still many objectives set by IGOs
could not be achieved. In this regard, it is very interesting to explore how, when and why these
international actors act, react and cooperate with each other. The answers of these questions need
a lot of research, which is out of the scope of our present study.
There exists literature of significant worth on the socio-economic and political roles of IGOs in
the world but very little on the role of IGOs in the development of higher education with a focus
on Asia. This research aims to provide some information on this subject by studying the IGOs
role in the development of higher education in Asia. This is the first macro study of its kind that
has brought Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the World Bank role in
limelight by analyzing how are these IGOs reacting and responding to the knowledge revolution
in Asian region? What are their program and projects for the development of higher education in
Asia? Are these initiatives of any importance for the region?