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

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development of human capital, which is prerequisite for the development of all other resources.
Like other parts of the world, in many less developed Asian countries acquisition and utilization
of modern knowledge for the development of national capacities and capabilities remains low on
government agendas, which is evident from the absence of clear policies and political regarding
the importance of knowledge and its implication for sustainable development and the overall
transformation of societies (Haddad, 2005). At the sometime a shift in Asia is also evident as in
some countries, that are also emerging economies, now higher education is regarded as more
than mere learning, due to this new shift in the role of education, today it is regarded as an
investment.
The rapid expansion and growth of higher education has given birth to paradox of declining
expenditure; in most of the countries of the region, per student expenditure is continuously
decreasing for the last two decades because the increase in budget for higher education does not
coincide with the increase in student enrolment. Although low income countries have increased
the share of national income spent on education from 2.9% to 3.8% since 1999 but still some
regions and countries are continued to neglect education. Among world regions, Central Asia
and South and West Asia invest the least in education (UNESCO, 2011). This has raised the
demand and need to enhance internal and external efficiency, adopting cost effective methods of
management and teaching at higher education institutions. In this context in those countries
where budget for was already too little to meet the demands of higher education there higher
education institutions are facing a hard time to face the challenge of expansion and growth what
to speak of quality. Consequently in such countries a majority of higher education institution
focusing quantity and thus the quality remain questionable.
7.2 IGOs role and reason of existence
Realists, liberals, and others schools have long debated the utility of IGOs and a majority accepts
that IGOs have some role to play in the society but there exist no consensus on what extent IGOs
can/ should influence at national and international levels (Boehmer, Gartzke, & Nordstrom,
2004). Functionalists argue that IGOs are capable of transforming state preferences and
promoting pacific global relations. Realists, by contrast maintain that IGOs reflect, rather than
effect, world politics (Boehmer, Gartzke, & Nordstrom, 2004). Realists take IGOs as self-
centered tool that serve self interests of the powerful states to implement their own power