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

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education. This research is also an attempt to study the role of IGOs in the higher education
sector.
1.2.1 Purpose of the study
This study is not aimed to produce any masterpiece of research but to learn about
intergovernmental organizations‟ role in education by studying their activities and engagement
for the development of higher education in Asia. This study has been designed to find both
quantitative and qualitative evidence about the activities of United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD) and the World Bank from 1990 to 2010 related to education in general
and higher education in particular.
The purpose of this study is to have a look at the state of higher education in the selected
countries of Asia and to explore the role of intergovernmental organization in the development of
higher education in this region. This study has been designed to provide information to a wide
range of stakeholders: IGOs, states, institutions, researchers, teachers and students.
1.2.2 Why these three organization?
There are number of Intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), which are engaged in the field of
education some are regional and others are global. Studying all organization is neither possible
nor logical. The three IGOs, which are part of this study are active globally and these selected
IGOs follow three different approaches and practice different models in the realization of their
goals: UNESCO is laboratory of ideas and capacity builder; OECD is stimulant of economic
progress and world trade through reforms and intellectual development; the World Bank is
purely financing body as it provides loans and technical assistance to poor countries for socio-
economic development.
1.2.3 Why study Asia?
Asia ranks number one, among all continents, when seen on different scales: land area, total
population, people living under poverty line, illiterate population, economic growth rate, size of
the higher education, share in the graduate population the world etc. During the last two decades,
the higher education in Asia has grown more rapidly than any other region in terms of gross
enrolment at tertiary level. But at the same time in a majority of the countries the participation at