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 ...
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25<br />
dissem<strong>in</strong>ation, production <strong>and</strong> preservation <strong>of</strong> knowledge through research <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>formation<br />
shar<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> pedagogy.<br />
A huge pool <strong>of</strong> research based knowledge exists on <strong>the</strong> <strong>Asian</strong> higher <strong>education</strong>. These scientific<br />
studies present varied depths <strong>of</strong> studies <strong>and</strong> cover a wide variety <strong>of</strong> subjects, issues <strong>and</strong> areas.<br />
But it is not <strong>the</strong> case when comes <strong>the</strong> study <strong>and</strong> assessment <strong>of</strong> IGOs‟ share <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> development <strong>of</strong><br />
higher <strong>education</strong> we f<strong>in</strong>d a small number <strong>of</strong> scattered <strong>and</strong> isolated attempts to study <strong>the</strong> <strong>role</strong> <strong>of</strong><br />
IGOs <strong>in</strong> higher <strong>education</strong> <strong>in</strong> Asia. A major part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> work that exists <strong>in</strong> this doma<strong>in</strong> is produced<br />
by <strong>the</strong> IGOs <strong>the</strong>mselves that are usually <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> form reports, reviews, commissioned studies <strong>and</strong><br />
website documents. The <strong>in</strong>dependent research studies focus only national perspectives usually<br />
without any cross country comparisons.<br />
In today‟s rapidly chang<strong>in</strong>g world, knowledge is characterized by complexity <strong>and</strong> accelerated<br />
change. In this context higher <strong>education</strong> has important opportunities <strong>and</strong> at <strong>the</strong> same time faces<br />
challenges, many <strong>of</strong> ,which are new, unexpected <strong>and</strong> unprecedented (Marmolejo & Puukka,<br />
2006). Underst<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> broader <strong>and</strong> new <strong>role</strong>s <strong>of</strong> higher <strong>education</strong> <strong>in</strong> a globalized world is<br />
fundamental to deal with <strong>the</strong> challenges that are faced by today‟s world. In recent years <strong>in</strong> Asia<br />
<strong>the</strong> size <strong>of</strong> higher <strong>education</strong> has <strong>in</strong>creased by many times. This expansion <strong>of</strong> higher <strong>education</strong><br />
plays a positive <strong>role</strong> <strong>in</strong> faster technological advancement <strong>and</strong> it helps <strong>in</strong> improv<strong>in</strong>g country‟s<br />
ability to maximize its economic growth <strong>and</strong> productivity so more <strong>in</strong>vestment <strong>in</strong> higher<br />
<strong>education</strong> may be justified <strong>and</strong> good for society (Bloom, Cann<strong>in</strong>g, & Chan, 2006). But at <strong>the</strong><br />
same time this huge <strong>in</strong>crease <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> enrolment has put pressure on <strong>the</strong> resources <strong>and</strong> organizers to<br />
ma<strong>in</strong>ta<strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> provision as well as <strong>the</strong> quality. As a result higher <strong>education</strong>, <strong>in</strong> <strong>countries</strong> with low<br />
economic development, small <strong>in</strong>dustrial base <strong>and</strong> under developed resources, is <strong>in</strong> a deep trouble.<br />
Thus such <strong>countries</strong> are unable to f<strong>in</strong>d a balance between dem<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> provision consequently<br />
this gap is constantly <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>g. In order to face <strong>the</strong>se challenges, IGOs particularly UNESCO,<br />
OECD <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> World Bank are actively engaged <strong>in</strong> f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> provid<strong>in</strong>g solutions <strong>in</strong> Asia <strong>and</strong><br />
rest <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> world.<br />
For <strong>the</strong> last few decades a shift <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> IGOs stance is evident from <strong>the</strong>ir enhanced participation<br />
<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> active <strong>role</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> development <strong>of</strong> higher <strong>education</strong> <strong>in</strong> Asia. In this context it is very<br />
important to study <strong>the</strong> <strong>role</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>in</strong>ternational organizations <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> development <strong>of</strong> higher <strong>education</strong><br />
<strong>in</strong> Asia. One can analyze IO‟s behavior <strong>and</strong> <strong>role</strong> by focus<strong>in</strong>g on <strong>the</strong> specific tasks <strong>and</strong> functions