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Tertiary Education, ‘National Development’ and the Public

Good

Hon Steve MahareyAssociate Minister of Education (Tertiary Education),

Minister responsible for the Tertiary Education Commission Speech to the Institute of Policy Studies,

Victoria University of Wellington,

Tuesday, 27 May 2003

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OUTLINE OF PRESENTATION

• Tertiary education in the context of national development

• The concept of ‘nation building’.• Recent developments in tertiary policy in NZ• The international dimension

– is linking tertiary education to national development a worldwide trend or unique to New Zealand?

• How nation building fits with education as a public good (Beeby).

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KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY - CONTEXT

• Globalisation of world's economies has fuelled competition and spurred the gathering of knowledge to get ahead

• Technologies for gaining, sharing and applying knowledge are changing rapidly

• Growing role of research, science and technology in creating knowledge to solve business, social and environmental problems;

• Knowledge tends to grow at exceptional rates

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KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY - FEATURES

• Knowledge and information becoming major sources of creating value;

• Rapid changes in technology;• Greater investment in research and

development;• Greater use of information and communications

technology;• Growth of knowledge-intensive businesses;• Increased networking and working together; and• Rising skill requirements

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‘NATION BUILDING’

cf Australian educationalist Simon Marginson

The tertiary system and the government together build and reinforce national identity.

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TERTIARY EDUCATION STRATEGY

1. A more strategic and more capable tertiary education system, aligned to national goals.

2. Contribute decisively to Maori development aspirations.

3. Ensure all New Zealanders have the foundation skills they need to participate in our new knowledge society.

4. Stronger emphasis on higher level creative, specialist and technical skills.

5. Ensure success for Pacific learners and communities.

6. Boost research and knowledge creation to ensure that research and innovation are key drivers of our economy.

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THE NEW TERTIARY POLICY FRAMEWORK IN NEW ZEALAND

Tertiary Education Strategy

Statement of Tertiary Education Priorities

Assessment of Strategic Relevance

Charters &

Profiles

Funding

Monitoring & EvaluationMeasuring system-wide progress to inform future annual statements and strategies, and other

evaluation activities that inform future direction.

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OBJECTS CLAUSE FOR TERTIARY EDUCATION

• foster high quality learning, research and innovation;

• contribute to cultural and intellectual life; • respond to the needs of learners and the nation; • contribute to sustainable economic and social

development;• strengthen New Zealand’s knowledge base and

enhance research;• provide for diversity of teaching and research, and

achieve international standards of scholarship.

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INTERNATIONAL TRENDS

• Greater recognition of learning as a lifelong endeavour, and encompassing the full continuum of post-secondary learn experiences;

• Awareness of contribution of knowledge and skills to economic prosperity and social development;

• Convergence in the approach governments take to the relationship with their tertiary education institutions.

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“TERTIARY EDUCATION” (OECD)

a broader notion than it used to be, incorporating most forms and levels of education beyond secondary schooling, and including both conventional university and non-university types of institutions and programmes. Tertiary education also means new kinds of institutions, work-based settings, distance learning and other arrangements.Alan Wagner, “Redefining tertiary education”, OECD

Observer No. 214 October/November 1998.

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INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES ON ROLE OF TERTIARY EDUCATION

1 - OECD

“Postsecondary education figures prominently in this vision of knowledge-intensive networks as the pathway to an improved competitive position at home and abroad”

“the general trend is for countries to take a more strategic approach, relying on incentives to influence the choices of learners and the actions of more autonomous postsecondary education institutions and other providers, as well as third parties.”

Alan Wagner, "Convergence and Competition: Transforming Postsecondary Education from an International Perspective", in Education Commission of the States, Transforming Postsecondary Education for the 21st Century, June 1999.

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INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES ON ROLE OF TERTIARY EDUCATION

2 - European Union

• Concrete Future Objectives of Education and Training Systems include:

• Developing skills for the knowledge society

• Increasing the recruitment to scientific and technical studies;

• Supporting active citizenship, equal opportunities and social cohesion; and

• Strengthening the links with working life and research, and society at large

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INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES ON ROLE OF TERTIARY EDUCATION 3 – Australia (1998 West Review)

"The most important contribution that the higher education sector should make is to provide a learning environment that will enable its graduates to emerge with the skills and knowledge that will meet the economic, social and environmental challenges of the twenty-first century. (p. 47)

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INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES ON ROLE OF TERTIARY EDUCATION

4 – Latest ReleasesUnited Kingdom White Paper, The Future of Higher Education:• In a fast-changing and increasingly competitive world,

the role of higher education in equipping the labour force with appropriate and relevant skills, in stimulating innovation and supporting productivity and in enriching the quality of life is central. The benefits of an excellent higher education system are far-reaching; the risk of decline is one that we cannot accept.

Our Universities: Backing Australia’s Ability (Australia):• a sustainable university system able to drive the

future economic and social success of this country, and support future generations of Australians

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CONVERGING RESPONSES

• Fee Setting

• Managing Enrolments

• The Stakeholder Society

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HIGHER EDUCATION AND THE STAKEHOLDER SOCIETY

present day higher education institutions are forced to be in constant dialogue with their stakeholders in society. This idea reflects a number of fundamental changes in the relationship between the institutions of higher learning and their environment . . .

Accountability will manifest itself in new and complex forms. In their education and research tasks, the providers of higher education will continue to have an obligation to demonstrate quality, efficiency and effectiveness, not just to those in national administration which have the legal and historic responsibility for exercising official oversight, but increasingly so to a wider range of interests, i.e. stakeholders.

Centre for Higher Education Policy Studies (Netherlands)

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THE BEEBY IDEAL

"The Government's objective, broadly expressed, is that every person, whatever his level of academic ability, whether he be rich or poor, whether he live in town or country,

has a right, as a citizen, to a free education of the kind for which he is best fitted and to

fullest extent of his powers. So far is this from being a pious platitude that the full

acceptance of the principle will involve the reorientation of the whole education system."

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NEXT STEPS

• Independent review of tertiary governance (Professor Meredith Edwards)

• Strategic Review and Plan of the Tertiary Education Workforce.