Role of Higher Education in Promoting Education for All.

Overview & Synopsis

This summary of a conference examines the role of higher education in promoting education for all as discussed among representatives from Bangladesh, People's Republic of China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. Participants emphasized the importance of institutional, sectoral, and regional cooperation in achieving goals of education for all and development in general. Participants also stressed that literacy and development were closely linked and that higher education had a significant role to play in helping to identify the changing needs of basic education. The ultimate contribution, argued by one participant, which higher education can make to education for all and to development is the production and application of intellectual innovations, knowledge, and ideas. Specific recommendations on higher education's role in promoting education for all include improved teacher training, curriculum content evaluation, the development of learning packages and management manuals, use of awareness-raising activities, and the employment of the open university model to increase access and alternative modes of delivery. Appendices include the conference agenda and a list of the participants. (GLR)