New Opportunities for Higher Education: Collaborations across borders

1. New Opportunities for Higher Education:Collaborations across borders Robin Sakamoto, Ph.D. Rikkyo University rsakamoto@rikkyo.ac.jp

2. Changing Images

3. Higher Education in Context • Within the past two decades higher education enrolment has escalated from 28 million to 47 million, mainly in Asian universities • (World Bank, 2000, p. 27). • This growth is projected to continue. Viet Nam hopes to increase higher education enrollment by 10% per year through 2010 and both the People’s Republic of China and India hope to triple higher education systems within the next twenty years • (Asian Development Bank, 2008).

4. Higher Education in Context cont. • Although higher education was a priority for aid agencies in the 1980s and 1990s, world-wide emphasis on achieving the Millennium Development Goals has caused a shift in aid to programs that support basic education. • A recent report by the Asian Development Bank states that their lending to higher education dropped from 22% in the 1970s and 1980s to 15% in the 1990s to about 2% since 2000 • (Asian Development Bank, 2008).

5. Higher Education in Context cont. Primary Secondary Sources Asian Development Bank (2008), Glewwe & Kremer, 2005

6. Cross-border Collaborations • Reasons for receiving institutions to participate • means to increase quality • provide new funding streams • develop strategies for dealing with increasing autonomy

7. Cross-border Collaborations • Reasons for providing institutions to participate • insures continuation of global research • provides opportunities for faculty consulting • increases the status and prestige of the institution

8. Characteristics of Cross-border Collaborations • need for sustainable funding • need for mutual benefit • have a variable life span • are linked to individual interests • need frequent monitoring

9. Examples of cross-border collaborations • Education for Sustainable Development Research Center (ESDRC) • United Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences

10. Potential Risks • Initial champions lose interest or move on to other institutions or even the private sector • Partnerships cease to benefit all stakeholders • Loss of mutual trust • Danger of “swift trust” vs. “authentic trust”

11. References • Asian Development Bank. (2008). Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asian and the Pacific. Manila, Philippines: Asian Development Bank. • Glewwe, P., & Kremer, M. (2005). Schools, Teachers and Education Outcomes in Developing Countries. Harvard University Working Paper in Handbook on the Economics of Education. Cambridge, US: Harvard University. • World Bank (2000). Higher Education in Developing Countries: Peril and Promise. Task Force on Higher Education and Society. Washington, D.C.: World Bank.