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A well-managed, strategically oriented, diversified & articulated tertiary education system is vital for producing the calibre & diversity of graduates needed both for the economy that exists today & for economy to which a nation aspires.
Globally, tertiary education has made enormous advances, in particular with a view to expansion of access; however, there is an unaddressed reform agenda & given the crucial role the sector plays for equal, innovation—based & green growth, & cohesive societies, this has become a pressing problem.
This includes the following:
Globally, tertiary education is becoming the standard school leaving point with the majority of young people from the 20-24 age cohort enrolling in tertiary education in more & more countries.
Digitisation is perceived as the great equalizer in tertiary education – but at this stage it is also the great divider. With limited connectivity & access to devices, especially those students who need it most cannot profit from continuous learning at the tertiary level.
Most middle-income countries are struggling with a quality conundrum with significant resources being devoted to tertiary education, without visible increases in quality & with persistent skills mismatches between graduates & employment.
Internationalisation is needed to help countries, institutions, & individuals to connect to global developments & harvest the benefits of cross-country cooperation; however, besides its enormous potential, it is still the privileges of a small elite.
Universities in high income countries revamp their operations to become key lifelong learning players in a fast-changing environment where individuals need skilling and reskilling over a lifetime. However, most universities in middle-income countries find it difficult to part from being a provider of old-fashioned rote learning for a narrowly defined age-group. New Zealand is not in this group.
Most importantly, while most countries recognise the crucial role the sector can play in their advancement, the tertiary education sector is in many cases a ship without a map & a compass – and subsequently without proper steering. If governance, financing & quality assurance as central steering elements are not put to work, reforms of the tertiary education sector will remain isolated & lack sustainability.
Adequate steering also means that the sector is considered in its entirety & not universities, technical institutions, colleges & tertiary vocational institutions in an isolated, siloed way. Only to the extent that countries & institutions provide & ensure quality in non-university tertiary education, will this sub-sector be perceived as a viable alternative by students & families & play the important role in terms of access, equity, applied research & support to local companies & communities it plays in some high-income countries.
