MAIN CONCERNS OF SWEDISH HIGHER EDUCATION AND RESEARCH POLICY

The information below is a summary of the main questions with which Swedish higher educational policy is currently concerned.     

SOME THOUGHTS ON THE UNESCO POLICY PAPER FOR CHANGE AND DEVELOPMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION 1

In this article, the author reacts to a reading of the 1995 UNESCO Policy Paper for Change and Development in Higher Education. He begins by expressing concern about the overuse of practical training, the trade in the teaching of foreign medical students, and the very poor provision of information in the form of journal articles, textbooks, and computer networks in many parts of the world. He casts these concerns against certain ideals: that teaching in universities should take place in an atmosphere of research but that the number of universities that train scientists should be limited even if all universities should include a science component. Since all science doctorates should be completed rapidly so that the resulting thesis is up‐to‐date, science students should be free from dependence on teaching assistantships. Funding for higher education should be diversified; so should the institutions involved in research; however, the proliferation of small units should be avoided. In some cases, a single national or regional science institute is a good thing.

     

QUALITY ASSESSMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION: ISSUES AND CONCERNS

Although quality in higher education is hard to define and to identify, there is growing concern about it at national and international levels. The work of CEPES, particularly its proposal to create a European Group on Academic Assessment (EGAA), and the work of OECD, particularly its Institutional Management in Higher Education Programme (IMHE), respond to this concern. Approaches to quality assessment in the United States, Japan, and Sweden are evoked.     

TRANSFORMING CZECH HIGHER EDUCATION AND RESEARCH

The process which got underway after the Velvet Revolution to transform Czech higher education had first to confront the fact that a good deal of desired continuity existed. The first reform law was hastily conceived, and the reform process has been hampered by insufficient funding. The possibilities of introducing tuition fees in the state institutions and of founding private universities are being debated in Parliament Both innovations would represent a major cultural change. The reform process has been aided by the contributions of western governmental and non‐governmental organizations.     

A CHANGING EUROPE: CHALLENGES FOR HIGHER EDUCATION RESEARCH

The subject of the 1990 Brussels CHER annual meeting is introduced and analysed in relation to the themes of the papers presented by the various participants. Significantly, the freeing of higher education in eastern Europe from the rigours of Communism, democratic centralism, and command economies have come about while the higher education systems of the West have been strengthening their commitment to the market principle (voluntarily and/or imposed from without). The resulting situation is significant, mutually reinforcing, and ambiguous. It offers great opportunities, both East and West, for the further development of higher education research as a distinct field even while it is accentuating the precariousness of the other so‐called value sciences. Certainly a major opportunity comes from the fact that higher education researchers and their supporting institutions are being increasingly called upon to aid their respective governments in the understanding and the possible application of the higher education strategies and methods of other climes. The meeting has suggested markers for a future research agenda, and it has helped integrate the various methodological and technical perspectives as well as the insights of participants representing both East and West.     

FEDERAL POLICY AND HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES

A new federal policy for higher education in the United States may be formulated in the coming months. Below we give extracts from an article stressing responsibility of US higher education to affirm the aims of education in the changing economic and political situation, written by Professor Norman Birnbaum, of Amherst College, Massachusetts.     

SOCIAL JUSTICE, EDUCATION AND SCHOOLING: SOME PHILOSOPHICAL ISSUES

ABSTRACT:  Social justice is a key concept in current education policy and practice. It is, however, a problematic one in its application to schooling. This paper begins with a critique of the account of social justice offered by Gewirtz followed by an alternative philosophical notion based on the perfect world argument and the just society where equality is to the fore. This leads on to an exploration of what it is to be an educated citizen, consideration of the just school and discussion of the place of the school as an instrument for attaining social justice. The conclusion draws attention to the importance of the policy web as a way of developing coherent and unified policy designed to achieve social justice for all.     

RELATIONS BETVIEEN EDUCATION,RESEARCH AND PRODUCTION IN HIGHER EDUCATION

The following six articles concerning relations between education, research and production are based on some papers presented during the CEPES Symposium on Relations between Education, Research and Production‐ in Higher Education in Europe. The main findings of this meeting, which was held in Bucharest from 26 to 28 June 1979, are presented in the chapter “CEPES Activities” on page 33 of this issue.

As can be observed, the following articles cover different aspects or problems of the relations between education, research and production’ in higher education, some of them refer to national situations, others analyse types of study which include productive work or/and research, and still others refer to institutional experiences. However, in spite of the divergence in the topics dealt with here, all papers and articles are based on a common, present‐day reality: that numerous reforms and programmes have been or are being introduced, the objective of which is to require that higher education become more closely linked with the world of professional and productive activities.     

UTILIZATION OF RESOURCES AND MANPOWER POLICY IN UK HIGHER EDUCATION

According to Mr. Gerald Fowler MP, Minister of State, Department of Education and Science, there are at present two problems of special importance for higher education in the United Kingdom: - aims of higher education and the effective utilization of resources in relation to the public expenditure plan given in the White Paper “Public Expenditures to 1979/1980”;

- manpower policy in relation to higher education output.

Recent speeches made by Mr. Fowler underlined these problems and form the basis of the following article.