Higher-Education-in-the-Twenty-First-Century-Visio

WORLDDECLARATIONONHIGHEREDUCATIONFORTHETWENTY-FIRSTCENTURY:VISIONANDACTIONANDFRAMEWORKFORPRIORITYACTIONFORCHANGEANDDEVELOPMENTINHIGHEREDUCATIONadoptedbytheWORLDCONFERENCEONHIGHEREDUCATIONHigherEducationintheTwenty-FirstCentury:VisionandAction9October1998WORLDDECLARATIONONHIGHEREDUCATIONFORTHETWENTY-FIRSTCENTURY:VISIONANDACTIONPREAMBLEPREAMBLEPREAMBLEPREAMBLEOntheeveofanewcentury,thereisanunprecedentedunprecedentedunprecedentedunprecedenteddemanddemanddemanddemandforforforforandandandandaaaagreatgreatgreatgreatdiversificationdiversificationdiversificationdiversificationininininhigherhigherhigherhighereducation,education,education,education,asasasaswellwellwellwellasasasasananananincreasedincreasedincreasedincreasedawarenessawarenessawarenessawarenessofofofofitsitsitsitsvitalvitalvitalvitalimportanceimportanceimportanceimportanceforforforforsocioculturalsocioculturalsocioculturalsocioculturalandandandandeconomiceconomiceconomiceconomicdevelopment,development,development,development,andforbuildingthefuture,forwhichtheyoungergenerationswillneedtobeequippedwithnewskills,knowledgeandideals....Highereducationincludes‘alltypesofstudies,trainingortrainingforresearchatthepost-secondarylevel,providedbyuniversitiesorothereducationalestablishmentsthatareapprovedasinstitutionsofhighereducationbythecompetentStateauthorities’.Everywherehighereducationisfacedwithgreatchallengesanddifficultiesrelatedtofinancing,equityofconditionsataccessintoandduringthecourseofstudies,improvedstaffdevelopment,skills-basedtraining,enhancementandpreservationofqualityinteaching,researchandservices,relevanceofprogrammes,employabilityofgraduates,establishmentofefficientco-operationagreementsandequitableaccesstothebenefitsofinternationalco-operation.Atthesametime,highereducationisbeingchallengedbynewopportunitiesrelatingtotechnologiesthatareimprovingthewaysinwhichknowledgecanbeproduced,managed,disseminated,accessedandcontrolled.Equitableaccesstothesetechnologiesshouldbeensuredatalllevelsofeducationsystems.Thesecondhalfofthiscenturywillgodowninthehistoryofhighereducationastheperiodofitsmostspectacularexpansion:expansion:expansion:expansion:anoversixfoldincreaseinstudentenrolmentsworldwide,from13millionin1960to82millionin1995.Butitisalsotheperiodwhichhasseenthegapbetweenindustriallydeveloped,thethethethedevelopingdevelopingdevelopingdevelopingcountriescountriescountriescountriesandininininparticularparticularparticularparticularthethethetheleastleastleastleastdevelopeddevelopeddevelopeddevelopedcountriescountriescountriescountrieswithregardtoaccessandresourcesforhigherlearningandresearch,alreadyenormous,becomingevenwider.Ithasalsobeenaperiodofincreasedsocio-economicstratificationandgreaterdifferenceineducationalopportunitywithincountries,includinginsomeofthemostdevelopedandwealthiestnations.Withoutadequatehighereducationandresearchinstitutionsprovidingacriticalmassofskilledandeducatedpeople,nocountrycanensuregenuineendogenousandsustainabledevelopmentand,inparticular,developingcountriesandleastdevelopedcountriescannotreducethegapseparatingthemfromtheindustriallydevelopedones.Sharingknowledge,internationalco-operationandnewtechnologiescanoffernewopportunitiestoreducethisgap.Highereducationhasgivenampleproofofitsviabilityoverthecenturiesandofitsabilitytochangeandtoinducechangeandprogressinsociety.Owingtothescopeandpaceofchange,societyhasbecomeincreasinglyknowledge-basedknowledge-basedknowledge-basedknowledge-basedsothathigherlearningandresearchnowactasessentialcomponentsofcultural,socio-economicandenvironmentallysustainabledevelopmentofindividuals,communitiesandnations.Highereducationitselfisconfrontedthereforewithformidablechallengesandmustproceedtothemostradicalchangechangechangechangeandandandandrenewalrenewalrenewalrenewalitititithashashashasevereverevereverbeenbeenbeenbeenrequiredrequiredrequiredrequiredtoundertake,sothatoursociety,whichiscurrentlyundergoingaprofoundcrisisofvalues,cantranscendmereeconomicconsiderationsandincorporatedeeperdimensionsofmoralityandspirituality.Itiswiththeaimofprovidingsolutionstothesechallengesandofsettinginmotionaprocessofin-depthreforminhighereducationworldwidethatUNESCOhasconvenedaWorldConferenceonHigherEducationintheTwenty-FirstCentury:VisionandAction.InpreparationfortheConference,UNESCOissued,in1995,itsPolicyPaperforChangeandDevelopmentinHigherEducation.Fiveregionalconsultations(Havana,November1996;Dakar,April1997;Tokyo,July1997;Palermo,September1997;andBeirut,March1998)weresubsequentlyheld.TheDeclarationsandPlansofActionadoptedbythem,eachpreservingitsownspecificity,aredulytakenintoaccountinthepresentDeclaration-asisthewholeprocessofreflectionundertakenbythepreparationoftheWorldConference-andareannexedtoit.***We,participantsintheWorldConferenceonHigherEducation,assembledatUNESCOHeadquartersinParis,from5to9October1998,RecallingtheprinciplesoftheCharteroftheUnitedNations,theUniversalDeclarationofHumanRights,theInternationalCovenantonEconomic,SocialandCulturalRights,andtheInternationalCovenantonCivilandPoliticalRigh