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Free higher education – The public good argument

Last week’s University World News commentary highlighting New Zealand universities suffering under free tuition regimes highlights a lack of understanding by national governments about the public nature of higher education and the multiple benefits of access to quality higher education to national, regional and global sustainable development.

The arguments about a zero-sum game – quality or access – and the unsustainability of free tuition regimes may be valid in terms of current government attitudes. But national governments need to look beyond short-term financial constraints, given that investment in higher education reaps long-term benefits not only for students, but for nations and society generally. Furthermore, higher education should be seen as part of a country’s contribution and commitment to global sustainable development.

Higher education: a public good

The advent of the Education for All movement during the early 1990s with its commitment to quality basic education for all children, youth and adults opened the way for a discussion on the public nature of education and its benefits for society, the nation and the global community.

However, education is not limited to compulsory education and covers higher education and continuing education in various forms, including informal, non-formal and especially lifelong learning.

If the initial momentum created by the Education for All initiative to support sustainable development is to continue, national governments need to see higher education as a public good and facilitate access to higher education to every qualified student without any discrimination, including financial capacity, ethnicity, religion, sexual preference and status in life.

It should not be a zero-sum game between access and quality. Access to free higher education should be access to free, quality higher education supported by national governments.

In a 2011 article and at a recent talk at the UNESCO International Institute for Education Planning, Professor Simon Marginson discussed the public nature of higher education and argued for the need to re-ground it.

The increasing focus on economic development and the challenges related to funding higher education have taken precedence over the long-term benefits of higher education to the public sphere. Professor Marginson suggested looking at Canada and Northern Europe as a means of rediscovering the common good in higher education.

The growing privatisation of higher education and the need to include peace-building in higher education’s mission are just some issues related to higher education for the common good. The world, and national governments, need to seriously put the ‘public’ into higher education if we are to achieve global peace and sustainable development.

The benefits of providing access to quality higher education to as many of the world’s population as possible should be seen beyond short-term economic benefits and should not be viewed simply in terms of cost and cost-recovery with a focus on the individual benefits of higher education.

Some of these wider benefits include improved intercultural understanding, peace and order, social mobility and acceptance, and moulding a global population equipped with the competencies necessary to support national and global sustainable development.

Public higher education also helps to disrupt the social stratification in society to enhance equality of opportunities. In spite of the various challenges of sustainable development, access to quality education, and quality ‘public’ higher education in particular, has the potential to contribute to various sustainable development challenges, including poverty alleviation, health, decent work and reduced inequality and discrimination.

Challenges and possibilities

Challenges in providing quality ‘public’ higher education are clear and numerous, especially in terms of funding and quality assurance. However, these should not be a reason for national governments to shirk their responsibility to deliver a public service that includes delivery of quality ‘public’ higher education.

Research into various possible models for the delivery and sustainability of higher education for the common good, as well as into making the case for the benefits of developing, implementing and sustaining it, should be supported as a long-term investment for national and global sustainable development.

Furthermore, alternative financing models should be explored beyond the student loan mechanisms that have faced serious challenges in various higher education systems worldwide.

From a financial perspective, viewing investment in higher education for its long-term benefits to the public sphere and the global community is in keeping with a return of investment perspective typical of any government investment in quality public higher education.

In fact, such investment contributes to reducing government expenditure on health, peace and order and welfare and enhances the kind of creativity and innovation that fuels future industrial, social and cultural transformations that often benefit the global public sphere.

It is said that “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”. In this case, the first step is to recognise the public nature of higher education and take steps towards developing and implementing quality ‘public’ higher education for all. Where there’s a will there’s a way, and with international collaboration, a true quality higher education for the common good may not be an impossible dream.

Dr Roger Y Chao Jr is an independent education development consultant. He was formerly the senior consultant and higher education specialist for the UNESCO International Centre for Higher Education Innovation and UNESCO Myanmar respectively. He has been engaged with various higher education-related projects with UNESCO and is an expert in higher education for the European Commission. He was recently engaged as foreign quality assurance expert in the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh as part of the World Bank’s Higher Education Quality Enhancement Project. His research interests and publications cover regionalisation and internationalisation of higher education, comparative and international education, higher education policies and reforms, teacher education and recently refugee education.