May 21, 2012, 11:15 am
By Francisco Marmolejo
Niños de la escuela en la India
Recientemente escribí una columna en torno a los retos y oportunidades asociados con la creación de nuevas instituciones de educación superior, en la que me refería al caso específico de la Universidad Internacional Albukhary en Malasia. Esta segunda entrega describe interesantes experiencias similares en India.
Considerando que India será en el año 2030 el país más poblado del mundo, su gobierno enfrenta tremendos desafíos al tratar de atender las necesidades educativas de sus ciudadanos. Para contextualizar la magnitud de tal reto, vale la pena considerar que hay más de 370 millones habitantes en la India en el grupo de edad para estudiar (6-23 años de edad) lo cual representa un segmento poblacional más grande que el total de la población en los Estado…
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May 14, 2012, 4:47 pm
By Francisco Marmolejo
School children in India.
Recently, I wrote a column discussing the challenges and opportunities associated with the creation of new higher-education institutions, in which I made reference to the specific case of Albukhary International University in Malaysia. This second article describes interesting experiences of a similar kind in India.
Poised to become the most populous country in the world by 2030, India is facing tremendous challenges in addressing the educational needs of its citizens. To put into context the magnitude of the educational challenge that confronts India, there are more than 370 million Indian school-age citizens (ages 6-23) representing a cohort larger than the entire population of the U.S. and three times the total population of Mexico.
Considering the fertility rates in India,…
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April 11, 2012, 1:35 pm
By Francisco Marmolejo
El vicerrector Pieter M. Kachelhoffer mostrando las instalaciones de la AIU a visitantes internacionales.
Muchos estudiosos de la educación superior han argumentado con razón que las universidades son altamente resistentes al cambio. Inclusive algunos más críticos, han anticipado que en la era de la información las universidades están condenadas a desaparecer o a ser obsoletas, al menos de la forma como funcionan en la actualidad. Ciertamente, cuando se trata de propiciar e implementar el cambio en las instituciones educativas, ésta puede ser una penosa tarea, como lo podrán atestiguar varios líderes institucionales que, por cierto, perdieron su empleo en el intento. Recuerdo haber escuchado hace cerca de 15 años al entonces Presidente de los Estados Unidos, Bill Clinton, cuando al dirigirse a …
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April 11, 2012, 12:28 pm
By Francisco Marmolejo
Visitors tour Malaysia's Albukhary International University with deputy vice chancellor, Pieter M. Kachelhoffer (left).
Many scholars have argued with reason that higher-education institutions around the world are highly resistant to change. Some are even more critical, predicting that in the information-based economy, universities are condemned to disappear or become obsolete, at least in the way they currently function. Certainly, fostering and implementing change in colleges and universities can be a daunting task, as witnessed by many institutional leaders who have lost their jobs trying to change the course of their organizations. This sense of frustration in trying to foster change was cogently expressed by President Clinton about 15 years ago at a gathering of higher-education leaders when he…
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January 5, 2012, 3:50 pm
By Francisco Marmolejo
En diciembre pasado tuve la oportunidad de participar en dos diferentes conferencias sobre internacionalización de la educación superior efectuadas en una misma semana a más de 10,000 kilómetros de distancia. Dado que los temas de ambas conferencias eran similares, uno pudiera imaginar que el tono de sus discusiones también lo sería. Sin embargo, tal pareciera que la distancia entre Penang en Malasia y Lund en Suecia no solo era geográfica sino también en cuanto al tipo de discurso y enfoque sobre la internacionalización que impera en diversas partes del mundo. De alguna manera las dos conferencias fueron un buen reflejo de las posiciones divergentes que hay en torno a la internacionalización de la educación superior y, al final de cuentas, del importante dilema que en el mundo actual enfrenta la educación superior: ¿cómo atender las necesidades actuales y futuras de…
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January 5, 2012, 2:36 pm
By Francisco Marmolejo
The Global Higher Education Forum was held in Penang, Malaysia, last month.
Last December, I had the opportunity to participate in two different overseas meetings on higher-education internationalization within the same week. Since the themes of the conferences were similar, one might imagine that they would generate discussions that were similar. I was quite surprised that these events–held 6,300 miles apart from each other–in Penang, Malaysia, and in Lund, Sweden, seemed to be as distant on the rationale and focus for internationalization as they were geographically. In their own way, both events reflected the important dilemma that higher education faces in today’s world: how to serve the current and future needs of our societies in an increasingly competitive and internationalized…
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October 20, 2011, 10:21 am
By Francisco Marmolejo
Las recientes demostraciones estudiantiles en Chile y Colombia son motivo de preocupación de sus respectivos gobiernos. En el centro del debate se plantea una interrogante simple para la cual no existe una respuesta sencilla: ¿quién se supone que debe pagar por la educación de los habitantes de un país?, ¿deben pagar los propios estudiantes y sus familias o el gobierno?, ¿debe ofrecerse subsidio directo a los estudiantes o deben ser las instituciones de educación superior las que reciban el soporte del Estado para con ello hacer más accesible la educación?.
En cierto sentido, tanto el caso chileno como el colombiano han seguido trayectorias diferentes en lo referente al desarrollo de sus respectivos sistemas de educación superior, aunque en ambos casos existe similitud en cuanto a las huelgas y demostraciones estudiantiles que, sin lugar a dudas, tienen…
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October 20, 2011, 10:20 am
By Francisco Marmolejo
Recent student demonstrations in Chile and Colombia are a cause for major concern for their respective governments. At the center of the debate there is a very simple question for which there is not an easy answer: who is supposed to pay for the provision of education for the inhabitants of a country? The citizens themselves and their families, or the state? Is a direct subsidy to the students the best approach, or should institutions be subsidized in order to make education more affordable?
In both the Chilean and Colombian cases, there have been in somewhat different paths taken in matters related to the development of their respective higher-education systems, but both are experiencing similar situations in terms of strikes and public student demonstrations, which make not only their respective governments nervous but also those from neighboring countries.
In the case of Chile, …
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August 30, 2011, 11:12 am
By Francisco Marmolejo
Across the world, higher education has experienced dramatic changes in recent years. There is no doubt that it should be viewed in the global context and not solely from a domestic point of view. Internationalization of higher education is no longer just about the mobility of students and signing of international memoranda of understanding. Issues now include the internationalization of curriculum, “brain drain” versus “brain circulation,” the internationalization of research, offering of dual degrees with foreign partners, establishing of branch campuses abroad, involvement of international alumni, creation of international quality assurance frameworks, proliferation of international rankings, increased competition for international students, and the role of recruiting agents. There are just a few of the many changes that higher education is experiencing in a globally…
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August 19, 2011, 4:33 pm
By Francisco Marmolejo
I just concluded a trip to South America in which I had the opportunity to speak to audiences in Brazil and Chile, and to interact with colleagues involved in higher-education policy in the region. Today, I will refer to the Brazilian case.
As readers may be aware, higher education in Brazil has experienced tremendous growth in recent years. Currently, more than six million Brazilians are enrolled in higher education. In contrast, a decade ago, there were only two million students in the system. Most of the increase in capacity has come from the explosive growth of private institutions. A decade ago private institutions represented 60 percent of the national enrollment while today they attract 75 percent of students nationwide. Despite such spectacular growth, additional work remains to be done since, according to the OECD, only 10 percent of Brazilians between ages of 25 and 64 have …
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