Promoting innovation in education

Education should lead and orient us to prepare adequate answers and also to act as promoters of a social transformation firmly centred on human development.

When some scientists predict the end of classical university, setting education as an indisputable strategic priority during the irreversible process of globalisation must be an urgent, imperative task. A universal debate for a common agenda is needed for all education systems, irrespective of their geographical and cultural contexts.

At the United Nations recently, 192 countries emphasised by consensus the vital role of education in the achievement of poverty eradication and other major development goals. In his address to the organisation, Koichiro Matsuura, Director-General of Unesco, restated the axiom that access to knowledge and the ability to use it effectively are critical determinants of economic growth, sustainable development and social and political participation.

Universities, as independent and credible voices of society, have a fundamental role to play, but the challenges they face are immensely complex, while relevant academic reforms are still slow and insufficiently imaginative.

Sensitive to this phenomenon, the G-8 (USA, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan and Russia) at their summit in St. Petersburg this year affirmed that economic and social prosperity in the 21st century depend on the ability of nations to educate all members of their societies to enable them to thrive in a rapidly changing world. The first sentence of the G-8 2006 Summit document on this topic is memorable: ''Education is at the heart of human progress.''

Why? It enriches cultures, creates mutual understanding globally, underpins democratic societies and builds respect for the rule of law. Knowledge-based economies require innovative education systems and reliable, transparent, and non-discriminatory legal, regulatory, and policy frameworks to foster pro-competitive and predictable policies, providing incentives that favour innovation.

The document contains a final invitation to maximise the human and social capital of all people through policies that recognise diversity in the educational sector and in the workplace, advance innovation and stimulate creativity.

In a follow-up to the G-8 Summit, Unesco and the Italian government will organise in 2007 the World Forum on Education, Innovation and Research.

Topical Ideas

Thailand, with its 78 public and over 50 private universities, was in 2006 the venue of many significant international manifestations dedicated to education as an effective tool for progress and prosperity. Mention will be made below only of international meetings over the last six months attended by the writer.

The Bangkok World University Presidents Summit, attended by nearly 1,600 participants from 87 countries, proved to be an exceptional platform for discussing many topical issues Beyond the professional reflections on diversity and harmonisation, the Bangkok Summit also reaffirmed during its proceedings that our common fundamental values, including freedom, equality, solidarity, tolerance, respect for all human rights, respect for nature and shared responsibility, are essential to international relations and crucial for the future of higher education.

During the current turbulent times, it was rewarding to hear again and again the prophetic words from the Unesco Constitution - since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed. Peace must be founded, if it is not to fail, upon the intellectual and moral solidarity of mankind.

Universities are considered to be the last bastion of generally accepted civilising values. They can bring hope to a hopeless world. Education is expected to develop within a culture of peace and learning that is holistic, founded on values that are both national and universal.

There are solid reasons to believe that if there is true consensus to give tangibility to universal values, success may be expected in addressing many problems confronting higher education on all continents. This includes the complex task of harmonising global university standards and respecting diversity without condoning mediocrity.

Additional evidence in this regard came from the Bangkok 22nd General Assembly of the International Federation of Catholic Universities (IFCU), made up of 200 universities from all continents and hosted by Assumption University.

During its deliberations some participants insisted on the universities' responsibilities to share information and knowledge to enable students to better understand the role they have to play in a globalising world. To that end, it is necessary to recognise the reality of globalisation and its potential for development. Education should lead and orient us to prepare adequate answers and also to act as promoters of a social transformation firmly centred on human development, encouraged by innovation.

Many of these ideas were also developed during the European Higher Education Fair and the Asia-Link Symposium focusing on EU-Asia higher education policy and co-operation issues.

This event offered a platform for high-level dialogue between government officials, key senior managers and policy makers and representatives from higher education institutions and academic networks. Consideration was given to increasing awareness of EU mechanisms and programmes and possibilities for future co-operation, as well as the impact of the internationalisation of higher education on the two continents.

The International Conference on Educational Leadership, organised by Assumption University, considered other significant topics like leadership in a global context, perspectives and challenges in higher education, professionalism, quality assurance, teaching competency, university-community partnership, technological strategies to enhance higher education and so on.

The most recent highly specialised event, the International Association of Universities and the International Association of University Presidents (IAU/IAUP Symposium), was a joint meeting convened in Chiang Mai by the most prestigious non-governmental organisations in the field.

It dealt with national dimensions and cross regional experiences on strengthening institutional autonomy as one of the major strategic objectives in higher education policy. Whether rhetorical or real, this objective is related to the basic principles that should govern relationships between higher education and society.

The debate on all the above issues can lead to complex bilateral and multilateral negotiations in the political and academic fields. Generally acceptable conclusions or solutions are still a long way off. The debate, therefore, must continue.

As highlighted by Rev. Bro. Dr Bancha Saenghiran, president of Assumption University, the greatest threat to the success and survival of higher education institutions is complacency.

Promoting innovation demands new, energetic efforts to find valid answers to the massification, internationalisation and potential commodification of higher education.

In a world of global vulnerabilities, abrupt discontinuities and unavoidable perplexities, authentic solutions can be found only in an educational climate largely open to a genuinely democratic dialogue inspired and guided by universal values.