Bernard Hugonnier presentation

Responding to challenges posed to higher education in a globalised world

Globalisation is posed five main challenges to education in general and to higher education in particular:

• Globalisation is increasing world economic interdependence which in turn enhances competition among countries and modifies the world distribution of labour. The consequences for education is that people, on the one hand, need more often than before to acquire or update their knowledge and skills and, on the other, they must change jobs more frequently (they are required to become lifelong learners.

• Globalisation leads to more economic and cultural exchanges between countries and to a higher heterogeneity of society (in terms of culture, ethnic group, language, religion). Social capital (bridging type one) needs to be further developed (i.e. development of values and principles such as tolerance, cooperation, solidarity) and individuals are expected to learn more foreign languages and to know more about foreign cultures.

• Globalisation increases social and income disparities at the expense of social cohesion necessitating improvement in equity of access to quality education and equity of education outcomes.

• With globalisation some issues such as environment protection,  poverty reduction, trafficking (drugs, arms, human beings…) and terrorism, are becoming and should be, the concern of every individual. This implies that we are no longer just citizens of a country, but also citizens of the world. We should all be informed on these issues and our awareness of our responsibilities heightened.

• Globalisation is leading to the internationalisation of education, notably higher education which presents several risks for students and for developing countries (increasing the education gap, low quality or non relevant programmes, rogue providers, degree mills). Action at the international level is crucial to maximising benefits and minimising risks.

Each of these challenges calls for actions at both national and international levels that will be examined and debated in this general introduction to Session 5.