Articles
Importance of higher education
Higher education reflects to a large extent the condition and quality of the education structure of a country. Universities and most other higher education institutions have a mission and responsibility to fulfil towards society.
- By Abdullah Al Shaiba, Staff Writer
- Published: 00:36 December 23, 2007
- Higher education reflects to a large extent the condition and quality of the education structure of a country. Picture used for illustrative purposes only.
- Image Credit: Gulf News Archive
Abdullah Al Shaiba highlights the benefits of university education for all citizens as an important step towards national progress
Higher education reflects to a large extent the condition and quality of the education structure of a country. Universities and most other higher education institutions have a mission and responsibility to fulfil towards society.
Purpose
The Higher Education Funding Council for England (2004) illustrates the main purposes of higher education in three points: to enable people to develop their capabilities and fulfil their potential both personally and at work, to advance knowledge and understanding through scholarship and research, and to contribute to an economically successful and culturally diverse nation.
Definition
Over time, the major development stages of higher education have been articulated by many experts, where debates on the issue have centred on the distinctions between elite, mass and universal higher education systems in most countries, particularly developed societies.
Famous writings on the subject are perhaps those published by Trow in the early 1970s.
Scott (2005) summarises the development of higher education, based on the enrolment rates defined by Trow as "higher education systems that enrolled up to 15 per cent of the age group were best described as elite systems; systems that enrolled between 15 and 40 per cent of the age group were mass systems; and those that enrolled more than 40 per cent were universal systems."
Transition
Broadly speaking, the transition from elite to mass to universal higher education has been based on the increasing numbers of students in all countries enrolling and attending non-elite institutions.
This translates into a move from highly limited access education (which is generally viewed as a privilege), to a wider access education (seen by people as a right for those who have certain formal qualification and is perceived as an access to lifelong learning), to a stage whereby attendance in higher education institutions becomes as an obligation and is viewed as educating the entire population.
The US example
Few countries, including the USA, have experienced the transition from mass to universal higher education systems. In the UAE, official statistics for the past ten years indicate that the nation has been encountering a mass higher education environment.
Several factors have contributed to create this situation including increasing public investments in both general and higher education, open market in education in general and higher education in particular, modern infrastructure and remarkable developments in adapting the latest applications in communications and information technology.
Statistics
Figures for students applying to mass higher education institutions have significantly grown in the last ten years.
In 1996 7,756 students applied and this grew to 15,184 by 2007, an increase of 95.8 per cent. In 1996 the total eligible students were 6,331, which increased to 13,316 in 2007, an increase of 110.33 per cent.
Statistics indicate a growth of 101.5 per cent from 1996 to 2007 in the number of women applying to institutions.
These numbers rose from 4,612 to 9,292 students in 2007. The total numbers for eligibility for women in 1996 were 4,008, which increased to 8,310 in 2007 for a growth of 107.34 per cent.
For male students there has been a growth of 87.4 per cent from 1996 when total applications were 3,144 students. This increased to 5,892 in 2007. Total eligibility has increased from 2,323 in 1996 to 5,006, a 115.5 per cent rise.
Records of applications and eligibility show that the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) are the most favoured schools.
This popularity may be attributed to the educational environment, employment-related curriculum and the communication skills the HCT provides to its graduates.
The statistics confirm three essential points. First, the increasing interest among national students, women and men, to enrol in higher education programmes as an important requirement for employment.
Second is the potential role higher education plays in supporting the economy of the UAE. Third and most important, is the position the UAE has occupied among societies that encounter 'mass' higher education conditions.
This situation adds more value to the positive accomplishments of the UAE in the field of education in general and in higher education in particular.
- Source: Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and National Admissions and Placement Office 2007
The writer is a UAE national academic and thinker
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