EdInvest
News
June
2004
Copyright © World Bank Group,
2004. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.worldbank.org/edinvest
Facilitating Investment in the Global Education Market
In this Issue:
This month's newsletter will focus on a presentation at the IFC
International Forum on Investment in
Private Higher Education by ex-Minister of Education for Brazil Paulo Renato
Souza. Mr. Souza's speech addressed "Working with Governments – Establishing
Positive Regulatory Frameworks". Mr. Souza now runs a consulting firm,
Souza Consultores Ltda.
Visit the Forum
website at: http://ifcln1.ifc.org/ifcext/che.nsf/Content/EducationConference
Background:
In 1995, the Minister of f Education conducted a
review of the higher education sector and identified key problems which
are very common in developing countries. They were grouped into five different
areas:
Coverage: the
current education system coverage was inadequate to cope with the sheer size of
demand and the challenges of providing good quality education.
Accreditation: accreditation of new
institutions was a heavily bureaucratic and paper-laden process that perpetuated
a low-quality system where competition was nonexistent, and captive markets
earned education entrepreneurs huge profits. Universities received accreditation
once and this had unlimited validity.
Evaluation: there was no comprehensive
system to evaluate undergraduate education
Modernization: the challenge was how to
modernize undergraduate teaching to overcome the distortions and conservative
attitude that plagued the system
Funding: While public universities were of superior quality and
had a key role in research, there was inefficient use of public funds
Based on these findings, the
Ministry designed a set of reforms consisting of several coordinated steps
in the areas of accreditation and structure.
Creation of the evaluation
system:
An evaluation
system known as Provão was created and all undergraduate students were
tested to determine how much their had learned. The results of the
students' mean performance were used to rank to programs as A,B,C, D or E and
these results were made public. The result of the test would not interfere
with students receiving their diploma.
Analysis of teaching conditions
The Ministry also developed a
traditional evaluation system in which a team of professionals visit the
universities and assess the qualifications of the teachers, the
facilities, the libraries, the labs, the academic structure of the
courses, etc.
Linking the accreditation system to that of evaluation
After 1995 university accreditation
would be valid for a limited period of time only, afterwhich the institution
must be re-assessed and based on the results would be re-accredited or not.
Making the
structure of course provision more flexible
The structure of the higher education
was overhauled and short-term courses of tow years became available.
Approximately 10% of total enrollment is in short-term courses.
Curricular guidelines by
course
Previously, all
universities were required to follow the same curriculum. Under the new
guidelines, the Ministry allowed each university place emphasis on areas they
deemed to be of particular importance.
Making expansion more flexible
Until 1997, higher education
institutions could only be non-profit. However, money was being made in various
ways. For example, a family may own a building rent it to a
non-profit institution. The tax system continues to benefit the non-profits over
for-profit institutions, with the latter paying a much higher rate
Impact of New
Regulations
The demand of
higher education in Brazil continues to grow very rapidly. In 1994, Brazil
had 1.7 million students enrolled in higher education. By 2002 enrollment
had increased to 3.5 million students, with the bulk of expansion taking place
in private institutions. The private system grew from 1 million students in 1994
to 2.4 million in 2002, encouraged by more flexible accreditation mechanisms.
The number of private institutions now stands at approximately 1,600.
Despite of this significant expansion, Brazil still ranks low in enrollment in
relation to other countries. The gross enrollment ratio revealed that
undergraduate post secondary education was 14% in 1996 and 20% in 2002.
The percentage of
graduates increased 72 percent in public sector and 99 percent in the
private sector. There has been significant expansion in graduate courses
but concentrated mostly in public institutions. Overall, the number of courses
offered in higher education has jumped from around 5,600 in 1994 to 14,000 in
2002. The demand for courses (candidates per vacancy), has grown for those rated
A,B,C while demand for those rated D and F fell by 41 percent. In
addition, the higher education system has improved quality indicators.
Institutions established after Provão was introduced are more likely to
receive rating of A and B than those established prior to the testing.
The qualifications of
teachers also improved quite significantly. In 1994 only 39 percent of
teachers held a Masters or Ph.D; by 2002 the proportion grew to over 65
percent. Most importantly, private institutions had 25 percent of teachers
with Masters or Ph.D. degrees in 1994 and this increased to 50 percent in
2002, despite an increase in the number of teachers of 127 percent.
The percentage of teachers who used teaching plans grew from 20 to
31 percent between 1997 and 2002. Student access to computers grew from 23
to 36 percent and student access to libraries increased from 16 to 27
percent.
Lessons Learnt
The main lesson is that a real partnership had to be built between the
state and the general public regarding the regulation of the higher education
system. The test itself received a positive response from the public and from
students, who began to choose courses with good ratings over those with poor
ratings. Many Brazilian companies now take into account the results of the test
when hiring graduates.
Gaining Support
Discussions of the proposed testing went on for one year. Support
was sought from congress, which must approve the law as well as the
general public. Despite frequent public protests by student unions and public
institutions, the law was approved in November 1995 and signed in March.
Because students could submit a blank test and still received their
diploma, a strong communication strategy was required to convince students to
complete the test. This strategy comprised of face-to-face discussions, mailing
campaigns, magazine articles, television, etc. A few days prior to the exam a
leading newspaper in Brazil published an editorial in favor of the exam.
They found that 90% of their readership was aware of the test and 80%
declared they were in favor. The first test was administered in 1996 with
almost 90% of the students that answered the questions, with roughly 10%
submitting a blank test. By 2002, only 1.8% submitted blanks exams. This
success was due to a real partnership between the state and public, fostered by
information, assessment and communication.
Current Situation:
When the new government was elected in
2002, the new president of INEP (the Statistics and Evaluation Office
which oversees Provão) appointed a commission to review Provão. It submitted a
report proposing the creation of an incredibly complex system of institutional
evaluations and self-evaluations to replace Provão. A subsequent proposal was
produced that would keep Provão but testing would be reduced to a sample of
students rather than the entire student body and testing would be
administered every third year, instead of annually. It is also more susceptible
to fraud and manipulation. At the moment, the guidelines remain vague and the
new minister while supportive of ranking institutions, has not made his position
clear.
Articles of
Interest
Al-Ahliyya
Amman University in Jordan is considering opening an extension in Israel.
Israel's higher education council is evaluating the proposal. Amman
University is the first private university established in Jordan in 1990. For
the entire story see:
http://www.albawaba.com/news/index.php3?sid=277918&lang=e&dir=news
New Zealand Education Minister Trevor
Mallard announced that by 2007 every three and four-year old will be entitled to
20 hours of free preschool each week. However, it will be funded only at
community, teacher-led centers, not centers staffed by parents or those run
privately for profit. If parents move their children to free places, the 1,000
private centers nationwide will struggle to compete. See the story
by Stuart Dye in the New Zealand Herald:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?reportID=1162608&storyID=3569526
Publications
In the Spring 2004 edition of
International Higher Education, economist Claudio de Moura Castro writes of
Success and Perils in Evaluating Brazilian Undergraduate Programs.
He reviews the courageous reforms undertaken by the Minister of Education
in 1995, which called for course evaluation and student testing. See the entire
article:
http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/soe/cihe/newsletter/News35/text010.htm
In an article recently published in
Tertiary Education and Management, Philip G. Altbach examines the impact of
globalization on higher education. He reviews the claim that globalization
will level the playing field as well the assertion that globalization will lead
to inequality and the McDonaldization of the university. See the article
Globalization and the University: Myths and Realities in an Unequal
World:
http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/soe/cihe/publications/pub_pdf/Globalization.pdf
The Cato Institute has published
Educational Freedom In Urban America: Brown v. Board after half a
century edited by David Salisbury and Casey Lartigue Jr. In the book,
scholars, educators, and reformers examine the legacy of Brown v. Board
and its relation to the modern-day school choice movement. Together these
experts expose the modern barriers that deprive inner-city children of a good
education and call for increased school choice as the most effective way to
achieve the goals of Brown v. Board.
This book can be ordered through the Cato
Institute:
The Cato Institute has also just released
the book Voucher Wars by Clint Bolick which documents the twelve-year
fight from the first urban school choice program in 1990, to the 2002 Supreme
Court decision establishing the constitutionality of voucher programs. This book
can be ordered online:
http://www.catostore.org/index.asp?fa=ProductDetails&method=cats&scid=16&pid=1441132
Michael Latham (send comments to
edinvest@ifc.org )
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