First World Education Conference Convened

Delegates to the first World Conference on Higher Education adopted a declaration and action statement last week in Paris that focused on improving global access and cooperation in higher education.

The conference, which was coordinated by the United Nations Economic, Social and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), drew delegations from 183 countries and over 4,200 participants.

Two years of regional conferences and planning culminated in a fruitful week of debates, according to Marco Antonio R. Dias, director of the UNESCO division of higher education.

"All these people together were able to establish and agree to make a consensus on principle," Dias said. "These principles go to the importance of universalization of higher education."

The countries unanimously passed a declaration and action framework that each delegation will take back to national governments and educational associations.

The declaration calls for non-discrimination in admissions, the elimination of gender stereotypes in higher education and an evaluation on curricula based on a comparison between what society expects of institutions and what they actually do.

U.S. Ambassadors

The U.S. delegation, coordinated by the Department of Education, was the largest at the conference.

Harvard, though usually in the vanguard among U.S. institutions of higher education, was noticeably absent from this group. Several associations the University is a part of attended.

"I can't tell you how we selected our delegation," said David A. Longanecker, the assistant secretary for post-secondary education who chaired the U.S. delegation. "I had no involvement in the selection of the delegates."

He added that the U.S. was one of the few nations that did not include students in its delegation.

"The students' voice is a political voice to other nations," he added.

Many of the conference goals are synonymous with Harvard's recent initiatives. For example, President Neil L. Rudenstine has initiated a plan to establish Harvard satellites in foreign countries. The first, a Business School satellite, opened in Hong Kong last spring.

In fact, several Harvard officials told The Crimson they were unaware of the conference.

The conference addressed several issues of particular interest to Harvard and to higher education in the United States in general.

"What I think is interesting is how consistent those themes are with the Higher Education Act that just passed Congress," Longanecker said.

Longanecker said delegates discussed the importance of students studying in foreign institutions.

Conference participants were interested in "developing more programs where students can attend foreign universities without penalty...institutions abroad rather than a cloistered Harvard environment," he said.

He added that delegates discussed the development of an international rating system for colleges and universities. Foreign students feel comfortable attending Harvard because of its reputation but may be reluctant to attend lesser-known institutions.

"Foreign students go on reputation rather than accreditation because the [school accreditation] system is pass/fail and almost everybody passes," Longanecker said.

The establishment of the conference seemed to signal a movement toward greater world cooperation in higher education, Longanecker said.

"From my perspective two of the most significant benefits of being part of this conference is that I was accompanied by some of the most significant leaders in higher education in this country. We were building a stronger world network in higher education," he said.

"There will be cooperation that will evolve. This provided an avenue for enhancing those types of activities."

Conference attendees said globalization seemed like less of a challenge when the forum was higher education.

Cooperation with UNESCO is a breakthrough for the United States.

The U.S. faces two dilemmas in implementing the framework, Longanecker said. First of all, the United States is not currently a member of UNESCO.

Together with Singapore and the United Kingdom, the U.S. withdrew from UNESCO during the cold war because they disagreed with its goals. Both Singapore and the U.K. have rejoined.

"One of the big issues for us is to see how we can become members of that organization," Longanecker said.

"UNESCO considered it essential to have the United States' participation," Dias said. "It is important because the U.S. has the most important higher education system in the world."

While the conference showed countries' capacity for cooperation, it also revealed some of their differences. U.S. students for example have more standard preparation than in other countries. In New Guinea the government needs to educate students who speak 860 different languages in remote pockets of countryside.

"When one hears about the barriers that some nations have to face it makes you realize in a way how much we have," Scott said.

The U.S. delegation suggested establishment of a "higher education peace corps" to bring learning to other nations, with students' and educators who are there to learn, Scott said.