SOME THOUGHTS ON THE UNESCO POLICY PAPER FOR CHANGE AND DEVELOPMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION

In this article, the author reacts to a reading of the 1995 UNESCO Policy Paper for Change and Development in Higher Education. He begins by expressing concern about the overuse of practical training, the trade in the teaching of foreign medical students, and the very poor provision of information in the form of journal articles, textbooks, and computer networks in many parts of the world. He casts these concerns against certain ideals: that teaching in universities should take place in an atmosphere of research but that the number of universities that train scientists should be limited even if all universities should include a science component. Since all science doctorates should be completed rapidly so that the resulting thesis is up‐to‐date, science students should be free from dependence on teaching assistantships. Funding for higher education should be diversified; so should the institutions involved in research; however, the proliferation of small units should be avoided. In some cases, a single na...