Specifically, the apparent tension that exists between basic and higher education was reiterated by several participants during the workshop.

“This tension is due to the competition over resources and a narrow understanding of the role that higher education plays in driving change and expanding education systems”, said Mr Nicholas Burnett, Assistant Director-General for Education, UNESCO. Mr Peter Materu, Senior Education Specialist, the World Bank, agreed, saying that “as the international community looks to address remaining EFA challenges on a country by country level, the needs of both basic and higher education must be prioritized within the limited resources available for EFA. Wherever possible, shared goals between EFA and higher education should be explored and expanded upon.”  

Mr Bikas Sanyal, a member of the Governing Board of UNESCO’s International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa, underscored the key role that universities play in providing instruction, research and community services. Prioritizing EFA within these three areas would help address potential disconnects between EFA and Higher Education, he said.  

Mr Meteru further developed this idea, by suggesting countries rely more heavily on universities’ research and analysis functions to monitor EFA objectives. An example was provided by Professor Narihiro Kuroda, Deputy Director, University of Hiroshima, who spoke about the Africa-Asia University Dialogue for educational development. This inter-regional university to university collaborative research initiative aims to address remaining EFA challenges in both regions. Currently in its second phase, the first phase resulted in the development of more than 15 research papers that were presented to the international community.

Similarly, Mr Gwang-Jo Kim, Director of the UNESCO Office in Bangkok and former Deputy Education Minister of Korea, described how the Government of Korea established government-led research institutes, such as thinktanks, as part of a strategy to foster education’s positive impacts on development. Other key strategies included systematically linking education and skill development to the labour market needs, establishing temporary teacher training centers across the country to address teacher shortage issues and mobilizing the private sector to increase expenditure on education.

“The driving force of holistic educational systems should be higher education”, concluded Mr Jean Pierre Ezin, Commissioner for Human Resource Development, Science and Technology, African Union. The African Union’s Second Decade of Education for Africa Action Plan is founded on this idea. “The needs of primary, secondary and higher education systems should not be separated”, he stated. “Otherwise, the entire chain is weakened”.