Changes in Higher Education in Asia and the Pacific call for an International Conference of States in Tokyo

©MEXT Japan

On 25-26 November 2011 the International Conference of States for the Asia-Pacific Regional Convention on Recognition of Qualifications in Higher Education was held in Tokyo, Japan. A total of twenty six countries from Asia Pacific region participated including Bangladesh, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Timor Leste, Turkey, Malaysia, Philippines, Australia, Japan, Uzbekistan, Indonesia, Iran, Thailand, Bhutan, India, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam. Representatives of the Holy See also participated in the conference.

An additional nine observer countries from other regions present were Canada, Hungary, Iraq, Malawi, Mexico, Oman, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Zimbabwe.

The conference was opened by Masaharu Nakagawa, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in Japan. Opening remarks followed by Margaret Proctor, President of the Asia Pacific Regional Convention Committee and Qian Tang, Assistant Director General for Education, UNESCO.

The Asia-Pacific Regional Convention on Recognition of Qualifications in Higher Education was adopted at the International Conference of States in Bangkok, Thailand on 16 December 1983. It aims to ensure that studies, diplomas, and degrees in higher education are recognized as widely as possible, considering the great diversity of education systems in the Asia-Pacific region and the richness of its cultural, social, political, philosophical, religious and economic backgrounds.

The significant developments in higher education, including the exponential growth of private and public providers and cross-border providers and the raise of ICTs in education, has lead to dramatic changes in governance and administration, the emergence of lifelong education, qualifications earned through distance learning and a new focus on quality assurance. A need to build national capacity, sustainable systems and assessment tools to measure learning outcomes, are all factors that have added pressure in ensuring that qualifications are recognized in other countries.

The International Conference of States in Tokyo responded to these new challenges by revising and extending the 1983 Regional Convention. Hence, the important highlight of this gathering was the official signing of the Revised Regional Convention on the first day. 

The convention was signed by 8 member states in Asia and the Pacific; these were Armenia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Republic of Korea, Timor Leste, and Turkey. It was also signed by the Holy See.

The second day was marked by presentations and discussions on ways to solve the challenges and practices in national ratification and implementation. Also discussed was UNESCO’s portal to recognized Higher Education Institutions and the role it can play in the implementation process.

Read more about the event and download the presentations

www.unescobkk.org/en/education/higher-and-distance-education/internationalconferenceofstates/

By Jeffry Peguero, UNESCO Bangkok