Policy Futures in Education

ISSN 1478-2103

Volume 6 Number 5 2008

CONTENTS [click on author's name for abstract and full text]

SPECIAL ISSUE
University Restructuring Experiences in East Asia: myth and reality
Guest Editors: KA HO MOK & DAVID CHAN

Ka Ho Mok. Introduction, pages 528‑531 doi:10.2304/pfie.2008.6.5.528 VIEW FULL TEXT
John N. Hawkins. Higher Education Transformation: some trends in California and Asia, pages 532‑544
Kinglun Ngok & Weiqing Guo. The Quest for World-Class Universities in China: critical reflections, pages 545‑557
Terri Kim. Higher Education Reforms in South Korea: public-private problems in internationalising and incorporating universities, pages 558‑568
Michael H. Lee & S. Gopinathan. University Restructuring in Singapore: amazing or a maze?, pages 569‑588
Carole J. Petersen & Jan Currie. Higher Education Restructuring and Academic Freedom in Hong Kong, pages 589‑600
Ka Ho Mok. When Socialism Meets Market Capitalism: challenges for privatizing and marketizing education in China and Vietnam, pages 601‑615
Flora F. Tien. Incorporation of National Universities in Taiwan: challenges for the government and the academics, pages 616‑628
Jun Oba. Creating World-class Universities in Japan: policy and initiatives, pages 629‑640
David Chan & William Lo. University Restructuring in East Asia: trends, challenges and prospects, pages 641‑652

REVIEW ESSAY doi:10.2304/pfie.2008.6.5.653 VIEW FULL TEXT
Ruth Rikowski. On Marx: an introduction to the revolutionary intellect of Karl Marx, pages 653‑661

Higher Education Transformation: some trends in California and Asia

JOHN N. HAWKINS University of California, Los Angeles, USA

doi:10.2304/pfie.2008.6.5.532

This article discusses higher education transformation in California, the wider USA, and Asia. It touches on several sensitive topics, including the relationship between higher education and the public good versus commodification, privatization, and centralization versus decentralization, as well as others. In the USA and California, this has led to questions of whether historic conceptions of the ‘public good’ can be sustained within the policy frame it has created. The notion of higher education as a public good, especially for the large public research universities, is also being challenged in the Asia region as the state withdraws from maintaining the levels of financial support it has provided in the past. The author suggests that scholars and practitioners in both Asia and the USA should remain engaged with each other and continue to share policies and practices as their respective higher education institutions seek to develop and grow in the increasingly global knowledge society.

The Quest for World Class Universities in China: critical reflections

KINGLUN NGOK & WEIQING GUO Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China

doi:10.2304/pfie.2008.6.5.545

Building world-class universities has become a national policy priority in China since then-President Jiang Zemin announced in May 1998 that China must have several world-class universities of international advanced level. This article aims to offer critical reflections on the policy in relation to building world-class universities in China. It begins by introducing the policy context of China’s world-class universities initiatives. Then, it examines Chinese perceptions of world-class universities, and assesses the related policy options adopted by the government and universities. It concludes that the formation and implementation of the policy of building the world-class universities in China reflects the ambition of both the Chinese government and Chinese universities to develop high quality higher education in the context of globalization and the knowledge-based economy.

Higher Education Reforms in South Korea: public–private problems in internationalising and incorporating universities

TERRI KIM Brunel University, United Kingdom

doi:10.2304/pfie.2008.6.5.558

This article analyses the policy and practices of restructuring higher education in South Korea in light of the distinctive characteristics of Korean higher education development and government–higher education relations. The role of government in the development of higher education in Korea has been typically as a direct regulator rather than a coordinator. However, the global trend towards neo-liberal policies, such as privatization and a ‘lean’ state which coordinates market competition, began to be influential in Korea during the 1990s, which eventually led to a shift in higher education policies. There is a public rhetoric about neo-liberal public sector reforms and restructuring; and policy implementations are being made accordingly. The article critically reviews the current government’s political rationale for restructuring higher education against the backdrop of ‘globalization’. It is suggested that despite such influences, the Ministry of Education (MOE) has not yet shifted its role in regulating the higher education sector: the fundamental relations of the MOE and the higher education sector have not changed. This article discusses why and how the relations of government to higher education are, in fact, unchanging in Korea.

University Restructuring in Singapore: amazing or a maze?

MICHAEL H. LEE The Chinese University of Hong Kong
SARAVANAN GOPINATHAN Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

doi:10.2304/pfie.2008.6.5.569

The Singapore government has put forward a comprehensive restructuring program of university education since the 1990s. Public universities in Singapore are going to be developed as world-class universities through a series of university education policies and reforms. This article reviews major developments of university education policies and reforms in Singapore since the mid-1990s and examines critically the impact of the restructuring policies and reforms on the university system in Singapore. It is argued that universities in Singapore can enjoy a higher degree of institutional autonomy within a more stringent framework of public accountability. The university restructuring policy is not only aimed at transforming Singapore as a regional education hub, but also developing public universities in the island-state as world-class higher education institutions. Singapore’s universities have to cope with many unprecedented changes and challenges amidst the restructuring process.

Higher Education Restructuring and Academic Freedom in Hong Kong

CAROLE J. PETERSEN University of Hawaii, Manoa, Hawaii, USA
JAN CURRIE Murdoch University, Perth, Australia

doi:10.2304/pfie.2008.6.5.589

A former British colony, Hong Kong was reunited with the People’s Republic of China in 1997 under the ‘one country two systems’ model. The Hong Kong Basic Law contains detailed provisions for academic freedom, ensuring that local academics enjoy far greater freedom than their counterparts in mainland China. Hong Kong academics and the broader community have also publicly supported academic freedom when they perceived it to be under threat. The authors argue, however, that the recent restructuring of Hong Kong’s universities may ultimately pose a greater threat than any explicit interference from the local or national governments.

When Socialism Meets Market Capitalism: challenges for privatizing and marketizing education in China and Vietnam

KA HO MOK The University of Hong Kong

doi:10.2304/pfie.2008.6.5.601

China and Vietnam have experienced drastic social, economic and political changes, especially when these two socialist regimes have started economic reforms in the last few decades. In order to create more opportunities for higher education with limited national resources, both Chinese and Vietnamese governments have adopted strategies along the lines of marketization and privatization to reform their higher education systems. The major objective of this article is to critically examine how the market transition taking place in China and Vietnam has led to changes in education governance, particularly examine how these two governments have approached the challenges of global capitalism by transforming the socialist education model into a more market-oriented one. This article also discusses the major challenges and policy implications when education is increasingly privatized and marketized in China and Vietnam.

Incorporation of National Universities in Taiwan: challenges for the government and the academics

FLORA F. TIEN National Taiwan University

doi:10.2304/pfie.2008.6.5.616

The Council of Education Reform of the Executive Yuan in Taiwan raised the issue of incorporating national universities in 1996. After that initial effort, the Ministry of Education in 2000 revealed its proposal to incorporate national universities in a White Paper on higher education policy. In 2003‑2006 the government has tried at least twice to sell the policy to legislators in Taiwan’s parliament (the Legislative Yuan). The first attempt was made in 2003 when the government submitted its bill to revise the University Act. In the bill, a whole chapter was devoted to regulations concerned with the incorporation of universities. The proposal promised university corporations autonomy, and, in particular, more flexible personnel and accounting systems. The bill, however, failed to pass the Committee of Education and Culture in the Legislative Yuan. In October 2005, the Ministry of Education tried again by including only one article related to the incorporation of universities in the bill. That article was to provide universities with a legal foundation for incorporation, but the Legislative Yuan passed the bill without including that particular article. It thus failed again. The Ministry of Education has not, however, given up on its policy of incorporating universities. In a special NT$50 billion dollar aid package to universities, the government required that all recipients include a plan for incorporation. In order to receive the special assistance, most universities have chosen not to resist. The incorporation of national universities in Taiwan is an issue that needs to be closely watched in the future.

Creating World-Class Universities in Japan: policy and initiatives

JUN OBA Hiroshima University, Japan

doi:10.2304/pfie.2008.6.5.629

For a very long time the Japanese government concentrated its higher education investment on a handful of national institutions, until the policy came to be called into question in the late 1980s in the face of globalisation and other factors. Higher education reform was significantly accelerated in the 1990s: the government has continuously deregulated the higher education system including the incorporation of national universities, and has brought more and more competition through diverse competitive funding schemes. Some policies – not only higher education policies but also science and technology ones – were explicitly designed to develop ‘world-class’ education and research centres, such as the 21st COE programme. This article suggests that although a funding policy based on competition, with a strict evaluation, seems to be a move in the right direction, a right balance of budget allocation between competitive funds and basic education-research funds should be sought. Furthermore, the programmes of the government have to be offered in a more consistent manner, and more concerted and integrated efforts will be required, to address the critical problem of building world-class universities.

University Restructuring in East Asia: trends, challenges and prospects

DAVID CHAN City University of Hong Kong
WILLIAM LO The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

doi:10.2304/pfie.2008.6.5.641

This concluding article aims to pull together the analysis undertaken in the preceding articles in this special issue. By sketching an overview of the university reforms and developments revealed in the sectoral articles, it draws out the trends of university restructuring in East Asia. It then projects the significances of these trends in terms of cautions to be raised. Finally, the article provides some comments on the ways the university sector in East Asia moves forward.

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