New OECD plan to benchmark the performance of higher education systems

By Brendan O’Malley – Managing Editor. In a Special Report on the “Higher Education Futures” conference organised by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, or OECD, and the Singapore government, Yojana Sharma reports that the OECD has not abandoned its attempts to compare learning outcomes internationally and is planning a new project aimed at benchmarking the performance of higher education systems. She also reports from the conference that China has announced a new scheme, dubbed ‘World Class 2.0’, to ensure that its best universities achieve world-class status, and she writes that the rise of Asia is set to change the bipolar world of higher education dominated by Europe and North America.
In another Special Report from a different part of the globe, Karen MacGregor reports from the world conference of the International Council for Open and Distance Education held in South Africa that the boundaries between institutions and developers of technology-enhanced learning ought to be broken down in the interests of sustainable development. Also, Stephen Coan reports on keynote speaker Laura Czerniewicz’s message that higher education leaders would have to learn to manage uncertainty associated with rapid changes in learning technologies, and Munyaradzi Makoni covers another keynote emphasising that education expansion must balance increased access with greater equality of access.
The Commentary section focuses on rankings this week, with Richard Holmes, who produces the University Ranking Watch blog, arguing that the Times Higher Education rankings’ methodology changes have led to some remarkable fluctuations, questioning their credibility. In contrast, Waldemar Siwinski is very upbeat about the dependability and future of national university rankings, which are on the increase worldwide. Philip G Altbach bemoans the irrationality of contemporary science in which systems of scientific credit have run amok, partly due to the obsession with rankings.
In our World Blog, Anna Notaro urges European universities to become intellectual benefactors in the refugee crisis that has engulfed their continent.
And finally, in Features, Rebecca Warden reports on a gathering of international academics to review the blueprint for the UN’s new Sustainable Development Goals on education. Read more...