OECD Thematic Review of Tertiary Education The Conclusions

OECD Thematic Review of Tertiary Education The Conclusions from the Review of Tertiary Education of Iceland Paulo Santiago Directorate for Education, OECD Ministry of Education, Science and Culture in Iceland Reykjavík, 8 September 2006

Outline of Presentation Part 1: The OECD Thematic Review of Tertiary Education Objectives, Participating Countries, Methodology, the Review Visit to Iceland Part 2: The Main Policy Priorities for Iceland -- System Governance -- Resourcing -- Quality Assurance -- Equity -- Regional Role -- Research and Innovation -- Links to the Labour Market -- Internationalisation

Part 1 The OECD Thematic Review of Tertiary Education 3

Objectives To examine how the organisation, financing and management of tertiary education can help countries achieve their economic and social objectives 4

The OECD project’s contribution A collaborative, cross-national process to: r r Identify innovative and successful policy initiatives and practices r Facilitate exchanges of lessons and experiences among countries r 5 Synthesise research-based evidence on the impact of tertiary education policies and disseminate this knowledge among participating countries Identify policy options and the conditions under which they are successfully implemented

Participating countries 24 countries Australia, Belgium (Flemish Community), Chile, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Iceland, Japan, Korea, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russian Federation, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. 13 countries visited by review teams China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Japan, Korea, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Poland.

Methodology - Cross-Country Collaboration; - Country Background Reports; - National Co-ordinator; - National Advisory Committee; - Workshops and Seminars; - Review Visits (for some countries); - Country Notes (for countries organising a Review); - Analytical Visits (for countries not organising a Review) - Commissioned Papers; 7 - Extensive Reviews of Literature; - Data Analyses.

OECD’s Tertiary Education Review of Iceland Objectives 1. To provide insights and suggestions for policy development in Iceland; 2. To inform the wider international community about (a) the main features of Iceland’s tertiary education policy; and (b) innovative and effective approaches to tertiary education policy in Iceland; and 3. To inform the final comparative report from the project. Structure of Visit (26 September-3 October, 2005) Eight-day visit which comprised discussions in all institutions of tertiary education in Iceland. Review team with 6 members: 2 OECD Secretariat members; and researchers and policy-makers from Denmark, New Zealand, Spain and the United Kingdom; Interacted with over 200 individuals; had about 45 meetings amounting to about 50 hours of discussions; 8 Discussions were held with a wide range of education authorities, institutions, student organisations, academic staff, the business and industry community, agencies responsible for funding and quality assurance, and researchers.

OECD’s Tertiary Education Review of Iceland Relevant features External perspective, looking from a distance; Independent perspective, no review team member has a vested interest in the system; Not an examination; qualitative analysis that seeks to provide an input of a specific nature to the internal debate; Bring together research evidence, data and information available in a broad comprehensive comparative framework; Final report from visit (Country Note) released on 22 of August – both on the Ministry’s and OECD’s website 9

Part 2 The main policy priorities 10

From one Institution to a System -- Expansion and Growth -Accomodation of domestic demand establishment of new institutions - Range and sweep of reform are impressive -- High “Adaptive Capacity” - Speed of change and deeply-rooted consensual nature of Iceland Politics - Diversity of approaches -- The “Facilitatory State” 11 A large degree of institutional autonomy along with new steering responsibilities for educational authorities

The need to rethink Governance -- A new state of tension How to reconcile priorities of individual institutions and broader social and economic objectives of the higher education system -- The reliance on competition - Seen as the prime instrument to bring convergence between institutional initiative and national objectives - But it presents a number of shortcomings -- A new role for policy: the steering of the system 12 The call for reflection on how best to build a coherent system

Areas for further attention -- Design a funding system consistent with the overall strategy and objectives for the system -- Clarify role of and relationships with individual institutions -- Develop a comprehensive system of quality assurance to give coherence to the overall system -- Integrate higher education system into the country’s research and innovation system 13 -- Develop an evidence basis to inform policy making

Design a funding system consistent with the overall strategy and objectives for the system 14

Funding System – Features to cherish Funding of Institutions - Transparency of funding formula for instruction; - Contractualisation; - Competitive funds for Research; - Autonomy of institutions to decide on internal allocation; - Public funds allocated to private institutions. Student Support System - Generosity of system which removes liquidity constraints of students, allows the treatment of students independently from their family, and is the operational expression of the weight attached to equity values; 15 - No discrimination between private and public sectors; supports study overseas; - Linked to study progress and income-related.

Funding System – Ideas to consider Sustainability of funding - Debate implications of “free” tuition in public institutions; - Competing priorities; - Lack of economies of scale. Provide incentives for alignment with system goals - Introduce performance-based criteria in funding formulas; - Encourage institutions to seek more external funds. Eliminating distortions - Assess appropriateness of funding for distance learning; - Differentiate funding for postgraduate students from undergr. ; - Equal treatment between private and public sector. 16 Student Support System - Review some features of the loan system.

Clarify role of and relationships with individual institutions 17

Role and Governance of Individual Institutions – Features to cherish -- Maintain the good levels of autonomy (e. g. internal allocation of resources, human resources management, creation of programmes); -- Ability to seek and retain ‘external funds’; -- “Contractual” relationship to institutions; -- Diversity in management structures and educational approaches; 18

Role and Governance of Individual Institutions – Ideas to consider -- Make better use of system of “contracts” Define expectations, performance targets, ‘profiles’ -- Consider “external” representation in Governing Boards Improve accountability mechanisms 19

Develop a comprehensive system of quality assurance to give coherence to the overall system 20

Quality Assurance – Features to cherish -- Keep emphasis on internal quality assurance mechanisms Culture of evaluation in system to draw on institutional experience -- Draw on currently existing framework for external evaluations -- Keep principle of making results of external evaluations publicly available 21

Quality Assurance – Ideas to consider -- New priority in the setting up of a comprehensive system of Quality Assurance - to serve two ends: improvement and accountability - to avoid degenerating into a culture of compliance and imposition. -- Concentrating on the internal dimension… and assigning a complementary role to the external dimension: - Internal QA procedures externally validated; - An advisory capacity to help institutions sustain their drive to improvement; - Selective external evaluation either of institutions or disciplines -- Accreditation of Programmes Finding more effective procedures for the validation, approval and evaluation of educational programmes 22 -- Undertake a comprehensive review of distance learning in higher education

Integrate higher education system into the country’s research and innovation system 23

Research and Innovation – Features to cherish -- Intensification of research activities and levels of funding; -- Consensus about the importance of the role of research and research-based knowledge for economic and social progress; -- Range of incentives to stimulate research productivity and output: -- Research contracts; -- Competitive funds; -- Reward schemes for academics; -- Science and technology parks and regional development plans; -- Strong international ties 24 -- Ability to secure funds from external sources

Research and Innovation – Ideas to consider -- Performance driving research - Research contract to be strengthened in setting out research priorities; - Encourage alternative ways of funding research; - Introduce performance-oriented dimension in research contract. -- Project Management: Encourage an entrepreneurial culture among academics -- Improve integration of higher education and innovation systems - Consolidate and make more efficient use of knowledge transfer mechanisms already in place; - Improve links of regional institutions to regional innovation systems -- Dissemination research - Importance of disseminating research-based knowledge and include it in individual incentive procedures; 25 - Closer co-ordination between institutional objectives and individual reward schemes. -- Develop complementarity / co-operation

Develop an evidence basis to inform policy making 26

Information Base -- Build on the existing “informal social networks” both as: - Channels of communication; and - as ways of reaching informal understanding, entente and accommodation between individuals, groups and institutions. But… -- Improve the formal processes of informing, reporting and follow up Regular flow of verified and credible information to judge whether higher education is meeting expectations 27

Other features to cherish -- Emphasis on equity - commitment to gender equality - viewing itself as a classless society - Lifelong approach and the access of mature students to higher education - Opportunities for cross-border training -- Reaching out to isolated areas - Expansion of supply of tertiary programmes in regions - Development of distance education and role of lifelong learning centres -- Linking to the Labour Market - Institutional specialisation through links with particular sections in the labour market - Largely student demand-driven system - Examples of good partnerships between institutions and the labour market 28 -- Commitment to internationalisation - Experience abroad expected with capacity to attract students back - Unproblematic implementation of the Bologna process

Other ideas to consider -- Improve the articulation with secondary education -- Develop career guidance and counselling both at secondary and tertiary levels -- Shape incentives to account for the regional role of institutions -- Develop programmes to raise interest in the natural sciences 29

For further information and to download Review of Iceland: www. oecd. org/edu/tertiary/review