Conclusion

Higher education in the Asia and Pacific region is approaching a historical moment in the sense that economic integration has reached a tipping point. The global recession provides an opportunity unlike any in the past 40 years to address the capacity of colleges and universities to serve poor and vulnerable populations. A measure of success in the next 40 years will be the extension of relevant higher-learning opportunities for all populations, especially those in the most remote ethnic communities of developing countries.

The global recession presents an opportunity to continue urgent reforms (Kuroda 2009). As the knowledge production and knowledge transfer systems of the region become as integrated as their economies, a highly collaborative layer of colleges and universities can promote high-quality, international recognition and global competitiveness. Governments and international organizations can help identify a series of centers in the region that excel in particular aspects of higher education and that have the capacity to respond to the demands from across the region. However, it is also important to anticipate future Asia-wide challenges.

This paper highlights the importance of the global recession as an opportunity for new thinking about comprehensive reform in education. The longer that colleges and universities continue to underperform, the greater will be the negative impact on the economies in Asia. In fact, underperformance will only compound the effect of this and any future financial recession. The OECD has demonstrated that underperforming education systems can have disastrous consequences and significant negative impacts on national growth (ADB 2008b).

In the wake of the global recession and a return to a more stable financial environment, government responses that simply restore previous funding patterns for education will find limited improvement in outcomes. This was the case with OECD countries and there is little reason to assume this will not be the case in Asia (OECD 2009). Comprehensive policy and structural reforms in education can better ensure improved educational outcomes. Yet social protection measures remain important in the short run.

In the long term, however, broad based inclusiveness in education systems for the underserved populations, including basic, vocational-technical, and higher education, both regular and vocational-technical, is necessary to make a significantly positive impact on economic growth. This impact can be accomplished by identifying underserved, disadvantaged, and vulnerable populations, and by creating a link that allocates financial aid directly to specific cohorts, such that these cohorts maximize their learning potential, avoid the waste of talent in these populations, and build knowledge and skills capacity for a human resource base that improves social and economic development across Asian countries.

The global economy will continue to encounter and transverse recessions, each with a unique set of characteristics. Such economic shocks reveal the fragility of colleges and universities to serve poor and vulnerable populations. While we are becoming increasingly familiar with the causes of economic crises and recessions, there has been a relative paucity of effective ideas about how to move forward, especially for colleges and universities to build up institutional resilience in time to face future global or regional recessions.

The manner in which each economic shock affects capacity is constantly evolving, with differing and numerous features. This complicates the challenge of building capacity. It is an opportune time to establish one or more regional institutes to bring together practitioners from the public, private, and academic sectors on a regular basis to analyze patterns and connect theory and practice. The aim would be to anticipate, as much as possible; to analyze the implications of potential economic downswings; and to shape new thinking about preparations, responses, and strategies to sustain the capacity of colleges and universities for serving their increasingly diverse populations equitably with relevant and high-quality higher learning.

There is a new urgency to identify and remedy deficiencies with fresh approaches and innovative policy options that embed resilience in the region's rapidly expanding system of colleges and universities. While it will not be easy to find ways to insulate higher education capacity from future economic shocks, colleges and universities must remain free to carry out their mission, encourage new partnerships, and pool ingenuity to innovate while trying to stay one step ahead in the competitive environment of knowledge production and transfer. In short, the goal is to ensure that colleges and universities can cope with future uncertain economic times and flourish within them.

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