Knowledge or Competence Based Higher Education
2. Setting the stage. A comparative analyses of education in EU countries
Higher or tertiary education is part of the human capital investment reflected in individual pecuniary (wages, profit, etc.) and non pecuniary benefits (wellbeing, life satisfaction) and translates into the quality of the social capital of the community at large (OECD, 2001).
Therefore, policy makers and households are willing to invest considerable amounts in order to improve education and consequently well being (Graphs no.1 and 2).
Policymakers, on one hand, are aware of the productivity transfer effect of public spending on education whilst households are willing to increase their revenue and wellbeing (Donath L., Gheorghioiu A. 2014).
The productivity transfer effect is essential, meaning that the governmental expenditure invested in education is reflected in the level of productivity, profit and the increase of the GDP/capita and the individual and social wellbeing. Further on, circular effects occur, larger amounts being invested in human capital (Figure no.1)
83 Figure 1 The circular flow of human capital investments
EU countries adopt various education funding systems, according the level of the GDP, the structure of the economy, education policies, employability, short and long term priorities.
There are countries that encourage private investments in education (mainly the Anglo Saxon countries), or public funding (The Scandinavian countries) as shown in the graphs bellow.
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Graph 1 Percentage of GDP for private funding of education
Source: Eurostat
Graph 2 Percentage of GDP for public expenditure on education
Source: Eurostat
According to Graph no.1, the private spending on education in Romania is at a very low level (and not sufficiently compensated by public funding to allow large access to higher education) given the considerable share of low earners, while the low level of private spending in the Scandinavian countries is compensated by significant public expenditure on education.
85 But, there are several other determinants to be considered, such as the GDP/capita, the low-wage earners as a share of all employees (excluding apprentices) and the income inequality (Graphs no.3, 4, 5).
Graph 3 GDP/capita in the EU selected countries
Source: Eurostat
Graph 4 Low-wage earners as a proportion of all employees (excluding apprentices) - more than 10 employees
Source: Eurostat
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Graph 5 Inequality of income distribution 20% highest/20% lowest (highest quintile)
Source: Eurostat
Consequently, as Graph no.7 shows, in Romania about 20% of the population attains higher education. Beside the above mentioned determinants, decreasing population, emigration and early drop-outs contribute to a certain extent to the low percentage of students.
Graph 6 Early leavers from education
Source: Eurostat
87 Graph 7 Students enrolled in tertiary education (% of the population)
Source: Eurostat 3. Challenges of higher education
The structural options for higher education consider the types of institutions and programs, intra and inter institutional diversity (Universities and applied sciences), flat or steep
“vertical” quality/reputation differences, and bachelor master structure.
The most frequent questions that are raised are whether higher education is moving towards an elite knowledge society or a mass knowledge society?
Under these circumstances the curricula meets the following alternatives: knowledge based/academic vs. skills, research reflections vs. professional problem-solving, theoretical” vs. applied approach, specific vs. general. On another level, the curricula must deal with transfer of (academic) knowledge to professional work assignments (“problem-solving activities”), development of typical working styles (e.g. working under pressure, working independently without clear assignments), development of typical working values (“loyalty”, “achievement orientation”), social skills (“leadership”, “team work”, etc.), supplementary knowledge (foreign languages, ICT, organisational knowledge, etc.), context awareness (“adaptation”, “reflection”, “risk tasking”, etc.), earning to manage one’s own career (Teichler U., 2005).
Therefore, higher education institutions may become subordinated universities that stress on the practical skills, “ivory tower” autonomous university, and the knowledgeable, reflective university.
Considering the latest evolution in the Romanian academic system and the gaps that should be filled in the education, economic/incentive regime/innovation/ICT in order to improve the knowledge index (Table no.1)
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Under these circumstances, decision makers should reconsider the organisation and approach of the higher education, the requirements of companies, to enhance research and become internationally competitive.
Table 1 KEI and KI index (2012)
Rank Country KEI KI Economic
Incentive Regime Innovation Education ICT
1 Sweden 9.43 9.38 9.58 9.74 8.92 9.49
2 Finland 9.33 9.22 9.65 9.66 8.77 9.22
5 Norway 9.11 8.99 9.47 9.01 9.43 8.53
8 Germany 8.90 8.83 9.10 9.11 8.20 9.17
14 KingdomUnited 8.76 8.61 9.20 9.12 7.27 9.45
24 France 8.21 8.36 7.76 8.66 8.26 8.16
27 Hungary 8.02 7.93 8.28 8.15 8.42 7.23
31 Malta 7.88 7.53 8.94 7.94 6.86 7.80
34 Portugal 7.61 7.34 8.42 7.62 6.99 7.41
37 Latvia 7.41 7.15 8.21 6.56 7.73 7.16
39 Croatia 7.29 7.27 7.35 7.66 6.15 8.00
44 Romania 6.82 6.63 7.39 6.14 7.55 6.19
45 Bulgaria 6.80 6.61 7.35 6.94 6.25 6.66
Source: The World Bank 4. Reshaping higher education
During the last 25 years, the number of higher education universities grew in the public and private sector as well (UEFISCDI, 2013) and instead of triggering competition to reach higher standards only contributed to lowering the quality of higher education.
Presently, the major gap is the absence of applied science universities, concentrating on the practical skills of the students; all the existing universities are declared knowledge based institutions incorporating research in their mission statement. Moreover, the insignificant allocations of public research funds (0, 2% of the GDP) and the few private research projects put comprehensive universities under pressure, because their mission to create knowledge cannot be fulfilled.
The main determinant of this evolution is the massification of higher education, lack of selection admission exams, the underfunding of education, etc.
The legislative changes have enforced tighter accreditation criteria that, partly, explain the decreasing number of universities. In addition, the demographic pressure (decrease of the population, emigration, etc), the evolution of the economic structure and the inadequate
89 funding put pressure, forcing universities and decision makers to reconsider the organisation of higher education.
In our opinion, the reformation of the Romanian higher education means adjustments to meet the competence demand on the labour market and to foster innovation required by a sustainable development.
Therefore, tertiary education should be organised on two levels:
- Applied universities that mostly concentrate on providing the necessary practical skills and fostering improved competence and entrepreneurship.
- Knowledge based universities that focus on research and innovation.
Figure 2 Alternative learning cycles
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5. Conclusions
Human capital investments and specifically education has been identified as the main source of sustainable development of the economy and the society.
Given the dynamics of labour market and the globalisation that includes labour mobility, the main issue that should prevail in discussing the fundamentals of education is whether the higher education should be knowledge based or competence based.
On one hand, it is obvious that companies are demanding specific skills, but on the other hand, universities cannot afford to comply and prepare small number of students to meet specific labour demands, and on the other hand their mission is to create knowledge and contribute to the productivity transfer. They are designed to be the drivers of the society, encouraging creative thinking, innovation, and multiculturalism and shaping behaviour.
The issue is ever more important for the case of the Romanian higher education system, given the constant reformation and changes it went through during the last 25 years.
Given the present state of the economy and of the society, the paper tries to fundament the idea that the higher education in Romania should be built on two pillars: i.e. knowledge based universities heavily relying on research and applied science universities strictly pursuing the practical skills and competence of the graduates. Knowledge based universities can also organise, on demand, postgraduate programs to update competences.
The two pillar higher education system would better contribute to the human resource needs of sustainable development and would use public and private funds more effectively.
91 Literature
Donath L.E., Gheorghioiu A.M (2014): Redistributive Effects of Taxation. A Welfare Perspective. LAP-Lambert Academic Publishing
Teuchler, U. (2005): The Future of Graduate Employment and Work and the Implications for Higher Education. Contribution to the OECD/France International Conference “Higher
Education to 2030: What Futures for Quality Access
in the Era of Globalisation?”, Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers, Paris, 8 – 9 December 2008
XXX, (2013): Equity in the Romanian Higher Education System, Higher Education Evidence Based Policy Making: a necessary premise for progress in Romania, SMIS 34912, www.politici-edu.ro/, (Accessed on the 3rd of March 2015)
XXX, (2001): Education at A Glance. http://www.oecd.org/edu/skills-beyond-school/educationataglance2001-home.htm (Accessed on 10 of January 2015)
XXX, (2012): Knowledge Economy Index.
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTUNIKAM/Resources/2012.pdf (Accessed on 15 January 2015
www.eurostat.org
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