Education for all is central to successful higher education reforms in developing countries

Achieving a pro poor growth higher education reform process in the South

By: Mamoon D
Produced by: Institute of Social Studies (ISS), Netherlands , 2005

A successful higher education reform in the South is not limited to improvement in quality and access to higher education but it should be aligned with the millennium development goals in order to achieve growth outcomes. This paper attempts to outline a pro poor pro growth higher education reform process in the South.

The paper starts by highlighting the existence of a bias in education policies in developing countries towards higher education at the cost of primary education due to the belief that elementary education has a very limited direct role in determining growth rates. It argues that such pursuit for higher education has resulted in an unequal education policy stance in the South.