scholarly journals Sustainable development and health assessment model of higher education in India: A mathematical modeling approach

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. e0261776
Author(s):  
Chenchen Deng ◽  
Song Yang ◽  
Qingyang Liu ◽  
Songjie Feng ◽  
Chuangbin Chen
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Education System ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Health Assessment ◽  
Assessment Model ◽  
Multiple Target ◽  
Solow Model ◽  
Health Score ◽  
Higher Education System

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 has resulted in a transition from physical education to online learning, leading to a collapse of the established educational order and a wisdom test for the education governance system. As a country seriously affected by the pandemic, the health of the Indian higher education system urgently requires assessment to achieve sustainable development and maximize educational externalities. This research systematically proposes a health assessment model from four perspectives, including educational volume, efficiency, equality, and sustainability, by employing the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution Model, Principal Component Analysis, DEA-Tobit Model, and Augmented Solow Model. Empirical results demonstrate that India has high efficiency and an absolute health score in the higher education system through multiple comparisons between India and the other selected countries while having certain deficiencies in equality and sustainability. Additionally, single-target and multiple-target path are simultaneously proposed to enhance the Indian current education system. The multiple-target approach of the India-China-Japan-Europe-USA process is more feasible to achieve sustainable development, which would improve the overall health score from .351 to .716. This finding also reveals that the changes are relatively complex and would take 91.5 years considering the relationship between economic growth rates and crucial indicators. Four targeted policies are suggested for each catching-up period, including expanding and increasing the social funding sources, striving for government expenditure support to improve infrastructures, imposing gender equality in education, and accelerating the construction of high-quality teachers.

Students’ attitudes towards sustainable development in Serbia

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 733-755
Author(s):  
Vesna Nikolic ◽  
Tamara Vukic ◽  
Tatjana Maletaski ◽  
Milica Andevski
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Education System ◽  
Education For Sustainable Development ◽  
The Other ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Higher Education System ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Students Attitudes

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine university students’ attitudes towards the concept of sustainable development and towards the need for the implementation of education for sustainable development into the higher education system. To that end, the paper explores in a process-oriented focus which drivers and barriers are experienced as being the most important ones and how they relate to one another. Design/methodology/approach The study is based on the questionnaire for the evaluation of attitudes towards the concept of sustainable development. This instrument consists of 9 batteries with 83 items presented in the form of the five-point Likert scale. The questionnaire evaluated different aspects of respondents’ attitudes towards the concept of sustainable development, but students’ attitudes in relation to the items from the following subscales will be presented for this paper: understanding the concept of sustainable development, position of sustainable development in the system of higher education, sources of information about sustainable development and entities responsible for sustainable development. The study sample consisted of students from the University of Novi Sad, specifically from the faculties with accredited programs in the field of humanities and technological sciences. Findings In general, students recognized the main determinants of sustainable development and they support an integral approach to sustainability, i.e. the need to include the knowledge, values and skills for sustainable development in the higher education programs. In addition, they identified a number of obstacles and the uncertainties of overcoming them. In this regard, the students did not recognize the responsibility of the higher education institutions as the key responsibility or their own responsibility in relation to sustainable development, which can be related to their feeling of marginalization and the doubt that their behaviour and decisions can influence the development of the local society, as well as the development of the society as a whole. On the other hand, the respondents acknowledged the role, the importance and the responsibility of the mass media in the process of developing the attitudes towards and opinions about the problems related to environmental protection and sustainable development. Practical implications The results of the study indicate the students’ attitudes towards sustainable development, thus making the directions for higher education reform clearer and in line with the present needs for sustainable development in Serbia. The obtained results can serve as a recommendation to the governing structures, i.e. to the relevant ministries of education and environmental protection, as well as to the universities in terms of which direction their process of planning and creating paths of sustainability should take. This is particularly important in the case of the Republic of Serbia, which is currently in the process of joining the European Union and responding to the requirements set by the process of negotiation for Chapter 27 in terms of improving the strategic framework and plans for the education for sustainable development and building the capacities in response to climate change. On the other hand, linking the results of this research with the results of similar studies around the world contributes to the further enrichment of the scientific knowledge base in this field and confirms the need for stronger and united efforts on the path to a sustainable future. It is a fact that, regardless of the national, economic, socio-political and cultural context, there is a global lack of success in shaping a humane and sustainable relationship between man and nature. Therefore, the results of this research should be considered as an invitation for new research initiatives regarding the ways to support the positive attitudes of students towards the concept of sustainable development and to facilitate their further development in the educational process, as well as in other academic domains. Originality/value This research is inspired by the fact that, in the Balkan countries, education for sustainable development has not been extensively discussed within the scientific discourse on higher education for sustainable development. This is one of the first papers to provide data about students’ attitudes towards the concept of sustainable development and the need for its implementation in the higher education system in Serbia. The value of the paper lies in its potential to help understand the role that different drivers and barriers play in higher education for sustainable development.

Establishing transdisciplinary minor programme as a way to embed sustainable development into higher education system

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 157-169
Author(s):  
Qian Jia ◽  
Ying Wang ◽  
Li Fengting
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Education Reform ◽  
Education System ◽  
Organizational Support ◽  
Education For Sustainable Development ◽  
Institutional Setting ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Higher Education System ◽  
Core Courses

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a case study of the establishment and development of a minor program in Sustainable Development in Tongji University, China, and how it contributes to embedding sustainable development into higher education system as an alternative platform for researchers and students to involve in a transdisciplinary teaching and learning process. Design/methodology/approach This case reviews the institutional setting and the different studying models and requirements for postgraduates and undergraduates. Postgraduate students have to take four core courses, select one module with four themed courses (4 + 4 fixed) and complete a transdisciplinary essay, and undergraduates can choose any three courses in all modules apart from the four core courses (4 + 3 open), with a transdisciplinary group project. Findings The development of the minor program reveals the popularity and decline of different modules, because of the popularity of the schools and institutes behind them, the university legacy and the media influence. The program design spurs transdisciplinary thinking on sustainable development but brings about challenges including time conflict with students’ major study. In conclusion, this program explores alternative education practices in embedding sustainable development in education system, contributing to and reflect on Education for Sustainable Development and the education reform in China. Originality/value The case presents a unique way of implementing Education for Sustainable Development in higher education system, in which minor education stands between formal and informal curriculum to tackle the barriers in undertaking sustainable development initiatives in curricula, through nurturing the culture and providing organizational support.

scholarly journals Sustainable Higher Education Reform Quality Assessment Using SWOT Analysis with Integration of AHP and Entropy Models: A Case Study of Morocco

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 4312
Author(s):  
Asma Fahim ◽  
Qingmei Tan ◽  
Bushra Naz ◽  
Qurat ul Ain ◽  
Sibghat Ullah Bazai
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Education Reform ◽  
Education System ◽  
Swot Analysis ◽  
Higher Education Reform ◽  
Entropy Method ◽  
Higher Education System ◽  
Reform Plan

Sustainable development goals (SDG) involve not only environmental issues but also economic, social, and cultural concerns. Higher education plays a key role in promoting sustainable development initiatives and in empowering people to change their thinking and to strive for a sustainable future. However, the main issue that needs to be presently resolved is how leaders, teachers, and students in higher education can achieve sustainable development in their system vision, mission and values, strategic plans, and organizational culture. Morocco is a country with a long history of higher education and has continuous reforms for sustainable development. In the process of responding to the wave of globalization, the Moroccan government has begun to formulate a higher education reform plan to maintain its competitiveness and achieve the SDG standards. Therefore, this study is focused on the quality of the higher education system through which the sustainability of higher education reform can be implemented. With this in mind, an organized approach that involved a questionnaire using the SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) decision-making model with integration of analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and Entropy method was developed. The questionnaires were filled out by the experts, staff, and students of the higher education system (universities) to obtain the important key factors for the SWOT analysis. The AHP was used for the qualitative analysis of the weights of the SWOT factors, while the Entropy method was applied for the objective analysis of the number of different weight attributes. After integration of AHP with Entropy, the finalized variables were ranked; these results are more reliable and realistic to decision-makers. Finally, the SWOT matrix was established based on the questionnaire assessment and the AHP with Entropy weights to help implement the higher education reform policy and to monitor the quality of the current education system. The results also indicate that higher education reform must incorporate many changes, including effective budget planning, skilled experts, internationalization, improved and expanded infrastructure, reformed study curriculum, and latest training.

scholarly journals Evaluation of higher education system management efficiency

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-107
Author(s):  
Alina Evgenievna Vinnik
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
United States ◽  
Education System ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
The United States ◽  
Education Systems ◽  
Higher Education System ◽  
Study Results ◽  
The World ◽  
The Uk

The article presents the study results of the effectiveness of managing the higher education system using the experience of leading countries of the world. The higher education systems of the United States, the UK and Sweden were chosen as the objects of study representing the North American, European and Scandinavian models of education. The educational organizations of the above countries traditionally hold the leading positions in the world ratings, including the rating of the national education systems Universitas 21, rating of the world's academic universities and ranking of the best universities in the world according to the Times Higher Education version. The official data of the leading world ratings in the field of education were analyzed, as well as the distinctive features of the educational policy of the United States of America, the UK and Sweden were identified, on the basis of which factors ensuring the high efficiency and competitiveness of the higher education system in the global educational service market were stated. Among the main factors are the following: high government spending on the education system, increasing the accessibility of higher education for the population, ensuring high quality educational services, export orientation, etc. The system of indicators has been formed to assess the effectiveness of managing national educational systems. The dynamics of coefficient of higher education propagation in the period within 1970-2014 has been illustrated; the forecast of involving the population of the leading countries into the higher education up to 2050 has been presented. It has been stated that in the developing countries the problem of higher education can be solved due to its accessibility and in the economically developed countries it is solved due to increasing the quality of educational programs, rising the number of educational trajectories and costs.

scholarly journals Quality Higher Education: A Need for Sustainable Development

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Himanshu Tripathi
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Education System ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Present Condition ◽  
Higher Education System ◽  
Education In India ◽  
Indian Higher Education ◽  
Enrolment Ratio ◽  
Teaching Learning

The National Policy on Education was framed in 1986 and modified in 1992. Since then several changes have taken place that calls for a revision of the Policy. In past efforts had already been done for primary and secondary education. It is the Higher Education which is to be looked upon if India wants to grow. A Sustainable Development could not be achieved if Higher Education is neglected at any cost. The Higher Education system in India is complex. With a Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) of 23 per cent, India is still below the world average. With relatively stagnant growth of public sector, private sector now accounts for 75 per cent of the total Higher Education institutions and 65 per cent of the total enrolments in Indian Higher Education. This paper is a study to find out how three pillars of SD- economy, ecology and society can be interlinked by the Higher Education of a country. Moreover to have a sound Sustainable Development it is necessary to have a quality Higher Education in order to effectively interlink these three areas. This can be achieved if we bring desired changes in the teaching-learning process and in learning environment also. This paper is a study of present condition of Higher Education in India and improvement needed to make a sound Higher Education system to attain SD.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document