scholarly journals FINANCIAL ACCESSIBILITY IN COST-SHARING POLICIES IN HIGHER EDUCATION IN MOZAMBIQUE

Author(s):  
José Amilton Joaquim ◽  
Luísa Cerdeira

The massive growth of the student population in higher education institutions has challenged traditional forms of public funding, and cost-sharing policies have been one of the options used by governments. In this sharing, it is important that, depending on the social and economic characteristics of students, issues related to equity and accessibility are safeguarded. This study seeks to understand how cost-sharing policies – taking into account the direct costs of attending higher education, indirect costs, other living expenses and the Mozambicans’ social and economic features – can help or hamper the access to higher education in Mozambique. The selected empirical research contexts encompass eight higher education institutions in the province of Gaza – universities and polytechnics – from the public and private sectors. Empirical data were collected from a questionnaire implemented with higher education students; furthermore, the authors carried out a document analysis on the financing of higher education in Mozambique and worldwide. Allows concluding that, in Mozambique, the cost-sharing model follows a dual-track policy. Also, the part of the financing still ensured by the State is far from meeting the real needs of students and families, due to the high study and living costs, which are well above the students/families’ income. There is no diversification of social support for students, and the only help students have comes from scholarships, whose allocation process is inefficient. This calls into question the issues of higher education equity and accessibility, especially for families with the lowest socio-economic conditions in the country.

2009 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Amaral ◽  
António Magalhães

Portuguese higher education can be characterised as a mass system, as the total gross participation rate in universities and polytechnics, public and private, is over 50 per cent. Recently, under the simultaneous pressure of demographic decreasing of the population potentially involved with higher education and financial stringency, higher education institutions, both public and private, have started to compete for students, while responding to an increasing social demand for more diversified higher education. The government and higher education institutions are being challenged to widen access to higher education to improve the country's educational and economic performance, with the objective of attracting new publics and students from a broader range of social backgrounds. In the public sector, the competition for students is being mainly felt in the polytechnic sector, but it is in the private sector, both universities and polytechnics, that the need to recruit more students is felt more intensely. The Portuguese government, allegedly to enhance the equality of opportunities in the access to higher education and to attract new publics, has recently broadened the area of recruitment of the special contingent of adult students who have not completed secondary education courses, by lowering the qualification age from 25 years to 23 years old, and has completely deregulated the system by allocating to each institution the responsibility for the selection of adult students. This paper intends, firstly, to contextualise this governmental action in the framework of the access policies, that, since the beginning of the 2000s, can be characterised as offering not only ‘more’ higher education but also ‘more diverse’ higher education; secondly, to identify the strategies that Portuguese higher education institutions are deploying to meet institutional needs (meaning institutions’ own good) and the political goals assigned by the government; finally, to identify differences of institutional reactions according to their public or private nature and university or polytechnic identity.


Author(s):  
Geoffrey Nafukho Omulayi ◽  
Peter Barasa Wawire

In this chapter, the authors present the integrated multi-agent-based eLearning system as a strategy to promote access to higher education in Africa. The integrated multi-agent eLearning system breaks through the traditional barriers of time, location, and the cost of delivering educational content. The power of the Internet in an educational context has always been that it simplifies access to content and contact with the experts. An agent-oriented methodology is used in this chapter to demonstrate how multi-agents can help to design an eLearning system. This integrated multi-agent-based eLearning system brings in merits of portability, convenience, collaboration, instant response, and multi-literacies, and provides solutions in cases where expertise is distributed all over Africa. Given the rising population in Africa and scarcity of qualified professors in higher education, the best strategy is to implement the designed eLearning system to help support the learning processes in higher education institutions.


2012 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-26
Author(s):  
Luisa Cerdeira ◽  
Tomás Patrocínio ◽  
Belmiro Gil Cabrito ◽  
Lourdes Machado ◽  
Rui Brites

Based on the Cost-Sharing theory (Johnstone, 1986, 1991, 1992, 2002, 2003), the research on student costs in higher education (HE) plays an important role in the educational policy, namely concerning the equity in cost distribution among students, the State and stakeholders. This study is focused on the socioeconomic characterization of Portuguese HE students and on the research of the costs these students support, as well as the remaining stakeholders (families, governments/ taxpayers and others), according to Johnstone’ cost-sharing theory and mobilized the analysis of the results of three nation-wide surveys in the academic years of 1994-1995 (Cabrito, 2000); 2004-2005 (Cerdeira, 2009) and 2010/2011 (Cerdeira, Cabrito, Patrocínio, Machado & Brites, 2012) to three higher education’s students representative samples (universities and polytechnics, public and private institutions). The study 1) discusses the contribution of Portuguese higher education students for the HE funding; 2) analyses the findings coming from a nationwide study concerning the student’s role on HE funding, in Portugal; 3) places those results in a European perspective. From the comparison undergone between the data coming from the studies on the higher education costs in Portugal, it can be verified that on the period 1994-2010 there was a change on social strata recruitment to HE. In fact, it is possible to realize that the percentage of students coming from rich strata had increased along the period analyzed, fact that can allow us to question about the equity of the Portuguese HE System. On the other side, the studies also allow to conclude that the affordability of Portuguese HE students is minor that homologous indicators taking into account some of the EU and OECD members. Key words: accessibility, affordability, financing, HE costs.


2008 ◽  
Vol 104 (11/12) ◽  
Author(s):  
D.R. Walwyn

Despite the importance of labour and overhead costs to both funders and performers of research in South Africa, there is little published information on the remuneration structures for researchers, technician and research support staff. Moreover, there are widely different pricing practices and perceptions within the public research and higher education institutions, which in some cases do not reflect the underlying costs to the institution or the inherent value of the research. In this article, data from the 2004/5 Research and Development Survey have been used to generate comparative information on the cost of research in various performance sectors. It is shown that this cost is lowest in the higher education institutions, and highest in the business sector, although the differences in direct labour and overheads are not as large as may have been expected. The calculated cost of research is then compared with the gazetted rates for engineers, scientists and auditors performing work on behalf of the public sector, which in all cases are higher than the research sector. This analysis emphasizes the need within the public research and higher education institutions for the development of a common pricing policy and for an annual salary survey, in order to dispel some of the myths around the relative costs of research, the relative levels of overhead ratios and the apparent disparity in remuneration levels.


2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (7) ◽  
pp. 1279-1298 ◽  
Author(s):  
Remmer Sassen ◽  
Dominik Dienes ◽  
Johanna Wedemeier

Purpose This study aims to focus on the following research question: Which institutional characteristics are associated with sustainability reporting by UK higher education institutions? Design/methodology/approach To answer the aforementioned research question, this study uses logistic regression. Findings The results show that 17 per cent of the UK higher education institutions report on their sustainability (July 2014). In line with legitimacy and stakeholder theory, logistic regressions provide evidence that the larger the size of the institution, the higher the probability of reporting. By contrast, high public funding decreases this probability. Research limitations/implications The findings show characteristics of higher education institutions that support or hamper sustainability reporting. Overall, the findings imply a lack of institutionalisation of sustainability reporting among higher education institutions. Originality/value Although a lot of research has been done on corporate sustainability reporting, only a small number of studies have addressed the issues of sustainability reporting of higher education institutions. This study covers all sustainability reports disclosed among the 160 UK higher education institutions. It is the first study that investigates characteristics of higher education institutions that disclose a sustainability report.


2015 ◽  
pp. 13-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes Wespel ◽  
Dominic Orr ◽  
Michael Jaeger

Stratification of higher education is currently being driven by public funding schemes, among other things. Building on a survey of excellence funding initiatives across OECD member countries based on the measurement of excellence in higher education institutions, this contribution focuses on how teaching and learning are integrated into these highly selective funding mechanisms. It turns out that teaching performance is generally much less significant than research. Possible reasons and consequences for this result are discussed.


THE BULLETIN ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (390) ◽  
pp. 50-57
Author(s):  
Iryna Kalenyuk ◽  
Olena Grishnova ◽  
Liudmyla Tsymbal ◽  
Deniss Djakons

The key role of the education system in the formation of a knowledge society is raising the issue of improving its financing. In the face of new challenges and aggravation of global competition, the mechanism for financing the higher education system is being transformed. The need to increase funding is manifested in expanding financial sources and improving the management of various financial flows. Increasing the effectiveness of public funding is becoming an important issue, which remains the main source of financial revenues for institutions of higher education in countries of the world. A promising practice in the world is the use of funding based on the results of activity, which is becoming more widespread in various areas of economic activity. The purpose of this article is to study the current world-wide practice of applying results-based financing of higher education and defining promising directions for its implementation in Ukraine. The essence and features of RBF - Result Based Financing (RBF) method, including in the system of higher education, are revealed. The existing approaches to financing higher education institutions in the world based on results are systematized, the main criteria for their definition are identified: on the basis of inputs, process, output, output. The world practice of using higher education institutions financing based on the results, positive and negative consequences of its implementation is highlighted and summarized. The necessity of using RBF funding in the system of native education is proved, the main directions and areas of its use are determined. The application of a two-tier model of financing higher education institutions in Ukraine is proposed, which combines the traditional cost-oriented approach and funding based on the results of the activity.


2020 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. e209247
Author(s):  
Luan Viana Faria ◽  
Yuri de Lima Medeiros ◽  
Danielle Fernandes Lopes ◽  
Eduardo Machado Vilela ◽  
Neuza Maria Souza Picorelli Assis

Aim: The aim of this study is to offer an overview of the MedicalEmergencies (ME) discipline offer in Dentistry graduations insoutheastern Brazil and to observe the curricular characteristicsof the discipline when present. Methods: This cross-sectionaldocumentary study analyzed the available curricular frameworksin the official websites of Higher Education Institutions (HEI)in southeastern Brazil registered on the Ministry of Education’se-MEC website. The data were analyzed and tabulated using theGraphPad Prism 8.1.2 software, being described by absolute andrelative frequencies. Fisher’s exact test was used to compare theproportions between public and private institutions. Results:Of the 176 courses in the Southeast, 144 were included in thestudy for providing access to the curriculum, 19 (13.19%) werepublic and 125 (86.81%) were private. Only 27 (18.75%) of the HEIpresent the discipline of ME, with a greater tendency of supply inprivate HEIs (20.80%) when compared to public HEIs (5.26%),but this difference was not statistically significant (p> 0.05).As a positive aspect, the discipline is predominantly mandatory(88.88%), and the with regard to the teaching methodology ispredominantly theoretical (68.18%). The average workload is50.14 hours (SD=19.54). Conclusions: In only 18.75% of thedental institutions in Southeast Brazil, ME discipline were offered.When offered, the discipline is predominantly theoretical andmandatory. This study raises an important discussion regardingthe need to include specific and mandatory subjects on ME inthe dentistry curricula in Brazil and reflects the need to updateand standardize the national curricular guidelines for dentistry.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre-Bruno Ruffini

As other sectors, higher education can be characterized by the combination of market mechanisms and state intervention in its funding and organization. Although higher education systems of developed countries pursue similar goals (provide high-level manpower, meet individual and social demands, etc.) and face similar challenges (massive expansion, internationalization, MOOCs, etc.) their economic models differ significantly. In some countries, universities are public and charge no or very low tuition fees, whereas in other countries, the cost-sharing with parents and students is much more demanding. The paper will try to underscore and explain these differences by drawing on the lessons of economic analysis and on the historical and cultural background of countries.


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