Vice-chancellors are frustrated at the failure of Commonwealth education ministers to reflect adequately the outcome of pioneering discussions held in parallel with last month's education summit in Kuala Lumpur. For the first time, vice-chancellors took part in a forum at the 17th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers where they discussed higher education's contribution to tackling the global current financial crisis and other issues. The final communiqué made only passing reference to the forum's outcome and vice-chancellors have issued a three-page summary as a self-standing declaration.

The forum was an addition to the three forums that have been a feature of past Commonwealth education ministers' conferences - reflecting teachers, young people and stakeholders.

It set out to explore a range of current issues relevant to vice chancellors, focusing on the need for a coherent education policy across all sectors in the context of increasing demands for higher education, the importance of higher education to social and economic development, the contribution of higher education to the development of all levels of education, issues of quality and accreditation; universities' accountability to government, and the importance of universities' research to sustainability issues such as climate change and food security.

Professor Brenda Gourley, Chair of the Association of Commonwealth Universities and retiring Vice-chancellor of the Open University in the United Kingdom, made a 10-minute presentation of the outcome of the forum to education ministers.

But the final communiqué from the ministerial meeting, to be tabled at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Trinidad at the end of November, made only passing reference to the outcome of the forum and failed to single out the universities' specific role in economic recovery. In frustration, leading vice-chancellors issued the three-page summary as a self-standing declaration.

Professor John Tarrant, Secretary-General of the Association of Commonwealth Universities, told University World News: "We are very disappointed that the final communiqué barely reflected the work of the forum. For 180 Commonwealth vice-chancellors to meet to discuss the role of universities in helping to meet the challenges faced by all member states was an unprecedented event.

"The failure to recognise these discussions more positively in the communiqué was a lost opportunity. As a consequence, the decision has been taken to issue the 2009 Kuala Lumpur Higher Education Declaration to draw attention to the contribution universities make."

Henry Kaluba, head of the Education Section at the Commonwealth Secretariat, said: "The statements from all the forums will be published in the full report of the ministerial meeting which we are working on now.

"We restrained ourselves from giving full coverage of each statement because that would have taken lots of space. The Vice-Chancellor's Forum Statement will have its projection in the full report."

The declaration pressed ministers to recognise universities' role as a key driver to bring countries out of recession, acknowledge that higher level skills give students the adaptability to thrive in the new order, and to give priority to providing adequate funding for higher education. It says that none of the Millennium Development Goals can be achieved without a thriving higher education system.

"We call upon Commonwealth Ministers of Education to ensure that higher education is available to all who would benefit from it regardless of gender and other areas of inequity," the declaration states. The declaration is available for download here.

david.jobbins@uw-news.com

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