Why tertiary education is crucial for building back better

The year 2020 has thrown many challenges in our way and tertiary education is crucial to addressing these.

COVID-19 has thrust into the limelight epidemiologists and public health experts; global news is championing the researchers developing the vaccines and highlighting the heroics of health professionals. Every one of these individuals participated in tertiary education, and many are still explicitly linked to colleges, universities or research institutes.

And, for addressing crises such as the learning gap in low-income countries, tertiary education has an important role to play.


The United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the World Bank have called for ongoing training for teachers and more support for creating structured and appropriate pedagogies as cost-effective ways of improving learning in schools.

For the teachers to be trained and the evidence-based pedagogy to be developed requires significant input from tertiary education institutions.

But tackling major global pandemics and addressing learning gaps across the world are not the only benefits that tertiary education brings us.

Social impact

A new report from the British Council provides a thorough examination of how post-compulsory education can create positive change in individuals, communities and countries. For the first time in nearly a decade, the evidence has been assessed of the role that tertiary education plays in development.

This report, authored by the Centre for Education and International Development at University College London, found that tertiary education contributes positively to enhancing the quality of life for those who participate in it, but also through the influence of its graduates. Tertiary education can and does make positive contributions to both economic and non-economic development in several different ways.

Evidence is perhaps more plentiful when considering tertiary education’s contribution to economic development – it can support economic growth for countries and also leads to enhanced earnings for individual graduates. The skills gained and enhanced through tertiary education contribute to increased productivity in the workforce and tertiary education plays an important role in developing professional capabilities in the countries studied.

But there is evidence that tertiary education also supports non-economic development. It enhances the know-how for food security and for mitigation of some of the effects of climate change; the skills gained through tertiary education contribute to the health and education of individuals and nations; there is evidence that tertiary education provides support for peace processes, assistance to civil society organisations in holding governments to account and help with advocacy for those who are subject to discrimination and exclusion; and, through pre-service and in-service teacher training, curriculum design and development of pedagogy, tertiary education can, and often does, strengthen basic education provision.

Civil society role

The study reveals evidence that it is not just the act of participating in tertiary education or the research conducted by tertiary education institutions which contribute to development, but that the ‘space’ provided by institutions to allow for relationships to be built contributes to a vibrant and engaged civil society.

Nevertheless, the importance of tertiary education to development is often overlooked by major aid funders and by the public, with a common perception being that tertiary education can be elitist and exclusive.

Tertiary education has the potential to play a much more significant role in local communities and in low-income countries generally. There is some evidence that, in certain cases, tertiary education is misaligned to local development needs, for instance, where the skills and knowledge of graduates do not meet local labour needs.

The study considers the four main functions of tertiary education as being teaching and learning, innovation, engagement and research. The majority of evidence of the relationship of tertiary education and development comes though the teaching and learning function of tertiary education institutions, with very little evidence of the research function of institutions in low-income countries playing a role in development.

This could be because the research sector is small in these countries, but also because the research is out of step with various local requirements. This suggests the importance of building research capacity and nurturing the research ecology.

Meeting local needs

In order for tertiary education to reach its potential more consistently, the context, collaboration and communication of tertiary education institutions and tertiary education programmes must be considered.

Local contextual factors must be accounted for to ensure that tertiary education aligns to relevant needs, for instance, developing skills in graduates which are required by local industry or communities.

Greater collaboration with local, national and international partners would support the development of a more resilient and sustainable research ecology.

And research findings must be clearly and effectively communicated to policy-makers, with research and knowledge translated to local needs.

In order to build back better, funders and policy-makers need the knowledge and understanding of what works, where, when and for whom.

Tertiary education works and is vital in many ways for development, but evidence shows that it could be more effective.

This new report provides us with an understanding and makes it clear that through collaboration, consideration of context and clear communication, tertiary education has an important role to play in contributing positively to sustainable development.

Following the ongoing impact of COVID-19, it is important that tertiary education sectors in low-income countries (and globally) are supported and strengthened to help protect the weakest and most vulnerable in society.

Michael Peak is senior education advisor at the British Council.