conditions, and few, if any, student services are the norm. The financial strains currently faced by most universities are making conditions even worse.
Many students start their studies academically unprepared for higher education. Poor basic and secondary education, combined with a lack of selection in the academic system, lies at the root of this problem. Yet rarely does an institution respond by creating remedial programs for inadequately prepared students.
Cultural traditions and infrastructure limitations also frequently cause students to study subjects, such as humanities and the arts, which offer limited job opportunities and lead to “educated unemployment”. At the same time, there is often unmet demand for qualified science graduates, while in many societies women study subjects that conform to their traditional roles, rather than courses that will maximize their opportunities in the labor market. Better information on the labor market is needed, combined with policies that promote economic growth and labor absorption. Also, many educated people come from wealthier backgrounds and are able to resist taking jobs in locations they consider to be undesirable. Promoting an entrepreneurial culture will encourage the creation of more productive jobs.
Students also face the widespread requirement to choose their area of specialization early in their course, in some cases ahead of matriculation. Once a choice is made, change is frequently difficult or even impossible. Such inflexibility closes off options, with students unable to sample courses in different academic areas. Early specialization can prevent costly indecisiveness, but systems that are unforgiving of early “mistakes” do not develop and unleash the true potential of many students. Insufficient Resources and Autonomy
Many of the problems involving higher education are rooted in a lack of resources. For example, developing countries spend far less than developed countries on each student. But finding new funds is not easy. Although absolute spending is low, developing countries are already spending a higher proportion of their (smaller) incomes than developed world on higher education, with public spending for education growing more quickly than income or total government spending. Higher education is clearly placing greater demands on public budgets, with the private-sector and international donors taking up only some of the slack. Redirecting money from primary or secondary education is rarely an option, with spending per student on higher education already considerably higher than is common at other levels of the education system.
Most public universities are highly dependent on central governments for their financial resources. Tuition fees are often negligible or non-existent, and attempts to increase their level encounter major resistance. Even when tuition fees are collected, the funds often bypass the university and go directly into the coffers of ministries of finance or central revenue departments. Budgets must typically be approved by government officials, who may have little understanding of higher education in general, of goals and capabilities of a particular university, or of the local context in which it operates.
In addition, capital and operating budgets are poorly coordinated. Often, major new facilities are built, but then are left with no funds for operation and maintenance. The
developing world is littered with deteriorating buildings, inadequate libraries, computer laboratories that are rarely open, and scientific equipment that cannot be used for want of supplies and parts. It is often impossible to carry over unspent funds for use in later years, and difficult to win a budget that is higher than the previous year’s actual expenditure. This creates a “use-it-or-lose-it environment”, resulting in overspending and misspent resources.
Research universities face an array of especially serious problems. Their role derives from a unique capacity to combine the generation of new knowledge with the transmission of existing knowledge. Recent pressures to expand higher education have in many cases diverted such universities from pursuing research, and their financial situation is further diminishing their research capabilities. Public universities in Africa and Asia often devote up to 80 percent of their budgets to personnel and student maintenance costs, leaving few resources for infrastructure maintenance, libraries, equipment, or supplies-all key ingredients in maintaining a research establishment.
The disappearance of a research agenda from these universities has serious consequences. The inability to pursue research isolates the nation’s elite scholars and scientists, leaving them unable to keep up with the latest developments in their own fields. As research universities lose their ability to act as reference points for the rest of the education system, countries quickly find it harder to make key decisions about the international issues affecting them.
In addition to being severely underfunded, sometimes despite their best efforts, many higher education institutions in developing countries lack the authority to make key academic, financial, and personnel decisions. They can also slow in devolving responsibility for decision-making to constituent departments. Poor governance, in other words, dilutes their ability to spend what money they have.
高等教育在发展中国家
高等教育机构显然需要精心设计的学术课程和明确的使命。最重要的是他们的成功，然而，高品质的师资队伍，忠诚的，精心准备的学生，和足够的资源。尽管有明显的例外，在发展中国家大多数高等教育机构遭受这些领域的严重不足。其结果是，很少执行到一个一致的高标准。 师资质量
良好的品质和充满活力的师资队伍是高等教育机构的质量至关重要。不幸的是，即使是在旗舰大学在发展中国家，许多教师很少，如果有的话，研究生层次的培训。这限制了知识传授给学生的水平，并限制学生的访问现有的知识，并产生新的创意能力。 教学方法往往是过时的。死记硬背的学习是常见的，与导师做多一点在课堂上不是复制他们的笔记到黑板上。谁从内存中吐出的纸币的公信力部分学生，谁是经常买不起课本，然后必须抄写笔记到笔记本电脑，而那些学生取得考试成功。这些被动的教学方法在这个世界上，创造性和灵活性是非常宝贵的价值不大。学习的一个比较开明的观点是迫切需要的，强调积极的智力参与，参与，和发现，而不是事实的被动吸收。
提高教师的质量是由许多发展中国家找到了居心不良的激励结构变得更加困难。教职工工资普遍偏低有关，通过替代专业的职业课程。加薪是由官僚人事制度，在教学或科研奖励长期服务，而不是成功的管理。市场力量，它试图以奖励良好的表现，很少用来确定在高等教育
机构的薪酬。
而收入差距，很难吸引优秀人才，招聘程序经常发现阻碍智力发育。一些发展中国家已经在开发学术自由和独立的学术传统慢。官僚主义和腐败现象是常见的，影响到学生和教师的选择和处理。偏袒和庇护有助于学术近亲繁殖，否认大学知识产权交叉施肥的好处。出现这些问题最常见于政治化的学术环境，在权力而不是功德负担最为沉重的的重要决策的制定。 政治也可以对一个系统的气氛有广泛影响。而在世界各地的校园政治活动已帮助解决不公正和促进民主，在许多情况下，它也有不当干扰的校园生活。当一些教师，学生和学生团体占用作为对立的政治派别的争斗代理职务研究，教学和学习是非常困难的。 高等教育机构依靠他们教师的承诺。他们一致的存在和可用性，以学生和同事在创造一个鼓励学习的气氛产生巨大影响。然而，很少有机构在发展中国家对兼职和过多的旷工结构。许多教师担任兼职工作在几个机构，投入很少关注研究并改进自己的教学，并在雇用他们的机构的生活中发挥很少或根本没有作用。教师们往往更热衷于教其他课程，通常在一个未经认可的学校比压痕他们的存在和承诺的主要机构与它们有关联。工资这么低，很难谴责这种行为。
学生面临的问题
在许多机构中，学生面临困难的条件下进行研究。拥挤不堪班，不足图书馆和实验室设施，分散注意力的生活条件，也很少，如果有的话，学生服务是常态。目前面临的多数大学的财政压力正在条件更加恶劣。
许多学生开始他们的研究在学术上毫无准备的高等教育。可怜的基础和中等教育，加上缺乏选择在学术制度，就在于在这个问题的根源。然而，很少不通过创建准备不足的学生辅导计划的机构响应。
文化传统和基础设施的限制，还经常造成学生学习科目，如人文和艺术，它提供有限的就业机会，并导致“知识失业”。与此同时，经常会有合格的理科毕业生需求没有得到满足，而在许多社会里，妇女研究符合他们的传统角色，而不是课程，将最大限度地在劳动力市场上的机会科目。在劳动力市场上更好的信息是必要的，加上促进经济增长和吸收劳动力的政策。此外，许多受过教育的人都来自富裕的背景，并能抵抗服用职位，他们认为是不可取的位置。推动创业文化，鼓励创造更多的生产性就业。
学生也面临着广泛的要求，在其病程早期选择其专业领域，在某些情况下，提前录取的。一旦作出选择，变化是经常很难或者甚至是不可能的。这种僵化封闭客的选项，学生无法在不同学术领域的样品课程。早期的专业化可以防止昂贵的优柔寡断，但在无情的早期的“错误”系统不开发和释放许多学生的真正潜力。 资源不足和自主性
许多涉及高等教育问题的根源在于缺乏资源。例如，发展中国家的花费远远超过发达国家对每个学生少。但是，寻找新的资金是不容易的。虽然绝对支出较低，发展中国家已花费他们（小）收入的比例高于发达国家的高等教育，公共支出用于教育日益增长的速度比收入或政府总支出。高等教育显然将有更高的要求对公共预算，与私营部门和国际捐助者采取了只有部分松弛。从小学或中学教育重定向的钱是很少的一个选项，以每名学生已经高等教育支出大大高于通常在教育系统的其他水平。
大多数公立大学都高度依赖中央政府提供的财政资源。学费通常是可以忽略不计或不存在，并试图增加他们的水平遇到较大阻力。即使收集学费，资金往往绕过大学，直接进入金融或中央财政收入部门的部委的库房。预算通常必须由政府官员，谁可以有目标和，或者运作的当地情况特定大学的能力提出了更高的教育缺乏了解，一般批准。
此外，资本和运营预算协调不善。通常情况下，主要的新设施建成，但后来都离开了，没有资金进行操作和维护。发展中世界中充斥着恶化的建筑物，图书馆不足，这是很少打开电脑
实验室，而不能用于想要用品和零部件的科研设备。它往往是无法结转未动用资金，在以后的几年使用，很难赢得预算比上一年度的实际开支水平。这将创建一个“使用，它有或输的IT环境”，导致过度消费和挥霍浪费的资源。 研究型大学面临特别严重的一系列问题。从一个独特的能力的作用，得出新知识的产生结合现有知识的传播。近期的压力，扩大高等教育在很多情况下，这种转移从大学追求研究，他们的财务状况进一步削弱他们的研究能力。公立大学在非洲和亚洲的投入往往高达80％的预算人员和学生的维护成本，使基础设施的维护，图书馆，设备或耗材所有关键成分少的资源维持一个研究机构。
从这些大学的研究议程中消失了严重的后果。追求研究无法隔离全国的精英学者和科学家，使他们无法跟上各自领域的最新发展。作为研究型大学失去了作为基准点，为教育系统的其余部分的能力，国家迅速找到更难做出影响他们的国际问题的关键决策。 除了是资金严重不足，有时尽管他们尽了最大努力，在发展中国家的许多高等教育机构缺乏权威性，使重点学科，金融和人事决策。他们还可以在下放的决策组成部门负责放缓。治理不善，换句话说，他们的稀释度过他们有什么赚钱的能力。 3
Beyond his blond hair and pale skin, there are cultural distinctions, already apparent, that distinguish my 15-month-old son from the local Chinese children around him.
My son is more active and determined than the other kids we meet at the playground, qualities which arise from some mixture of genetic predetermination and social conditioning.
Before he could sit, my son spent hours clenching his stomach muscles, practicing the type of semi sit-ups that are encouraged at the gym.
Natural tendencies, however, are compounded by nurture. There are
countless ways that the Chinese, in their speech, actions and attitude, work to control and suppress their children’s innate will and energy.
Howard Gardner, the educational psychologist, has written extensively on China. He argues that it is evident, even in the simplest forms of infant play, that different ways of learning begin long before school begins.
When Westerners play with their children, they tend to sit back a little, giving them space to discover the world on their own, letting them follow their desires and determine their own limitations.
In China, on the other hand, when children explore, there is usually someone hovering right behind them, guiding their movements and activities.
Whereas North American parents emphasize self-reliance, creative solutions and problem-solving skills, their Chinese counterparts use illustration and gentle guidance, a learning style known as “ba zhe shou jiao” (teaching by hand-holding).
Teaching art in North America, to give one stark example, usually consists of handing out paint and paper and encouraging children to use their imagination. In China, on the other hand, model pictures are hung on the wall and the art teacher takes the child by the hand teaching them how to draw.
Thus, the Chinese culture of education at even the earliest stages stresses the mastery of technical skill, learning through mimicry, concentrated discipline — and the value of respectful conformity.
In contrast, Western culture tends to value free experimentation, creativity and original expression. Chinese babies are, in general, far more disciplined than their North American counterparts.
Much of my son’s behavior that is perfectly acceptable in the West — fidgeting in one’s seat, banging on the floor, crawling around in public spaces — seems wild and out of control to the Chinese.
Western teachers working at Chinese preschools express shock at the levels of strictness imposed, and the ways in which the most difficult (read: active) children are chastised.
While this high degree of discipline has the negative effect of making children reluctant to initiate play, it does succeed in teaching self-control and respect for authority — precisely those qualities that are seen to be lacking in U.S. schools.
Friends and family in North America often tell me that between piano, art and sports lessons, their kids are already overscheduled and subject to pressures beyond their years.
Yet, regardless of the number of extracurricular activities, the lives of Western children are leisurely when compared to Chinese.
In America, a general rule states that teachers should assign ten minutes of homework per grade per day. The average eight year old thus has a daily limit of 30 minutes of homework. If schools go beyond this, parents complain.