2010年-世界发展银行全球_Tertiary_Education_in_Mongolia___Meeting_the_Challenges_of_the_Global_Economy_93页_7mb

Summary of Tertiary Education in Mongolia: Meeting the Challenges of the Global Economy

Core Content

This policy note, published by the World Bank in September 2010, examines the state of tertiary education in Mongolia and outlines key challenges and reform options to improve its quality and equity. It emphasizes the need for strategic investment, governance reform, and alignment with labor market demands to enhance Mongolia's international competitiveness and support sustainable economic development.

Main Challenges

1. Low Cost and Low Quality

• Public expenditure per student is significantly low, at around $339, compared to $11,512 in OECD countries.
• Tuition fees are high, averaging $300 per year, and are a major source of funding for tertiary education institutions (TEIs).
• Faculty salaries are low, with full professors earning about $300 per month, similar to school teachers.
• Only 23% of public and 15% of private faculty members have PhDs, indicating a lack of research focus and professional development opportunities.

2. Mismatch Between Skill Supply and Demand

• Demand for science and technology is high, but 72% of private TEIs offer social sciences and business studies due to lower costs.
• Only 23% of tertiary enrollment is in science and technology fields, despite their importance in the labor market.
• Employment rates for tertiary graduates are 36%, compared to 60% for TVET graduates, showing a gap in labor market outcomes.

3. Inequitable Access

• 70% of students are from urban areas, although only 50% of the population lives there.
• Rural students face greater barriers to access and have lower completion rates.
• State Training Fund (STF) is under-targeted and lacks effective monitoring and evaluation.

Key Policy Questions

• How can Mongolia improve the quality of tertiary education while maintaining affordability?
• How can the tertiary education system better align with labor market needs?
• How can access to tertiary education be made more equitable between urban and rural populations and across income groups?

Main Recommendations

1. Enhancing Quality of Tertiary Education

• Rationalize TEIs to focus resources on a few premier institutions and programs.
• Introduce competitive funding based on performance indicators and labor market outcomes.
• Strengthen accreditation and quality assurance using international benchmarks.
• Develop a diversified but integrated system to allow institutions to contribute to regional development.
• Establish a Tertiary Education Commission with representatives from industry, key professions, and international academia to guide strategic direction and oversight.

2. Improving Equity of Access

• Reform the STF to improve targeting and monitoring of its effectiveness.
• Enhance basic education quality to ensure more students from disadvantaged backgrounds can access higher education.
• Set up a labor market observatory to provide transparent data on employment outcomes and institutional performance to inform student and parent decisions.

3. Exploring Alternatives: TVET Development

• Improve TVET quality by upgrading infrastructure, equipment, and curriculum.
• Create a new TVET agency to oversee standards, curriculum development, teacher training, and industry collaboration.
• Enhance faculty qualifications through pre-service and in-service training, including industrial attachments.
• Promote public-private partnerships and private investment to diversify funding sources.
• Align TVET with industry needs by involving employers and unions in curriculum design and training programs.

Key Information

• Tertiary education expansion since the 1990s has been rapid, with the number of institutions increasing from 14 to 151 and enrollment from 20,000 to 150,326 between 1991 and 2009.
• Gross enrollment ratio (GER) increased from 14% in 1991 to 47% in 2009.
• Public institutions account for 66% of tertiary enrollment, despite comprising only 28% of all TEIs.
• Student-to-teacher ratio is 22:1, similar to South Korea but lower than the OECD average of 16:1.
• Employment outcomes are worse for tertiary graduates than for TVET graduates, highlighting the need for better alignment with labor market demands.
• Private institutions are growing, but their quality and relevance to the labor market remain questionable.
• Tertiary education is heavily financed by tuition fees, contributing to household indebtedness, with 67% of herders' personal loans used for tertiary education.

Conclusion

The rapid expansion of tertiary education in Mongolia has not translated into improved quality or alignment with labor market needs. A strategic reform is necessary to ensure that tertiary education institutions can deliver high-quality, relevant education that supports national development and international competitiveness. This includes improving governance, increasing public investment, and enhancing collaboration with industry. The development of TVET at the senior secondary level is also proposed as a viable alternative to address skill gaps and provide more equitable educational opportunities.