Higher Education Policy in Times of Disruption

This chapter looks at why 2020 marked the beginning of rapid and profound transformation in how universities organised themselves and their educational offerings. It also looks at how governments, faced with massive disruption caused by the dual forces of COVID-19 and digital advances, must adapt and adjust the policy landscape to keep up. We argue that even in normal circumstances governments struggle to write, approve, fund and roll out policies that keep up with disruptive events, and that COVID-19 has amplified this to a remarkable degree. We argue that universities have never been more central to rebuilding social solidarity and mobility in fractured societies, but that governments may cynically use the chaos caused by such disruption to push through cost-saving measures and pro-market policies. This is especially relevant given the loss of international student revenue, which may never return to pre-pandemic levels. We argue that with the combined influences of COVID-19 and the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the idea of what it means to be an “educated person” has changed and that universities must embrace new models for the acquisition of skills–models that include interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches that mesh with micro-credentials and short courses that can be stacked and built into new credentials. We argue that the shift to online access under COVID-19 has been a boon to universities and will advance how they teach, but that major consideration has to be given to cost and equity, and that measures must be put in place to ensure the sector is not bifurcated into the haves (the wealthy) and the have-nots (everyone else). We also argue that universities and government policy must finally fully embrace the notion of lifelong learning: that education will have multiple touchpoints in people’s lives as they enter and exit the sector, constantly renegotiating their work skills and career trajectories. And finally, we argue, that for a seamless lifelong learning approach to be possible the gap between vocational and higher education must be bridged via a single tertiary education funding model which can only be achieved if there is independent oversight of policy and funding.