The fair share dimension of tertiary educational distribution

Abstract

This article presents the fair share methodology, a new development approach and perspective for policymaking, for countries struggling to achieve higher returns in higher education. The methodology involves the use of the fair share index as a measure to account for the rising trend of inequality and how its impact on societal well-being and community productivity to rise above poverty can be limited. The approach is innovative as it uses district-level empirical data to calculate the fair share index, the equity index and the equity gap in access to higher education as a development resource across time and space, allowing for inter-district and inter-temporal comparisons in trends of inequality/deprivation and what can be done to limit it. It offers policy makers, in developing countries an effective tool to ensure the benefits of development are more equitably distributed, such that no one is left behind. The methodology incorporates ‘equity’ as a third dimension of resource distribution, placing the discours of fair share in development literature and practice in ways not previously reported.