The global educational challenge: how Canada can contribute to global developmental solutions through innovation in higher education

Abstract

Highly educated people are an essential asset in today's global governance architecture. Global governance is, from this perspective, dependent on a broad access to higher education. Indeed, it is only through a broad access to higher education that the respect of principles such as the rule of law, democratic rule, and public accountability can be developed and, accordingly, that the less developed countries can participate in global governance frameworks. This article asserts that combining internationalization strategies in higher education with a proper use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) can provide a significantly wider array and easier access to higher education resources in the less developed countries. Additionally, the article suggests that Canadian policy-makers could draw significant political benefits from this initiative by collaborating with institutions in the poorest countries and using existing programs within international organizations like la Francophonie. While the article underlines several budgetary and organizational constraints, it provides a broad and insightful analysis of the policy and educational resources currently available to Canadian policy-makers interested in the implementation of such an innovative international development project.