Including Higher Education in National Development Plans, UNESCO IESALC

On 25 September 2024, UNESCO IESALC released its latest report, "Including Higher Education in National Development Plans". By studying 66 countries, the paper identifies key trends, challenges, and recommendations for strengthening the role of higher education (HE) in national policies. Principal numbers include:

• Less than 40% of the sample national development plans (NDPs) dedicated a section to higher education.
• Only 1/4 NDPs had specific budgetary commitments for the sector, revealing a disconnect between the recognized importance of HEs and having concrete strategies and investments.  
• Only 1/2 of NDPs had more than 1 indicator to measure HE policy success.
• Only 1/4 of the documents had a comprehensive range of indicators that track inputs, processes, outputs, and long-term outcomes/ impacts, displaying a lack of monitoring & evaluation.

More information

To learn more or to read the report, please visit the following link - The role of higher education in national development plans: UNESCO IESALC’s latest report  – UNESCO-IESALC