For only the second time in history, eyes from across the world will be focused firmly on the issue of tertiary level learning at the World Conference on Higher Education.  Organised by UNESCO, the Conference will see representatives from the higher education community across the globe gather together in Paris from 5-8 July 2009.  And for the first time, students look set to play a major part in proceedings.

The WCHE is the follow-up to the first Conference held in 1998 and is aiming to take stock of the changes in higher education over the last decade, and will deal with the new dynamics that are likely to shape the strategic direction for the development of higher education policies and institutions in the foreseeable future. The key questions that are being lined up to the frame the debate are:

• To what extent is higher education today a driver for sustainable development in the national and international context?
• Does the sector live up the expectations placed in it to induce change and progress in society and to act as one of the key factors for building knowledge-based societies?
• How does higher education contribute to the development of the education system as a whole?
• What are the most significant trends that will shape the new higher education and research spaces?
• How are learners and learning changing? What are the new challenges for “quality” and “equity”?

The 1998 World Conference on Higher Education constituted a key moment for the higher education community. When convening it, UNESCO sought the commitment of Member States and all other stakeholders to ensure that the future orientations of this sector would be based on equity of advanced educational opportunity for all citizens, modernised systems and institutions, and enhanced social relevance and links to the world of work. The Conference fully demonstrated the importance of higher education as a key factor for the cultural, social and economic development of nations and people, as an endogenous capacity-builder and a promoter of human rights, sustainable development, international intellectual solidarity, democracy, peace and justice.

Crucially, however, student input into the first WCHE was far from a given and the subject instead of major battles by ESU and others in order to get their voices heard. Fortunately, this time, things are looking better.  With funding from UNESCO and Education International, a preparatory conference was held in Paris in January to enable student bodies and regional platforms from across the world to come together and produce a common position for the conference.  The resulting Global Student Statement sets out the key asks of student organisations across the world in terms of the direction that higher education should take over the coming decade.

The full text of the Global Student Statement can be found here.

More news on the WCHE will follow in the future editions of The Student Voice, and you can also visit www.unesco.org/education/hed for regular updates on the 2009 World Conference.