The UNESCO Institute for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNESCO/IESALC) and The University of the West Indies (The UWI) will convene the Second Conference on Higher Education in the Caribbean (II CCHE), May 8 and 9, 2014 at the Regional Headquarters of The UWI in Kingston, Jamaica.
 
Under the theme, Best Practices in Higher Education: The Way Forward for the Caribbean”, II CCHE will focus on Quality Assurance and Recognition of Studies, Titles and Diplomas, Research Management and Impact, and the Financing of Higher Education.  The conference will bring together presenters, facilitators and expert discussants from across the wider Caribbean and internationally. It is expected that recommendations leading to strategy development to strengthen the capacity of Higher Education Institutions in these areas will come out of the gathering of these minds.  II CCHE will also facilitate more extensive partnerships among participants and with other education stakeholders to achieve common regional goals.
 
Within the framework of the first Caribbean Conference on Higher Education (Paramaribo, Suriname, 2010), the conference will consider and contrast emerging needs and new commitments. A new Declaration and comprehensive regional plan of action will then be enunciated.
 
II CCHE Sub Themes:
 
Financing of Higher Education
 
Universities worldwide, both private and public, are facing the dilemma of increased demand for higher education concomitant with increased competition in the ‘knowledge market’ and the sharp decline in available financing from traditional sources of funding.
 
This situation has been further exacerbated by the global economic and financial downturn which has persisted since 2008. Rapid growth of free academic programmes through ‘massive open online courses’ (MOOCs) from well-endowed institutions, has further sharpened competition. In this unstable environment, the drive towards cross-border academic cooperation or internationalisation becomes a matter of survival. The conference will explore various responses to the changed higher education environment and examine trends and best practices in alternate means of financing the Academy.
 
Research Management and Impact
 
Knowledge generation and transfer are as critical to societal growth and development as innovation. A clearly established relationship exists between investment in research and innovation and the rate of economic growth.  Many developed and rapidly developing countries are increasing the proportion of their Gross Domestic Product allocated to knowledge generation and to fostering links between researchers, industry, the service sectors and social agencies.  This is not the case in the Caribbean where an estimated 0.016% of GDP is invested.  Most universities and research institutions are therefore obliged to seek external support to fund their research and knowledge creation activities.Given that the countries of the Caribbean are part of the developing world, universities located in this region must ensure that they respond to the problems and challenges that hamper national and regional development.  This Conference will take into account the findings of the Paramaribo Conference on research and knowledge transfer and will emphasize the significant impact of the research enterprise.
 
Quality Assurance and Recognition of Studies, Titles and Diplomas
 
II CCHE builds on the first Caribbean Conference on Higher Education and subsequent developments to re-engage the question of quality assurance and recognition in light of CARICOM’s commitment to quality higher education in partnership with IESALC/UNESCO.  The Conference will take account of regional realities that have impacted implementation of the recognitions convention, in particular the 1974 UNESCO Agreement on Recognition of Studies, Titles and Diplomas. The outlining of a contemporary regional position on recognition would be an important outcome in support of efforts already undertaken by other geographical regions to pursue the “Global Convention”.