OPENING THE BIG DOOR I I

Student Statement to the
UNESCO World Conference on
Higher Education +5 Partners’ Meeting

Paris, June 24, 2003

On the occasion of the June 23-25, 2003 Meeting of Higher Education Partners of the United
Nations Educational, Science and Cultural Organization in Paris, the students’ organisations
listed below reaffirm our commitment to accessible, high quality higher education.

We strive towards higher education systems around the world that are characterised by
universal access and high quality for all. As affirmed in the 1998 student statement presented
at the World Conference on Higher Education, “Opening the Big Door”, we support reforms
of higher education systems around the globe aiming at these objectives.

Free and equal access to higher education in the 21st century is a reality in a number of
countries and is necessary everywhere in order to build democratic societies and ensure
sustainable development. To this end, it is necessary that higher education institutions be
integrated with the surrounding society as well as the global community. Governments must
ensure that there are stable, planned, funded and accessible systems in all countries. At the
same time, the autonomy of higher education institutions is crucial to their democratic
governance. Furthermore, both governments and higher education institutions bear
responsibility for guaranteeing academic freedom and a dialogue with society at large. We
uphold these core principles and values, especially in light of violations that occur around the
world.

Since 1998, globalisation has emerged as the most significant challenge for students and the
higher education community. The threats posed by market-oriented reforms, diversification of
funding sources, the expansion of international trade in education and other public services,
and privatisation of public education have become more and more visible. As students’
organisations, we reaffirm that higher education is a public good and a public responsibility as
well as a human right, as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights` the
World Declaration on Higher Education, and other United Nations instruments. In this
context, we believe that the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) of the World
Trade Organisation is not a tool for internationalisation, but a process driven foremost by
narrow commercial interests that run counter to these principles. We therefore reaffirm our
opposition to any further inclusion of education, research, and other public services in the
GATS treaty. We also encourage co-operation among post-secondary institutions, students’
organisations, governments, and society at large, with the objective of implementing models
for internationalisation in higher education that promote diversity and respect local and
regional needs and aspirations.

Access to high quality education cannot be discussed in isolation from other global
challenges, such as achieving social justice and peace on a global scale. In this context we
note with concern that the gap between the developing and the industrialised world is
deepening. This development divide is a major obstacle to resolving the HIV/AIDS epidemic,
because of lack of resources for education, awareness-raising and treatment. Further, new
strategies for higher education announced by international financial institutions such as the
World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have not been met with new policies and
lending requirements for developing countries. Finally, we note our opposition to military
aggression, and pledge to contribute to the process of preventing conflict and reconstructing
public education systems in the wake of devastating global conflicts.

We have contributed collectively, in co-operation with each other and in our own fields of
expertise, to reform processes designed to ensure that high quality higher education becomes
accessible to all on the basis of individual and collective initiative and need.

We take our responsibilities seriously and wish to further contribute to the follow-up process
of the World Conference on Higher Education. To this end we agree to co-operate in the following areas:

• organise a global student day of action to promote high quality and accessible public education at all levels on September 13th 2003 with actions continuing to September 27th 2003;
• compile a student source book on the impact of globalisation on higher education, as one of the major challenges for higher education in the 21st century;
• encourage participation of student organisations in the World Social Forum process;
• regularly review current projects and campaigns of our organisations and continue to collaborate on joint projects;
• exchange and promote good practices higher education and initiatives in the student movement.

We support change and renewal in higher education, but this must not come as a trade-off for
academic values and the principles of access, democracy, global solidarity and the role of
higher education as a public good, for the public good.

Signed this 24th day of June 2003:

• All Africa Student Union (AASU)
• Asian Students Association (ASA)
• International Student and Youth Movement for the United Nations (ISMUN)
• International Union of Students (IUS)
• JustWorld International
• Mouvement international des étudiants catholiques / Jeunes étudiants catholiques internationale (MIEC/JECI)
• National Unions of Students in Europe (ESIB)
• Organización Continental Latinoamericana y Caribeña de Estudiantes (OCLAE)