State Coordinating Boards and accountability measures Essay

State Coordinating Boards and accountability measures - Essay Example In order to enhance competitiveness in the international marketplace, Governments are increasingly focusing on the need to improve the quality of human capital that is the product of higher educational institutions. Therefore, there is an accountability that is being demanded of these organizations, through the use of external evaluation and performance measures to assess the quality of the education that is being imparted and the effectiveness of policy outcomes. These moves are posing a threat to academic freedom, which gives an individual the right to â€Å"study and teach whatever he or she wants to without threat of sanction† [Tierney, 1998, pp 41], even if this course of study may be such that it does not contribute to maximizing economic returns for the public dollars that have been funneled into education. Educational institutions have traditionally functioned with autonomy because that makes them more â€Å"flexible and responsive, given their relative freedom from command and control by centralized Government†¦..[The result] is higher levels of organizational innovation and more variety within national systems of higher education† [Dee, Henkin and Chen, 2000, p 204]. However, increasing economic pressures leading to the corporatization of higher education are impinging upon the autonomy of educational institutions [Bok, 2003] and pose a serious threat to the achievement of true academic goals [Kirp, 2003]. The conflict between maintaining academic autonomy while simultaneously persevering policy accountability is an ongoing one, in which State Coordinating Boards are faced with the greatest difficulties in defining their role and achieving the right balance between autonomy and accountability.