Land Administration and Management in South East Asia: Considering the Role of Higher Education

A 2000 World Bank report on higher education in developing countries highlighted the growing gap in the quality and participation rates of higher education between developed and developing countries. Some of the problems facing higher education institutions in developing countries include a heavy reliance on government funding, poor pay for academic staff, inadequate facilities, and poor governance. In this paper we focus on higher education in the land sector in South-East Asia, and find that similar problems exist. At the same time there has been an increase in the investment in land titling projects in developing countries resulting in a significant increase in demand for people with qualifications and skills in surveying, valuation, planning and associated disciplines.

In developed countries the objectives of higher education for the professions associated with land administration are relatively well established. There is a clear trend towards an increased focus in surveying education on the development of managerial skills, and the acquisition and application of interdisciplinary problem-solving skills (Enemark 2001, Enemark 2007).

However, there is limited literature on the objectives of education in these professional areas in developing countries. This paper looks at land administration higher education in three countries in South East Asia - Cambodia, Indonesia and the Lao PDR. The authors consider the challenges facing Universities and Colleges in the region to include limited capacity and a heavy reliance on land titling project funding. They argue that developing countries will need to develop more effective governance mechanisms and long-term funding models to bridge some of the gaps with developed countries. The role of the FIG in the development of land administration education in developing countries is also discussed. This paper commences the dialogue on this important issue and identifies areas that warrant further research.