BJARNASON, Svava
Senior Education Specialist, International Finance Corporation (USA)
Session: Sustainability - Funding Education in the 21st Century: Who Pays for the Education of the Global Citizens?
Monday, 16 November 2009
- 11.00-12.30
Svava Bjarnason is the Senior Education Specialist at the International Finance Corporation’s (IFC) Health and Education Department. IFC is the private sector arm of the World Bank Group which focuses on building the capacity of private provision in emerging economies. Her role as Education Specialist provides opportunities to travel globally to work with private sector providers involved at all levels of education – from primary through to tertiary levels. She is a member of the World Bank’s Education Sector Board, the executive body that oversees education strategy.
Prior to joining the IFC in 2007, she was the founding Director of the Observatory on Borderless Higher Education (OBHE) and held a dual post as Director of Research and Strategy at the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) based in London. While at the ACU, she was responsible for the international benchmarking program for university leaders and a multi-year project exploring the nature of university engagement with society. Svava led the development of the OBHE from its initial stages to its position of being recognized as one of the authorities on new developments in global higher education. She has spoken at major international conferences over the past ten years including the Commonwealth Education Ministers’ conferences, the UNESCO World Conference on Higher Education, the American Council for Education and the International Association of Universities amongst others.
Before joining the ACU in 1998, Svava was a consultant in higher education in the United Kingdom working on projects for the Quality Assurance Agency, the Commonwealth Higher Education Management Consultancy and the Higher Education Funding Council amongst others. She has participated in the European University Association’s Quality Review processes and is an assessor with the Australian Universities Quality Agency. She has been a frequent guest lecturer at the University of London’s Institute of Education and she has also served on expert groups for the OECD and UNESCO.
Prior to joining the IFC in 2007, she was the founding Director of the Observatory on Borderless Higher Education (OBHE) and held a dual post as Director of Research and Strategy at the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) based in London. While at the ACU, she was responsible for the international benchmarking program for university leaders and a multi-year project exploring the nature of university engagement with society. Svava led the development of the OBHE from its initial stages to its position of being recognized as one of the authorities on new developments in global higher education. She has spoken at major international conferences over the past ten years including the Commonwealth Education Ministers’ conferences, the UNESCO World Conference on Higher Education, the American Council for Education and the International Association of Universities amongst others.
Before joining the ACU in 1998, Svava was a consultant in higher education in the United Kingdom working on projects for the Quality Assurance Agency, the Commonwealth Higher Education Management Consultancy and the Higher Education Funding Council amongst others. She has participated in the European University Association’s Quality Review processes and is an assessor with the Australian Universities Quality Agency. She has been a frequent guest lecturer at the University of London’s Institute of Education and she has also served on expert groups for the OECD and UNESCO.
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