Person: Salmi, Jamil
Education, East/Southern Africa, World Bank
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Salmi, Jamil, Salmi, J.
Fields of Specialization
Higher Education Reform
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Education, East/Southern Africa, World Bank
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Last updated:October 6, 2025
Biography
Jamil Salmi is a global tertiary education expert providing policy advice and consulting services to several governments, universities, multilateral banks and bilateral agencies. Until January 2012, he was the World Bank’s tertiary education coordinator. He wrote the first World Bank policy paper on higher education in 1994 and was the principal author of the Bank’s 2002 Tertiary Education Strategy entitled “Constructing Knowledge Societies: New Challenges for Tertiary Education”. In the past twenty years, Dr. Salmi has provided policy advice on tertiary education reform and strategic planning to governments and university leaders in more than 80 countries all over the world.
Dr. Salmi is a member of the international advisory board of several universities in Europe, Asia and Latin America. He is also a member of the International Advisory Network of the UK Leadership Foundation for Higher Education, and the Editorial Committee of OECD’s Journal of Higher Education Management and Policy. Between 2008 and 2011, he represented the World Bank on the Governing Board of the International Institute for Educational Planning.
Dr. Salmi’s 2009 book addresses the “Challenge of Establishing World-Class Universities”. His latest book, co-edited with Professor Phil Altbach, entitled “The Road to Academic Excellence: the Making of World-Class Research Universities”, was published in September 2011.
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Publication Digital Skills, Innovation, and Economic Transformation: Opportunities and Challenges for Sub-Saharan Africa(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-08-20) Salmi, Jamil; Amegah, A.; Shinde, A. R.This study explores the link between digital skills, innovation, and economic transformation in the context of Africa, focusing on the role and potential contribution of higher education institutions in the development of advanced skills for the digital transition. It documents relevant global case studies from Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America that showcase good examples of investment in skills development through higher education and their impact on innovation and economic growth. The study investigates the evolving global demand for digital skills and explores how advanced digital skills can create new economic development opportunities for Africa and help solve the big challenges faced by the subcontinent, such as food security, health threats, learning poverty, and climate change. It takes stock of existing capacities for digital skills training in Sub-Saharan Africa and proposes a bold vision for improving and expanding digital skills education programs.Publication Reimagining Higher Education in Cambodia: Modernizing Governance for Improved Access and Relevance(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-03-21) Bhatta, Saurav Dev; Katwal, Saurav; Pynnönen, Lauri; Heng, Somphospheak; Salmi, JamilThe main objective of this study is to assess the performance of Cambodia’s tertiary education system in terms of equitable access, labor market relevance, and research output, and to provide policy recommendations to the government and all stakeholders in the tertiary education sector. This will inform priority reforms and investments to strengthen the sector overall and, specifically, improve coverage, relevance, research, and governance. Building on the latest analytical work carried out in 2017 ahead of the preparation of an ongoing higher education operation supported by the World Bank, the study is an important step toward overcoming knowledge gaps about the main drivers of the results of the Cambodian tertiary education system and institutions. It will shed light on the factors explaining disparities in access, the mismatch between higher education programs and labor market needs, the capacity of higher education to train the specialists and technicians needed for the green economy, and shortcomings in the governance set up and processes that impede both public and private HEIs from operating in a flexible and efficient manner. The findings of the report will significantly add to the evidence base for identifying policy options to improve equity, relevance, and governance at both the national and institutional levels.Publication From Good to Great in Indian Tertiary Education: Realizing the Promise of the National Education Policy(World Bank, Washington DC, 2023-03-23) Arnhold,Nina; Dey,Sangeeta; Goyal,Sangeeta; Larsen,Kurt; Tognatta,Namrata Raman; Tognatta,Namrata; Salmi,JamilIndia has one of the largest and fastest-growing tertiary education systems in the world. The system enrolls 37 million students across nearly 50,000 institutions. The recently endorsed National Education Policy (NEP) aims at a further doubling of the gross enrollment ratio in higher education from 26.3 percent to 50 percent by 2035. Despite its size and growth rate, and the emphasis placed on tertiary education by Indian policymakers in recent times, the system has faced continuous challenges of equitable access, quality, governance, and financing, with the quality of inputs and outputs not keeping pace with the expansion of the sector. The World Bank has supported tertiary education in India through a series of engagements in technical education at the national level, and general tertiary education in specific states. The NEP’s proposal for broad-based tertiary education reforms as a key step toward transforming the tertiary education sector in India aligns with the Bank’s global tertiary education strategy and presents an opportunity for the Bank’s engagement in this area through analytic work, dialogue with key stakeholders, and strategic engagement with states and tertiary education institutions. Based on this analysis, the World Bank in 2020-2021 expanded its engagement in Indian tertiary education through dedicated analytical and advisory work in the NEP context. Focusing on the areas of access and equity, employability, digitalization, internationalization, academic careers, governance, funding, as well as quality assurance, the World Bank conducted a series of virtual events and prepared technical reports discussing the status quo in Indian tertiary education in the context of the proposed NEP reforms and international trends. The report at hand provides a summary of the outcomes of this work.Publication Improving the Performance of Ethiopian Universities in Science and Technology(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2017) Sursock, Andrée; Salmi, Jamil; Olefir, AnnaThe Government of Ethiopia (GoE) has demonstrated commitment to expand higher education science and technology (S and T) programs to spur and support its growth and transformation agenda. Ethiopia has made a tremendous advance in access to higher education over the past decade. This rapid expansion, however, has raised concerns about quality. Many students are entering universities with a low level of academic preparation and a weak mastery of English. Qualified faculty are in short supply, especially in science and technology. The higher education relevance and quality agency (HERQA) was established in 2003 to implement a quality assurance system for higher education, but it lacks the resources to carry out its mission. The purpose of this report is to identify the main challenges facing the sector and propose a policy agenda to address them. The analysis is based on information from the ministries of education and of S and T of Ethiopia, a review of relevant literature from Ethiopia and elsewhere, and an analysis of data and information collected from stakeholders at public and private universities through semi-structured interviews. The report contains five chapters. Chapter one presents background information and the study’s methodology. Chapter two provides broader analysis of demand for skills, graduate employability, feedback from employers on skill supply, and the relationship with the economy at large. The third chapter analyzes the recent developments in S and T higher education. Chapter four assesses the research performance of Ethiopian universities. Chapter five summarizes the key reform options and policy measures to improve the performance of the higher education S and T system.Publication Improving Higher Education in Malawi for Competitiveness in the Global Economy(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016-06-02) Mambo, Michael M.; Meky, Muna Salih; Tanaka, Nobuyuki; Salmi, JamilAs the Government of Malawi investigates options to expand access to higher education and improve the quality of higher education provision, the objective of this report is to contribute to an improved understanding of the challenges confronted by the higher education sub-sector in Malawi. The report summarizes the key findings of an in-depth study of factors affecting access and equity in the Malawian higher education sub-sector, the quality and relevance of educational outputs, the financing of the sector, and the frameworks structuring governance of the sector and its management. The study was initiated in response to a request from the Government of Malawi, to the World Bank, to support the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) in its pursuit of financially sustainable policy options to increase equitable access to higher education, and to improve the quality of higher education provision in alignment with the needs of the labor market.Publication The Road to Academic Excellence : The Making of World-Class Research Universities(World Bank, 2011-09-21) Altbach, Philip G.; Salmi, JamilFor middle-income and developing countries as well as some industrial nations a major challenge for building and sustaining successful research universities is determining the mechanisms that allow those universities to participate effectively in the global knowledge network on an equal basis with the top academic institutions in the world. These research universities provide advanced education for the academic profession, policy makers, and public and private sector professionals involved in the complex, globalized economies of the 21st century. In addition to their contribution to economic development, these universities play a key societal role by serving as cultural institutions, centers for social commentary and criticism, and intellectual hubs. The positive contribution of tertiary education is increasingly recognized as not limited to middle-income and advanced countries, because it applies equally to low-income economies. Tertiary education can help these countries to become more globally competitive by developing a skilled, productive, and flexible labor force and by creating, applying, and spreading new ideas and technologies. A recent study on how to accelerate economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa spells out the crucial contribution of tertiary education in supporting this endeavor (World Bank 2008). It observes that the key for success in a globalized world increasingly lies in how effectively a country can assimilate available knowledge and build comparative advantages in areas with higher growth prospects and how it can use technology to address the most pressing environmental challenges. The main chapters of this book are nine case studies that illustrate what it takes to establish and sustain research universities and help validate the analytical model outlined above, including the paths to building research excellence.Publication The Challenge of Establishing World-Class Universities(World Bank, 2009) Salmi, JamilThere are many important questions to ask about the widespread push toward world-class status for universities around the world. Why is 'world-class' the standard to which a nation should aspire to build at least a subset of its tertiary education system? Might many countries be better served by developing the most locally relevant system possible, without concern for its relative merits in a global comparison? Is the definition of "world-class" synonymous with "elite Western" and therefore inherently biased against the cultural traditions of tertiary education in non-Western countries? Are only research universities world-class, or can other types of tertiary education institutions (such as teaching universities, polytechnics, community colleges, and open universities) also aspire to be among the best of their kind in an international perspective? To answer these questions, the report starts by constructing an operational definition of a world-class university. It then outlines and analyzes possible strategies and pathways for establishing such universities and identifies the multiple challenges, costs, and risks associated with these approaches. It concludes by examining the implications of this drive for world-class institutions on the tertiary education efforts of the World Bank, offering options and alternative perspectives on how nations can develop the most effective and relevant tertiary education system to meet their specific needs.Publication The Growing Accountability Agenda in Tertiary Education : Progress or Mixed Blessing?(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2009-01) Salmi, JamilThe purpose of this paper is to examine the accountability agenda in the tertiary education. Author proposes three principles of good accountability. First, accountability should not focus on the way institutions operate, but on the results that they actually achieve. Second, accountability works better when it is experienced in a constructive way, rather than being imposed in an inquisition-like mode. Tertiary education institutions are more likely to appreciate the value of reporting obligations if their relationship with stakeholders, especially government authorities, is based on positive incentives rather than punitive measures. Third, the most effective accountability mechanisms are those that are mutually agreed or are voluntarily embraced by tertiary education institutions. The paper concludes that the successful evolution of tertiary education hinges on finding an appropriate balance between credible accountability practices and favorable autonomy conditions.