Strategic Shift from Transmissive to Transformative Higher Education for Sustainable Development

Education for sustainable development (ESD) is a global initiative toward transforming education for sustainability. The integration of SDGs into the education is an essential approach that ensures strategic alignment of higher education (HE) with SDGs. Document reviews were employed to explore and discuss the difference between transmissive and transformative education. In this trajectory, it is expected that the concept of transformative education is likely to become more common to meet the emerging social, economic, and environmental issues. Nonetheless, practical challenges remain in Somaliland HE sector, ranging from quality of education and relevance. The roadmap toward addressing transformative education for sustainability is not included in Somaliland’s education philosophy; mainly, ESD has not been presented in all policy documents. However, this paper proposed a generic framework that spotlights the integration of education and SDGs. Meanwhile, many countries are now prioritizing structural transformation in their HEIs that are tailored to the national, regional development programs, and beyond. Consistent with the Rio+ 20 outcomes, this paper analyzed the concept of the “sustainable university” and identified that it is divided into three interrelated and complementary categories: social, environmental, and economic-oriented universities in pursuit of actualizing sustainable development (SD). This paper recommends the need for significant reforms in the education system in terms of strategies, structures, and functions. The HEIs in Somaliland need to upgrade their capacities by changing the ways they are operating and shifting into a position that helps them contribute to localization and implementation of the SDGs at the grassroots levels.