The Traditional mission and new mission of Higher Education
In a society, higher education is both a driving force for economic development and a core component of lifelong education. It is both the custodian of knowledge and the creator of knowledge. In addition, it is the main tool for disseminating the cultural and scientific experience accumulated by mankind. In the future society where intellectual resources are increasingly dominant in terms of developmental factors and material resources, the importance of higher education and higher education institutions will only increase. In addition, due to innovation and technological advancement, the economic field will increasingly need professionals with higher education levels.Pressure is on everywhere for higher education institutions, asking them to open their doors even bigger. In the past two decades, the number of students enrolled in colleges and universities worldwide has more than doubled, from 28 million in 1970 to more than 60 million today. However, there are always serious inequalities in terms of access to education and quality of teaching and research. Especially in sub-Saharan Africa, only one in every 1,000 inhabitants enjoys higher education, while in North America, this ratio is 1 in 50. In industrialized countries, the actual cost per college student is 10 times higher than in the least developed countries. However, even if higher education costs are not large, it is still a very heavy burden for some of the poorest countries that often have budgetary difficulties.
In most parts of the developing world, higher education has been in crisis for nearly a decade. Due to the implementation of structural adjustment policies and the unstable political situation, the budget of higher education institutions has been reduced. The unemployment and brain drain of college graduates undermines the credibility of higher education in people's minds. Too much emphasis on social science has led to an imbalance in the existing graduate categories in the labor market, which has made graduates and employers disappointed with the quality of knowledge imparted by higher education institutions.
Social pressures and special needs in the labor market have led to an unusually diverse situation in higher education institutions and disciplines. Higher education has not been free from the shackles of the idea of “politically and urgently confirming the need for educational reform in order to meet the urgent needs of the economy”. Universities no longer monopolize higher education; in fact, the higher education systems of various countries, whether in terms of their structure, plans and students, or in terms of financing, have now become diverse and complex, and it is difficult to They make a clear classification.
The increase in the number of students and the number of higher education institutions has led to an increase in higher education expenditures. Higher education faces a variety of thorny issues that accompany the popularization. However, we have not yet come up with an effective way to meet the challenge of popularizing higher education, so it is necessary to re-examine the mission of higher education.
The function of higher education
First, the university brings together all the traditional functions that combine the development and dissemination of knowledge: research, innovation, teaching and training, and continuing education. Another function that has become more and more important in recent years, namely international cooperation, should also be added to these functions. These functions can contribute to lasting development. As a self-governing center for scientific research and knowledge creation, universities can help solve some of the development problems facing society. The intellectual and political leaders, future business leaders, and most of the teachers are trained by the university. In terms of playing a social role, universities can use their autonomous status to debate the major ethical and scientific issues of the future society, and to connect with other parts of the education system to provide opportunities for adults to relearn and serve as research. The center of enrichment and protection of culture plays a role. As higher education is under increasing pressure to consider the various issues of concern to society, attention is also focused on other valuable and essential attributes of the university – academic freedom and institutional autonomy. While such freedom and autonomy do not provide the best guarantee, they are a prerequisite for such guarantees.
The responsibility of the university for the development of society as a whole is more prominent in developing countries than anywhere else. In developing countries, the research work of higher education institutions lays an important foundation for national development plans, policy formulation and the training of middle and senior talents. The importance of the role that higher education institutions at the local and national levels may play in raising the level of national development is not overemphasized. The primary responsibility for bridging the gap between developed industrialized countries and developing non-industrialized countries should be borne by higher education institutions. In addition, these institutions may also be tools for educational reform and innovation.
The place of learning and the source of knowledge
Given the growing role of scientific and technological knowledge in social, industrial and economic exchanges, and in the use of research for human development, it is extremely important that higher education institutions maintain a high level of research capacity in their fields of competence. Today, higher education institutions are competing with a range of operators, including some private sector operators, for research funding. In addition, higher education institutions are in a better position than any other institution in fulfilling their traditional missions, including giving researchers freedom of intellectual activity, freedom of debate, and strict evaluation of safeguards to advance knowledge. Scientific research in the social and natural sciences should indeed be independent and should not be subject to political and ideological pressures, but this work should still contribute to the long-term development of society. Science teaching should steer clear of ineffective pedagogical methods and should not shut itself down in ivory towers, especially in countries that particularly need to make progress in technology. On the contrary, the quality of science should not be sacrificed to increase immediate productivity, because this bet, like science itself, is both ubiquitous and wide-ranging.
In an era of rapid growth in knowledge and information, the quality and quality of teacher training in higher education institutions is increasingly important in an age when people believe that higher education can meet the educational needs of a growing and diverse public. Higher education institutions play a decisive role in teacher training, in establishing contacts with teacher training institutions that are not in higher education, and in training teachers in charge of teacher training. They should open the door to teachers in the economic sector and other sectors of society to promote communication between these and the education sector.
Therefore, everyone should be able to rely directly on higher education to varying degrees to enjoy a common intellectual heritage and the latest research results. This requires the university to enter into a moral contract with the society to compensate the resources that the society provides to it.
Higher education and changes in the labor market
As the society progresses and people are replaced by machines, the employment structure is changing. The number of workers engaged in manual labor is declining, while the supervision, management and organization work is increasing, thus increasing the need for the intellectual abilities of workers at all levels. In terms of qualifications, the requirements are increasing. Whether it is industrial or agricultural, the pressure of modern technology has made those who know and master these technologies an advantage. Employers are increasingly demanding that their employees be able to solve new problems and take innovative actions. As for the service sectors that have begun to dominate in countries that have already been industrialized, they often require extensive cultural knowledge and understand the possibilities offered by the human environment, and these possibilities constitute new requirements for education.
In order to meet the needs of experts who are familiar with the latest technologies and have the ability to manage increasingly complex systems, universities have begun to pay more attention to science and technology training. In view of the fact that there is nothing that can make people think that this trend will change in the future, universities should continue to strive to meet the above needs, so that the professional disciplines should be constantly adapted to the needs of society. However, the difficulty of this work should not be underestimated. There is often competition between research and teaching. Disciplinary divisions may not be adapted to the needs of the labor market; institutions that achieve excellent results are those that are adept at teaching beyond the boundaries of disciplines in a flexible and cooperative manner. The problem that many science universities are now experiencing is, should the excellent students be oriented to research or to the enterprise? In order to be flexible, it is necessary to maintain the multi-faceted characteristics of higher education so that university graduates can be properly trained to prepare for entering the labor market.
University-a cultural place and learning place for all people
The task of the university is to train a large number of young people to do research or other professional work. In addition, it should continue to be the source of the growing knowledge of those who seek to make their lives meaningful with their own curiosity. The culture envisioned here is a broad culture that encompasses all the spiritual and imaginary fields from the most rigorous science to poetry.
In this regard, universities have some characteristics that make themselves unique places. Universities are a living treasure house for the preservation of human heritage, and these heritages continue to have new vitality due to the use of teachers and researchers. Universities are often multidisciplinary, which helps everyone to transcend the boundaries of their original cultural environment. Compared with other educational institutions, universities often have more contacts with the international community.
Each university should be an “open” university that offers opportunities for distance learning in space and opportunities to learn at different times in time. The experience of distance education shows that for those who study at the higher education level, the combination of media means, correspondence courses, information dissemination techniques and personal contacts is likely to expand the options offered at lower cost. Program. These programmes should include vocational training and courses that enrich the individual. In addition, according to the idea that each person is both a student and a teacher, he should further resort to experts other than higher education teachers: group work, cooperation with surrounding communities, and students providing services to the community. The cultural role of higher education institutions should be encouraged.
When the committee regards the university as a cultural place and a learning place for all people, it not only wants to embody its central theme, lifelong education, but also hopes that the following missions and even responsibilities of the university are recognized: participation in social development trends and future prospects. Big debate.
Higher Education and International Cooperation
Higher education institutions have the advantage of using internationalization to fill “knowledge gaps” and enrich the dialogue between peoples and cultures. Collaboration among scientists in the same discipline is transcending national borders and becoming a powerful tool for the internationalization of research work, technology, concepts, attitudes and activities.Education consultant in Lahore are the best Consultants over world However, research and research facilities are concentrated in the member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which is a challenge to the sustainable development of the least developed countries in the economy.
The network of the most affluent countries of the European Union and OECD countries has brought great benefits to science and culture. However, no matter how powerful and powerful these networks are, if they do not simultaneously strengthen North-South cooperation and South-South cooperation, they will still be able to widen the gap between countries participating in the network and those excluded from the network. In any case, in the medium term, the phenomenon of high-level talents seeking out research positions in important research centers will continue to make the world's poorest regions even poorer. However, it is gratifying to note that as soon as there is an opportunity (no matter how limited they are), some university graduates and researchers will begin to return to their countries of origin. One of the pressing tasks facing the university community in the wealthiest regions is to work hard to have the necessary tools to accelerate the pace of cooperation and help improve the research capacity of LDCs. Establishing a twin relationship between research institutions in industrialized countries and research institutions in developing countries will be beneficial to both parties, as development issues must be better understood in order to solve the problems of the global village. South-South cooperation is also full of hope. For example, research done in Asia or Latin America is very suitable for Africa and vice versa. In developed countries and developing countries, in order to study the development of various regions, the economic sector also needs to establish partnerships with universities in research. International donors may also give new impetus to all of these partnerships. The free flow of people and the sharing of scientific knowledge are important principles endorsed by the Committee. Universities and governments in “knowledge-rich” countries should take advantage of all possible means to strengthen the potential of the world’s poorest regions and expand their access to information, with due regard to respect for intellectual property rights. These include exchange of students and teachers to help establish communication systems, especially to establish long-distance information delivery systems, share research results, establish inter-university networks, and create regional advanced research centers.