REUTERS
New students would access their course materials on iPad or Kindle devices and lectures would last 10 minutes because most of the classes would be offered online in the future academic predict.
In the future, attending university would be compulsory for school leavers. New students would access their course materials on iPad or Kindle devices, lectures would last 10 minutes because most of the classes would be offered online, and if graduates did not find “proper” jobs within six months of leaving university, their fees would be reimbursed.
In the future, public universities would need the government to contribute no more than 10 percent of their income, vice-chancellors would be remunerated in line with their institution’s world ranking, and the MBA (Master of Business Administration) would be dethroned by the MFA (Master of Fine Arts), as creativity became increasingly important.
But rather than “science fiction”, this was the “revolution” higher education across the world was undergoing, the 11th International Education Business Partnership Network Conference heard yesterday.
“I can assure you, each and every one of the examples I’ve just given you is a real-life case that I have seen somewhere during my trips all over the world… And the question for us today is whether the tertiary education systems of developing countries are ready to participate in this revolution,” Moroccan education economist Jamil Salmi told delegates on the third day of the conference held at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban.
Salmi emphasised the importance of knowledge for economic and social development, the speed at which new knowledge was being generated, and changing education needs and practices.
He suggested that, apart from engineers and economists, the “new competencies” employers were seeking in graduates were imagination and creativity.
Using the example of cellphones and laptops, Salmi argued that design, rather than technical specifications, distinguished a product from its competition.
“So how do we teach creativity? Our students need to learn to invent, to experiment, to think out of the box… To take chances, to break the rules, to make mistakes, and to have fun. And maybe this is the case in South Africa, but, believe me, in so many universities I have visited all over the world, it’s still about memorising the textbook… And not contradicting the professor.”
Salmi also contended that, with knowledge changing so rapidly, there had to be a move towards a mode of lifelong learning.
“When I work with universities that offer a medical degree, I challenge them: instead of offering your five-year or seven-year programme for $10 000 (R81 722), why don’t you offer lifetime programmes for $50 000… Offer them relevant upgrading and retraining throughout the course of their professional careers – off campus, online.”
