19 February 2020
According to Mr Hamoon Ekhtiari, founder of Audacious Futures, a consultancy that forecasts future trends and comes up with solutions, universities have to reinvent themselves if they do not want to be overwhelmed by change. Universities and policymakers have to be bold and even audacious in how they respond to the sweeping changes in how students learn and work.
The higher education landscape, according to Mr Hamoon Ekhtiari, will have to offer different pathways and non-traditional options, as well as include alternative learning providers such as online or virtual universities.
Mr Ekhtiari said university administrators and policymakers have to address three crucial gaps in the higher education system, in terms of access, quality and readiness. The access gap is about who gets the opportunity to participate in higher education. The quality gap refers to whether a university education really upgrades the skills and knowledge of students. The readiness gap is about the employability of students when they graduate.
Universities have to relook the modes of learning and assessment. Instead of the traditional four-year degree route, we could have a system of lifetime membership where you keep going back to learn new things and upskill yourself.