What Are The Responsibilities and Contributions of Higher Education Institutions to Global Challenges?

Education is fundamental to the construction of the sustainable world we are working endlessly to create. It is a powerful tool for transforming knowledge, progressive attitudes, values, goals, and skills of individuals and societies worldwide. We all come to the world not knowing anything at all. We rely on what we see, read, and are told to do to find our way in life.

The wrong attitudes, goals, and actions of today, to a large extent, exist because people are ignorant of the truth or have been negatively educated. Thus, the key to global change, sustainable development, is passing down the proper knowledge to the coming generations. Every informal and formal education has its quota to contribute to combating the challenges we are currently facing.

Higher education institutions contribute to solving critical global challenges in the following ways:

Poverty Alleviation

Generations of every culture, race, country and continent have had and still have their share of the fight against poverty. Higher education provides knowledge, ideas, and skills that enhance employability, critical thinking, creativity, and innovativeness to identify and solve problems, and start legitimate, income-generating, and sustainable businesses. Higher education helps individuals choose a career path and make smart financial management decisions.

All things being equal, quality education ought to reduce poverty levels to minimal levels. However, this is not the case; higher education is mostly unaffordable to the commoner. Some graduates are still unprepared for the highly evolutionary workplace, which can only mean that our higher education system needs to be reviewed.

Equality Diversity and Inclusiveness

Gone are those days when gender, race, ethnicity, tribe, and other biases limited opportunities to certain people. Everyone ought to have equal access to quality education, professional, political, and religious representation. Many universities have begun to find new ways to enable people from less traditionally represented backgrounds to access higher education. Some institutions offer funding to international students based on merit to create a culturally diverse learning environment.

Students are now being admitted for programs, despite their special needs/disabilities, race, culture, gender, etc., and the staff is being trained to act in a non-discriminatory manner. Combatting equality, diversity, and inclusiveness is a never-ending process; it is anticipated that more schools would adopt more practical measures that foster positive change.

Hunger and Malnutrition

Hunger, malnutrition, and food insecurity have become like a global pandemic. Research shows a strong positive correlation between hunger, food security, and education. Higher education institutions provide advanced agricultural techniques for higher yield, storage, preservation, and processing practices, plus research opportunities. These measures increase food availability, supply, and accessibility.

In addition, educated parents make better and more informed decisions about their diet and their children. Individuals with higher education can easily decide between alternative food sources to meet the nutrient requirement. Consequently, universities and other higher education institutions are major players in sustainable food production and consumption.

Climate Change

Many higher education institutions have taken the lead, fostered/embraced strategies to mitigate climate change. Some universities and colleges have begun to contribute through research, education of students, operational and community engagement activities. Unfortunately, it is one thing to preach and another to practice. Are all defaulters non-degree holders? To what extent have universities incorporated climate change values in their actions? The effort so far is commendable, but there is more to do to reach the target as our fight against climate change is complex and requires more deliberate and consistent measures.

Safety and Security

Education is the missing link in our efforts towards sustainable peace, safety, and security. Higher education is one of the proactive measures that we can use to alleviate strife amongst people. The inclusion of peace education as separate or integrated courses aims at promoting positive change. It encompasses education about threats, citizens’ awareness of rights, virtues, altruism, tolerance, obligation, etc. It helps to regulate people’s behavior, cognition, and response to threats. The aim is to promote global peace, security, and stability. And a well-structured higher education program on peace and security will go a long way to prevent violence, insecurity, and conflicts in the world.

Education

Higher education institutions provide teaching and learning opportunities that enable individuals to contribute to society. Professional education prepares them to function adequately in both the government and civil society. It makes room for critical thinking, problem-solving, research, and innovation for progress. Acquiring quality formal education is expensive, especially in higher education. A good number of higher education institutions offer scholarships, loans, and subsidies to sponsor education. Increased access to quality education is developmental. These opportunities help spread knowledge across regions and continents, facilitating positive change through informed decision-making and cultural cohesion. However, we need to do more than these to increase access to higher education in disadvantaged communities.

Conclusion

Education is a smart investment with exceeding returns on the cost of interventions. Education must be accessible, comprehensive, and practical for it to be effective. But how effective are our teaching techniques? Do the syllabuses of higher education institutions sufficiently address issues of global interest? Most importantly, how affordable and accessible are higher education institutions? All hands must be on deck to increase the intensity, effectiveness, and coverage of our global higher education system in combating global challenges.

Author: Christiana Ugbem

Photo: ias.unu.edu