Are Universities a relic of the past?

The program of the International Summer school, which is now taking place in Issyk-Kul, contains a lot of bright and informative sections. Participants are especially interested in discussion meeting at the end of the day, when an important and relevant topic for all listeners is selected for discussion. At the first discussion, last night, university managers and teachers discussed the need to reform the higher education system.

A discussion platform is held in an informal setting. Anyone can suggest a topic for discussion and act as a moderator, and yesterday, the first volunteer was MBA lecturer from Almaty Management University Sergei Filin. From the beginning of the discussion Sergey specified a kind of provocative format of the meeting, trying to divide the participants into two camps: the first, who believe that universities in their current form are a relic of the past and require radical transformation, and the second, who think that modern universities meet the time requirements. However, as it turned out, all participants have the same opinion that it is time to change something. As a result, colleagues talked more about what wrong is in modern universities and what should be done to ensure that students received knowledge adequate to new realities.

In the course of a skillfully moderated discussion, with elements of talk show,  long-known truths, and unexpected recognition of teachers’ role in quality learning materials in higher education institutions of Kazakhstan were expressed. Here are just a brief review of some of the quotes and opinions expressed by participants in a two-minute speech:

"If the higher education system were correct, employers would not have confidence that graduates need to be re-trained";

"Modern education is outdated. Such types of Universities, as in Kazakhstan, are  mostly out of need. Look at successful experience of Western companies. The largest auditing company Ernst&Young, which provides millions of consulting services, as well as  legal ones. They says officially  in their website that they do not need people with higher education. They are ready to teach beginners all the necessary things. There is an example of Google : they are looking for talented young people not at universities but online. There are a lot of examples when talented people have achieved heights without a formal diploma (remember the creators of Apple and Facebook). Our universities should not be as archaic as today. All what we, professors and teachers, say, unfortunately, is destroyed by such vivid examples. In order to correct the situation, universities must undergo serious reforms";

"OK, take some large company without higher education, without diploma. But suddenly this employee will be fired from the same Apple? He's going to get a job in another company, and there might be other requirements...";

"There must be a strong connection between University and production  so that  graduates were prepared for the situation they will have in a particular industry, in a particular company. That is, education must be oriented";

"A great person with higher education – if we create such people in big amount, production will stop. They will not go to Temirtau to work at hot ovens, they will not go to mines because they are so "intelligent" and "educated";

"We need to learn ourselves –take the best world experience and apply on the spot. Not to stand, to develop, to meet the demands of the time";

"What to do? To strengthen the humanitarian sector - we don't have enough sense and values. To give a certain percentage of the freedom to universities to enhance the diversity and experimentation, within reasonable. You need to increase the applied part – not only the theory but the practical part must be strong. And we need to develop the entrepreneurial aspect of universities (note of the press service: just what is done in AlmaU);

"Young people, who preferred something else to higher education, should not be marginalized. Today it is talked a lot about the fact that there are many people who are engaged in self-education and it does not prevent them to be educated. Therefore, it is necessary to create a space, where there will be the best public libraries, where it will be possible to share their experiences, conduct master classes, trainings. But it is clear that someone needs to assess their level of knowledge. There must be a kind of certification at the level of industry associations, with the participation of commercial sector, which will make the evaluation part. Because these companies are directly interested in specialists with strong knowledge";

"Higher education should not be for everyone. There must be a threshold for admission to University. And universities must select only the best and strong. It must not be a conveyor, as now, when universities try to involve the majority of population, when graduates work at bazaars or not by their specialty. Higher education must be only for those who are ready to learn, and teachers must be ready to give this knowledge. That is, there must not be average students and average teachers"; 

An interesting example was given by the discussion moderator Sergei Filin: "How did my daughter study in Sweden? Students read the theory in advance, then there is a seminar. And then, the Professor from Paris lectured on the subject at several universities at once, online. But he reads not what is in the books, but tells about his research which he is doing on the topic students learn. And often this study has not even published yet. The following topic is read by Professor from Spain, the next from another country. It turns out that they share knowledge that is still not widely known. And when some University professors retell textbooks during lectures, students are not aware of the current trends";

A peculiar conclusion of the discussion was summarized by AlmaU President Assylbek Kozhakhmetov: "All of you demand Western quality of education, which costs at least $ 50,000 per person. But in Kazakhstan, on average, $ 5,000 is spent per person. It is impossible to buy a luxury Mercedes for$ 5,000 . That is why we have education adequate to the money that people invest. Secondly, it is impossible to make education qualitative and professional, if public administration is of low quality. Education is a small part of the public administration system. Until the order is established in public administration, education will always lag behind!"

During the discussion an idea was expressed which caused the applause of all participants: "Mahatma Gandhi said: "If you want to change the world, start with yourself!" Therefore, the most correct solution will be when all of us, Summer school participants, to return to our cities, our universities, our working places, let's start do something to change around ourselves ".

Perhaps this emotional appeal responds best of all the interests of the higher education system as a whole and interests of every teacher and professor individually.