S. Kologo, Burkina Faso

In Sub-Saharan Africa we have a wealth of resources and need to improve their use. Our universities encounter a number of difficulties. Our universities need to train and recruit high quality teachers otherwise the quality of education will deteriorate. We need to offer vocational training opportunities leading to professional qualifications. The situation is less than ideal in our universities. We have few research grants, researchers need to fight to find funding and call on the private sector to fund their research initiatives. Certain researchers prefer to set up their own independent labs and work alone. The development of research in Africa must be achieved through the development of hubs to optimize the costs of research. We need to foster mobility for researchers nationally and internationally. The scientific diaspora needs to be mobilized. We need to focus on the social relevance of these initiatives. Our training programs should be linked to the local concerns of our countries.

Luxi Chen, China

Since September 2008 I have been studying economics and management in Paris and since 2009 working part time in financial computer programming. I am now employed as an assistant engineer at the French National Center for Scientific Research. I have gained scientific knowledge and learned how to go about research activities. The training that we receive offers us a number of career possibilities and enables us to accumulate specialist knowledge and experience that is indispensable in both our professional and personal lives. Confucius says that the paths of studies involves shedding light on reason, it regenerates people. Higher education brings people knowledge but also moral values and an ethical approach. Higher education also involves social responsibility. It is important to educate citizens in values and practices of sustainable development in order to give humanity the tools it needs to adapt to world of the future. Higher education systems still need to be further developed. In developing countries there are not enough educational possibilities. Some say that they have to turn to developed countries for inspiration. I don’t believe this is the case. We need to see how each system can improve itself, grow and develop.

Isabelle Tejada, Colombia

One of the most acute problems facing Latin America and the Caribbean is that higher education is still considered to be a privilege. It is an even greater privilege to cross borders in quest of opportunities to increase acquired knowledge. Students from Latin America and the Caribbean who come to Europe, North America and Asia to study each have different stories with respect to how their degrees are assessed, how visas and study programs are managed. The processes do not function as in our countries of origin.

I seek to return to Colombia and return to my country what my university gave me. I studied French and that opened the door to this country. But my five years of study in linguistics and research in bilingual education in Colombia were validated as three in Europe. What does it mean for a student from Latin America to reinvent higher education? It means wanting a different and imperfect university that fosters social responsibility through all areas of knowledge, demanding commitment on the part of all players and not just going along with standard discourse. It involves recognition of our credentials and not the commoditization of what they represent, it involves developing new forms of distance education recognized in the world of labour. Priority should be given to the development of research in Latin America and the Caribbean and the creation of networks and the development of technological progress. Reinventing higher education in Latin America and the Caribbean means trusting and investing in our abilities, in our human resources.

Emily Helmeid, USA

I cannot speak for all of my fellow students. But I think that those of us present in this room would be quick to affirm that access to education, at any level, is our right – our human right. We might also agree that the current, worldwide economic crisis underscores the necessity for diverse, adaptable and accessible education systems that recognize the ‘new dynamics’ of our globalized world. Furthermore, we could likely reach the consensus that higher education institutions are in the best position to foster sustainable development, encourage active citizenship and perpetuate democracy throughout the world. My peers and I have overcome economic and social obstacles to obtain the education that only you could and can provide us and risen to the level of the expectations you have put upon us. In fact, we have been encouraged to such heights that we have views of horizons that you have yet to explore. And in another generation, the same will be said of us. Education has given us a voice and we mean to use it. It has empowered us so that we now have as much responsibility to work towards the common interests and overarching goals of our global community as you do.

My peers and I are the future and current generation of teachers, researchers, activists and policy makers; we generally do not usually fit the profile of those who have come before us. We have made our way here on different paths. Some of us attended university in our own countries, some of us abroad. Many of us could not have gone to school without significant financial support, whether private or public, domestic or foreign. We are not necessarily in the field of higher education; rather, we are here because higher education is our present, its challenges urgent and immediate.

I consider myself an ordinary student. I do not come from any significant wealth, at least in the monetary sense. I did not attend an elite university. And I am by no means a genius. However the fact that I am standing here before you, as both a Fulbright Fellow working at UNESCO and a representative of my region, clearly demonstrates that I am privileged. Unfortunately, these are opportunities that most students my age could never expect to have. As a teacher in elementary schools located in Brazil, Mexico and the United States, I have witnessed the incredible impact education has upon the future of its students beginning at the earliest levels. The expectations of my students, most of them from lower income families, directly mirrored the expectations of their teachers, their parents and their society.

And on that note, I would like to offer my own challenge for the future: if we expect to realize merit-based access to higher education institutions for all, we must both demonstrate this expectation to every potential student, regardless of their background, and remove the notion of elitism from our dialogues. Higher education is not limited to PhDs or Masters, it includes any education beyond the secondary level –whether informal, online distance learning, vocational training, a local community college or advanced degrees. It should cater to the needs of individuals, communities and States. With the admission that there are many paths to the fostering of effective, active citizens, we will have an education system that works for everyone.

Olga Pozigunova, Russian Federation

I am a graduate in ecological studies and I have chosen to continue my education in France to do a Masters’ degree. This has given me the opportunity to deepen my knowledge and gain two different approaches to ecological training. I hope such an experience will make it possible for me to be useful in my country of origin and to help improve the environment in Russia and Europe. Ecological questions are some of the most acute ones facing the modern world. We are at the brink of a global ecological catastrophe from which salvation will only be possible through a clear plan of action developed in close cooperation with the governments of leading powers and demanding the participation of each aware individual. I have been interested in ecology since my days in middle school. It was heartbreaking to look at smoking chimney stacks on factories, the felling of precious trees species and the demise of rare birds and animals because of contaminated water. I quickly understood that my future profession would be in this field. Years of study gave me a lot of theoretical knowledge as well as work experience in a nature reserve where I developed the theme for my dissertation. The difference between air samples taken at the nature reserve and in streets of the city was astonishing. I am now one step from realizing my dream. Alongside my course work I have spent a lot of time studying French in order to continue my studies in a prestigious European university. It is with joy and hope that I look forward to the next educational year which will bring many interesting discoveries. I am sure that the invaluable knowledge and experience acquired during my studies will make it possible to contribute something to my region and others.

Noha Radwan, Egypt

I am majoring in electronics and communications engineering at Cairo University and simultaneously working as a senior developer in an oil field services company. I would like to tell you about a great experience with Imagine Cup, a competition organized by Microsoft that gathers some of the most innovative students from around the world. With a team from Cairo University we contributed a project focusing on education for special needs that we presented to Bill Gates. My dream is to see higher education engage more closely with industry and development planning. Human resources in developing countries are our main value. We have to ask our governments and ministries of education to focus on the human resources and to encourage our students to go for entrepreneurship and engage higher education with developmental plans. This will the way forward for our countries. From a developing country background, I also understand how ICTs can boost the development of our countries if properly focused.

I am son of a farmer. I graduated from high school and attended university in Ouagadougou where I studied chemistry. Thanks to a scholarship I was able to study in France, where I studied engineering and renewable energies, knowledge I have taken back to Burkina Faso. In Ouagadougou, I was the leader of a student movement calling for improvements in student conditions in university.