Higher Education Is Important

Education is a fundamental right for everyone and key to the future of any country. Education has its price everywhere, but the only thing more expensive than investing in education is not investing in education. Inadequate education produces high costs for society in terms of public spending, crime, health, and economic growth. No country can afford to leave too many of its children behind and not to help them achieve the competencies needed for a self-fulfilled life in economic independence. But the main challenges in education differ across countries and continents. Emerging countries need to respond to increasing demand in education. And in some parts of the world, it is still not a given that every child has the right to go to school and, hence, a big share of the population cannot read and write.
Higher education should teach responsibility and integrity. Universities should help people address the epidemic of declining values, division and mistrust. Higher education helps shape students’ view about large society, and it can do much more to reinforce bedrock values like responsibility, integrity and concern for others. We need stronger codes of student conduct designed to deter cheating, drug use, binge drinking and disrespectful behavior. On the other hand this puts schools and professors in the position of deciding what is moral and responsible.
Higher education should help to ensure that our economy remains competitive in a tough global marketplace. Universities should re-allocate their funds to create top-notch science and technology programs and invest in the labs and technology needed to support them. However, other departments could lose faculty and funding, and some schools might not be able to offer courses that don’t attract large numbers of students.
Higher education should help ensure that we have a fairer country. Since graduating from university unlocks the door to advancement, higher education and government should do much more to ensure