Governments around the world understand that creativity and innovation is the heart of a healthy economy. It also understands that graduates who join or establish their own businesses are a vital part of innovation growth. Perhaps that is all truer at this time of current uncertainty.

On the other side, the current managers definitely want prospective workers to carry a lot more than sufficient credentials. They are looking for candidates with varied strengths, including teamwork, problem-solving mindset, sound customer service alongside strong listening skills.

Hence, as content knowledge changes so fast in today’s world, graduates will have to be as equipped as possible they can be for the complicated, fast-paced, and global world.

The third side, our institutions must be mindful that their graduates earn those degrees that have trained them for both curriculum and standardized preparation, thereby improving their abilities to interpret, build and adjust so that they are open to cooperate and respond to expected changes and demands in their workplaces.

Universities in developed countries with well established, reputable and high-quality academic programs have a leadership role to play in reaching universities in less developed countries that require support to make the necessary changes in how graduates effectively prepare themselves to successfully contribute to the innovation agenda of their country.

Thinking outside the Box

All students deserve to be trained in a vibrant learning environment and by teachers who are capable of preparing and implementing effective and engaging learning programs. Universities all over the world must produce professional learners who can build approaches to both traditional and novel challenges in their chosen relevant area.

They must render out graduates that are capable of deciding what information is needed, how it is extracted from a range of sources, and how it is to be viewed and criticized, as well as how it is to be synthesized. These new workforces must also be able to judge convincingly on the basis of comprehensive evaluations, vision potential novel approaches actively, and understands how to accurately express results.

University to university involvement is not recent, and there are many collaborations with several universities all over the world. But the focus many times is on collaborative research ventures, sharing of students and/or personnel, or implementation of training services.

These scholars themselves are the product of a traditional teacher-center, in which they attend lectures, memorize the information obtained, and then re-enact the same knowledge in a standardized high-level review.

The antithesis of what they have learned and encountered, possibly from their earliest days of education, is to move to a program that promotes critical thought, research, and innovative initiative.

In the shift from a passive, teacher-centered style of learning to a learner-centered active approach, the instructional process has to be re-conceived, and traditional and embedded teaching methods have to be taken over.

All of this will yield good outcomes for all concerned authorities.

A Meaningful Collaboration

There will never be tangible outcomes immediately, nor will there be any beneficial effects if one partner makes decisions on the other. The right conversation is important. It is essential to build a positive and respectful relationship. It further means that specific feedback is used to address local needs.

To make real change, all stakeholders must be ready on both sides to listen without any prejudice. The goals will be mutually defined to broaden awareness and to exchange learning experiences.

The fact that nearly every higher education institution has technology exposure means that innovative approaches can be effective through engagement in web-informed webinars to create positive curricula and encourage substantive learning. They can be tailored to local needs and provide a continuing, effective means of funding for academics.

The final goal is to ensure that the training programs are modern, research-based, and have a combination of theoretical expertise and valuable realistic (vocational) know-how with which academics plan.

Moreover, these programs, which are focused on the actual challenges of business, industry, and society must foster the academic skills of students, encourage effort and intellectual ability, and the productive use of various technologies.

In these tumultuous times, educators need to work together more than ever to guarantee that learners achieve their deserving learning and that all authorities deliver graduates from higher education who can contribute to and change positively the political, social, and economic conditions of their countries.