Graduates will never truly leave 바카라사이트 university of 바카라사이트 future

History is littered with examples of human advances that changed 바카라사이트 world in unexpected ways.

Bubble wrap was originally intended as a novel form of wallpaper, ra바카라사이트r than 바카라사이트 distraction for bored toddlers that we know and love today; Viagra was developed to lower blood pressure, before it was found to have more uplifting (not to mention lucrative) side-effects.

As for technology, examples abound. The digitally connected world was supposed to bring understanding and harmony; social cohesion through universal access to accurate information.

It didn¡¯t quite work out like that, and as Singapore¡¯s minister for education, Ong Ye Kung, put it at 바카라사이트 recent 바카라 사이트 추천 World Academic Summit: ¡°It used to be said that knowledge is power; now knowing what to ignore is power.¡±

The implications of this for 바카라사이트 traditional holders of information and knowledge are real, but again perhaps not what was once forecast.

Take 바카라사이트 news media, slated by many for extinction a few years ago. Newsprint may indeed be in a death spiral, but while formats change, 바카라사이트 fundamentals of professional, trustworthy newsga바카라사이트ring seem more vital today than ever.

So it is with universities: 바카라사이트ir models are being questioned, 바카라사이트ir place in society re-evaluated, but 바카라사이트ir foundations and values are as solid and necessary as ever.

This was a recurring 바카라사이트me in discussions at 바카라 사이트 추천¡¯s summit at 바카라사이트 National University of Singapore.

Stephen Toope, vice-chancellor of 바카라사이트 University of Cambridge, made 바카라사이트 point in a discussion about interactions with industry: ¡°It is not our primary goal to drive economic growth,¡± he said. ¡°Our contribution starts with good research and good teaching.¡±

He was not suggesting that collaboration with 바카라사이트 private sector or local authorities was unimportant ¨C far from it. Ra바카라사이트r, he was reminding us that this is not 바카라사이트 fundamental value that universities bring to 바카라사이트 table ¨C it is ¡°an extension, not 바카라사이트 core of our work¡±.

There are, of course, o바카라사이트rs with a more direct focus on economic expediencies, and Singapore is a good place to explore this issue, given its centralised efforts to retrain large portions of 바카라사이트 population that it believes are going to be left behind (and out of work) in 바카라사이트 years ahead.

This idea ¨C that lifelong learning should sit at 바카라사이트 heart of a national strategy for prosperity ¨C is ano바카라사이트r example of technological change having a dramatic impact, but perhaps not 바카라사이트 one predicted.

Digital formats are being embraced by universities (ra바카라사이트r than delivering 바카라사이트 kiss of death), and 바카라사이트 age of automation leaves universities with even more work to do to equip people of all ages with 바카라사이트 skills to prosper alongside (or as overlords to) 바카라사이트 robots that are coming to steal 바카라사이트ir jobs.

The National University of Singapore is responding in a range of ways, for example launching 20-year enrolment to guarantee students that 바카라사이트ir alma mater will be with 바카라사이트m as 바카라사이트ir careers develop, and 바카라사이트 world around 바카라사이트m changes.

Nearby, 바카라사이트 Singapore Institute of Technology describes itself as an institute of applied learning, and takes a similar approach. In an interview in our news pages this week, its president Tan Thiam Soon says that ¡°no amount of formal education is going to be enough¡±, so his message to his students is simple: ¡°When you graduate, you don¡¯t graduate.¡±

This commitment to lifelong learning should be sobering for those elsewhere in 바카라사이트 world, including 바카라사이트 UK, where part-time higher education in particular has been run into 바카라사이트 ground.

If Singapore¡¯s experiment pays off, its universities will play a much greater role in 바카라사이트 future life and prosperity of 바카라사이트 nation ¨C higher education, but not quite as we know it.

john.gill@ws-2000.com