24th January is the fifth annual International Day of Education. Because this new global observance takes place at the start of the first academic term of the year, it is an opportune time for educators to take stock of how far we have come, consider where we are now, and assess how far there still is to go.
New World University has come a long way since its beginning as a mere idea. We have completed the first edition of the curriculum for our International Business Leadership suite of undergraduate programmes, and released them as OpenCourseWare for any who might want to take advantage of them. More importantly, we have graduated our first cohort of students, and we have taken their feedback seriously on what we did that helped them the most, and in what areas we could help them even more.
Because we are still refining our curricula as part of our accreditation process, we continue to assess no fees whatsoever to students. We have always believed, and continue to do so, that until that process is complete it would be inappropriate to charge even modest fees. Now we have recruited a second cohort of students to help us complete that process, and we look forward to offering more information about a positive conclusion to it. Put simply, at present this is our primary focus.
As for how far there is to go, the road to providing an affordable quality education to all who wish to take advantage of it is a long one. Many areas of the world continue to see demand for higher education far outstrip the supply that public institutions can provide. Our plan to work with local education organisations, including social entrepreneurs, will be one such means by which that demand can be fully met.
And working together, we will meet it! But for now, we wish you a Happy International Day of Education!