The phenomenal advancement in science and technology in the recent past and the consequent revolution in information and communication has led to unprecedented advancements in almost every field. But these staggering achievements have not led to corresponding improvements in the human condition. Poverty, debt, poor health, illiteracy, alienation and violence continue to threaten the existence of many societies. Education must respond to this crisis.

Therefore the purpose of education cannot be merely to provide intellectual stimulation and to prepare citizens for the world of work. Education in general and tertiary education in particular must go further by serving a wider human purpose. National policy must place it in the vanguard of tackling the challenges of poverty, debt, ill-health and illiteracy. It must play the central role in establishing cohesion and harmony within the local as well as the global society. It must assist in breaking down ethnic, religious, economic, class and political barriers, by bringing people together in creative collaboration and cooperation. It must be responsive to the challenges that threaten the disintegration of human society through alienation, greed, crime and violence by assisting to shape and preserve the values and culture of a people. It must seek to create and maintain harmony between human beings and their internal and external environments.

The explosion of information and communication technologies has created new challenges and opportunities by improving the ways in which knowledge is produced, managed, accessed and disseminated. It provides new opportunities for the establishment of a ‘knowledge society’ which should be accessible to all on merit.

Tertiary Education is confronted with formidable challenges and must be committed to radical change and renewal if it is to remain relevant and responsive to the new demands of local and global societies, currently undergoing profound crises of values. Its mission should not only be to increase access, but in developing its programmes, should take the bold step in transcending mere academic, economic and political considerations to embrace the deeper and broader dimensions of morality and spirituality, for access to information and knowledge alone is no guarantee for ethical behaviour.