Some of the world’s leading experts in education have gathered in the capital of Qatar for the Tenth World Summit on Innovation for Education (WISE) with Nieves Segovia, president of SEK Education Group being invited to speak at this year’s event.
This year’s world conference on education, organised by the Qatar Foundation, was entitled Generation Unmute: Reclaiming our Future Through Education and featured over 300 speakers.
Nieves Segovia took part in the panel entitled Reimagining universities from scratch, as well as the panel discussion called Is Higher Ed Still valuable? in which she gave her opinion, precisely, on the role of universities. “Universities are still relevant, but they have to lead the conversation about what is happening in society, as well as on the competences that will really be in-demand in the future”, he assured in his speech.
The president of SEK Education Group made special mention of the main agents at universities, the students, and wondered if their needs were being listened to. “Students play the game of going to university because they need that step to enter the job market” she pointed out in reference to the importance of going to university in providing students with tools they need to lead change, not just as a mere formality for their subsequent access to the job market. “This debate is much deeper, they also need another way of learning, why don’t we combine those things, why don’t we listen to them?” she asked in her address.
She also alluded to the multiple types of students, whether they are “24 or 100 years old”, because “it is no longer about learning or not learning, we have to learn throughout our lives because the world continues to change”. She also emphasised universities’ responsibility, that “must be able to focus and add value to all its students, regardless of their age”.
In her opinion, “universities are still valuable, but they must find their purpose, and they need to transform because society is changing a great deal“, and that “although we are closer to disruption, there are still obstacles that impede it. Societies and companies are beginning to understand, but students are also making their own decisions and finding their own style of studying, looking at other formats and contents, something they are nowadays not finding at universities”.
Camilo José Cela University promotes debate on the urgent transformation of higher education with its Global Education Forum, an international discussion and debate community that seeks to transcend and generate real change.
Since its inception in 2009, the WISE Summit is one of the most important international education events. This year it has brought together over 10,000 participants through face-to-face and online sessions.