Universities were initially created to connect people. In our country, after 27 years of democracy, we have succeeded in increasing the percentage of students who attend institutions of higher learning from seven to eleven percent. By definition, it makes you (graduates) a small part of the elite and I hope that you will resist the temptation to be elitist and therefore exclusionary. For us, the biggest injustice was exclusion.
If the year 2020 was the year of the digital revolution, please join us in making 2021 become the year of the Ark – bringing people in. We need to empower universities to become inclusive centres of excellence; to be awake to still persistent inequalities and how these continue to shape a sense of belonging, ownership, identity, access, language, symbols, attitudes and expectations.
This story is from the Issue 294 edition of Big Issue.
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This story is from the Issue 294 edition of Big Issue.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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