The Right to Education : A Model for making Higher Education equally accessible to All on the Basis of Merit

Abstract

We commend this collaboration between leading journals in the field to promote the role of distance education in achieving the aspiration of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit. In this Paper we review the past models of higher education institutions, with respect to how well they address the three core aspects of providing access, quality, and cost, and propose a new model that might best provide wider access, quality assurance and at low cost. This new model draws from a new business model that advocates individualization of courses and utilizing global resources. Our model becomes practical when institutions focus on supporting learning, and separate out the role of examinations to central or regional bodies. Adoption of this model, particularly in developing countries, could bring forward significantly the day when the world can say that higher education is equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.