Panoramic View of Some Challenges Inhibiting Access to Higher Education in Developing Countries

Abstract

The various challenges being faced by higher education in most countries of the world especially in the area of effective, efficient productive function, widening of access and participation, have dwarfed the various visions and missions of these institutions. The funding dilemma; “massification” of higher education; curriculum and pedagogical deficiencies; quality assurance bottlenecks; out-dated technologies for learning teaching and research; lack of academic freedom and autonomy; weak knowledge creation; limited access and regional disparities; corruption and inefficiency; political interference among other problems, have ambushed higher education and held it hostage in most countries of the world, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. This paper observes that the aforementioned problems have negatively impacted on access and meaningful participation of citizens in higher education. In a globalized-knowledge based economy therefore, templates for action plans geared towards strategizing higher education for optimal performance should be instituted.