The Key Features of the Best Higher Education Colleges

Introduction

It is often said that the USA, Canada, the UK, Germany, France, Switzerland, Australia, Japan, Singapore and a few other countries have the best higher education colleges. What does it actually mean? A very general question may pop up in the mind as to what are those basic components that make some colleges outstanding and thereby those are graded higher than other institutions.

Education is a training methodology of the creative faculty of human being (often some animals too). Taking a simple clue from the statistical observation, it may not be all unjust to comment that in the above countries there are strongly monitored and systematic educational training patterns that impart education with greater degrees of efficiency. Only a strongly integrated nation can have an integrated system of higher education, or health or any other sector for that matter. It is now worthwhile to have a look at the basics that make the best higher education colleges.

Physical Infrastructure

It is the physical and/or infrastructural set up of a college. If a higher education college is a traditionally conceived of institution, then physical infrastructure includes the building, classroom facilities, electricity, laboratories, health facilities, communication system and many such amenities that make the presence of students comfortable at the premises. The physical infrastructure under review also incorporates part of educational amenities like library, museum internet coverage and the electronic reproduction gadgets that are very relevant in today’s education. All these facilities are a great help for better education and these visible services initially attract the majority students.

Educational Infrastructure

This is perhaps the most important constituent and the most undisputed sector in any good educational institution. Good students must need good teachers. In a way, there is an unspoken reciprocity between the teacher and the taught – it is the teacher who makes good student; and equally true is the fact that it is the good student who makes good teacher. To be simple enough, the common perception is that it is a good set of teachers in the departments that matters most in higher education colleges. They must be in a position to motivate the young learners to dedicate time and energy for the sake of acquiring knowledge. They must be the models before the students and must undertake accountability for the welfare of the young learners. They are in the positions of drivers and they must move the entire body carefully to the right direction.

Administrative Infrastructure

Often put in the third position of the scale, administrative infrastructure, in fact, is the muscle of an institution. This sector regulates all other sectors, namely – students, teachers, officials, physical amenities, and whatever is beyond the jurisdiction of a particular unit or department, etc. The body, responsible for administration of the best graduate colleges, must keep an eye open to each and every important and unimportant aspect of colleges. If the issue relates to the repair of a building, it is part of the administrative job and if it is the more sophisticated issue of allowing some incentive to a particular good teacher for his/her innovative activities, it is again an administrative issue. Both the issues, for example, are highly important for the best graduate colleges; none can be ignored.

Conclusion

Finally, however, it is a joint venture. All the units of the best graduate colleges contribute to a common cause, i.e. improvement of the education system of the institution. The three units, as described above, must be in tune with the institutional ambition and accordingly work from within the respective jurisdictions only to contribute to the whole and not to misbalance the whole or any part. This common intention to contribute to the institution is finally all that matter. Sometimes, a mission with some moral and pious urgency matters more than the physical, educational, administrative and infrastructural facilities.