In the final session Dr Gajaraj Dhanarajan , President and Chief Executive Officer of the Commonwealth of Learning, Canada, again emphasised the rising disparities within nations and between nations. Increased participation in education worldwide has led to increased demand for higher education. He estimated that by 2025 demand would be well above 150 million - the current participation is approximately 50 million students. If nations wish to meet a larger part of the emerging demand, the resources needed will far exceed those available to governments. Alternative ways of delivering educational services have to be pursued.
Information technologies have as yet an unrealised potential to apply to educational delivery.
Partnerships, mergers, consortiums and alliances would emerge. He emphasised the need for fair, good and ethical practices to ensure continued respect for higher education in a global environment. The six plenary sessions were enhanced by a range of working sessions which brought in several additional speakers, together with 12 case study presentations. The complete papers for the conference will be published in due course. November 21-22, The Virtual University Symposium , Melbourne, Australia.