ABSTRACT
A wave of developments in universities took place in the late 1950s and 1960s as more people moved into the higher education sector in professional capacities. The best and brightest are travelling to the developed world's major universities for higher education. A variety of 'whole' curriculum policy initiatives in higher education over the past decade have been highlighted in the academic literature. The argument is that in a rapidly changing society where specific competencies have become obsolete, employers increasingly recognize the value of generic competencies with well-developed analytical and problem solving skills, leading to an interest in promoting 'general' education' at the undergraduate level. Two distinct reform patterns are discernible within the universities involved: separated generalist undergraduate programmes from specialist and professional education at the postgraduate level, and generalist compulsory core programmes which run in parallel with specialist and professional education at the undergraduate level.
