Are there universal values?

One day in class we were discussing co-education vs single sex education and the overwhelming majority thought co-ed is better. Then the professor claimed places such as the Middle East don't allow daughters to go to school unless it's single sex. So the students decided co-ed is for some parts of the world and single sex is for others. I wonder if my classmates thought single sex education was truly better for the future progress of the Middle East or if they believed the ideal shouldn't be pursued and peoples from different parts of the world deserve different goods. Is good in one place bad in another and therefore the ideal is never compromised despite difference? Or is good constant and so should we strive towards what can be or what ought to be?


Samar