ASSIGNMENT 02
Student number: 20682964
Name: Llewellyn van Molendorff
Module code: DVA 1502
Module title: Development problems and institutions
Semester: 1
Due date: 18 April 2023
Unique number: 789099
Title: Discuss the importance of education and the causes of inequality in
accessing education.
a) The importance of education in development.
b) Definition of educational inequality.
c) Causes of educational inequalities.
ACADEMIC HONESTY DECLARATION
Declaration
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UNISA’s policies in this regard.
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used other people’s work I have indicated this by using the prescribed
style of referencing. Every contribution to, and quotation in, this
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according to this style.
3. I have not allowed, and will not allow, anyone to copy my work with the
intention of passing it off as his or her own work.
4. I did not make use of another student’s work and submitted it as my
own.
5. I am aware that marks can be deducted for poor/no referencing in this
assignment.
NAME: Llewellyn van Molendorff
ID NUMBER / PASSPORT NUMBER: 9212075017089
MODULE CODE: DVA 1502
STUDENT NUMBER: 20682964
DATE: 20 February 2023
QUESTION YES NO
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ASSIGNMENT NUMBER: 02
STUDENT NUMBER: 20682964
DATE: 20 February 2023
Contents:
PAGE
1. Introduction………………………………………………………………...……2
2. The importance of education in development…………………………..2-4
3. Definition of educational inequality…………………………………...…….5
4. Causes of educational inequalities…………………………………..……5-8
5. Conclusion………………………………………………………………….……8
6. List of references…………………………………………………..….……9-10
Introduction
1
Education is a necessary aspect to our lives. Education teaches us how to
think critically, how to get work done properly, how to make wise decisions,
how to plan, develop and execute a successful and meaningful life. The
importance of education in development spans around various approaches
such as economic growth, basic needs of the population, citizenship and
political participation. Inequality in education exists in the sense that
educational resources are not distributed evenly in which a chain reaction of
different inequalities takes place in which some of the causes will be
discussed later on.
The importance of education in development
The foremost appeal to education and development is the concept that they
are in a cause and effect relationship, rather casual, that education brings
about development, and the more we invest in education, the more
development we will experience. These arguments are the corner stones to a
country’s education policy, also to movements in the international sphere for
example Education International, Plan International and Save the Children. To
name a few among many. Figure 1 shows the economic growth when the
quality of education is enhanced and can over time cover the costs of primary
and secondary education (Hanushek et al., 2013:204).
Figure 1: Connection between education and economic growth (Hanushek,
2013).
The most important reason for education in modern current times is that it
serves as an engine for economic growth and prosperity, to the extent of an
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individual and on a broader national scale. At the core of this position is
human capital theory, which emphatically suggests that investment in
education reinforces the productivity of workers, and in turn increases
economic returns that includes salaries, and significant growth in the macro
domain. Human capital theory became famous in illustrating differences in
economic growth in various countries, especially in Africa where the
conventional components of natural resources, work effort and physical
capital investments have overall thrived in recent years. Since then it has had
an important role in education economics, despite the fact that notable
adjustments have been made over the years such as the move from years of
schooling to quality of schooling through learning outcomes (Hanushek et al.,
2013:205).
The theory has also entered the field of technology and innovation which has
become increasingly more important to the economy with intelligible
connection for tertiary education. Endogenous growth theory became an
addition of human capital theory by accepting the mutual advantages of top
class skills setup for producing and maintaining technological innovation
(Romer et al., 1986:1015). In knowledge economy, education has become far
more important since the industrial age, used to train knowledgeable workers,
at the same time producing innovation and enterprise. Human capital theory
became an explanation of economic growth, but systematically became the
doctrine for education. These are different as it is possible to hold at the same
time that education is crucial to economic growth, but that schools should not
focus only on the productivity of workers. Governments and supranational
unions for example the World Bank, justifies that investing in education,
private and public, results in a higher Gross National Product through the
economic returns that can be acquired. This justification has brought notable
changes for educational content, especially the emphasis that is put on basic
mathematics skills, language and science. As a result, human capital theory
has received some criticism. A few of these are in the economic field, for
example screening hypothesis, which declares that productivity differentials
are not caused by education, rather it is verified by its achievements.
According to this theory, people with better natural abilities are able to go
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through the education system and earn higher qualifications. Another issue
with human capital theory is that it assumes the labour market takes and pays
people with specific skills correspondingly (Robertson et al., 2016:827).
A variety of arguments have also emerged on those that concentrate on the
basic needs of a given population (Stewart, 1985). These arguments are quite
important in international development, as there are many countries in
extreme poverty. The difference from the drivers of human capital is that they
do not exclusively focus on better work opportunities and salaries, but also
improving living standards through health, nutrition and other parts of well
being. The main reason is that reading, writing, essential knowledge and skills
permit people to have necessary information for example, general health,
causes of HIV/Aids. This increases their capabilities to work in public services
relating to health and in a broader scheme promote healthier lifestyles.
Global citizenship education is becoming more popular, this is due to
globalization. This is considered in the Sustainable Development Goals where
global citizenship education is one of the main concerns of the UN Secretary
General’s Global Education First in which all children should be in schools
and receive quality education (Freire, 1970). The idea is that democracy is not
just a model for governance, but also something to be practiced and that is
learned. Democratic societies that are inclusive, representative and co-
operative are dependent on previous and continuing learning processes that
citizens are joined in. Another type of this approach is that education is crucial
to social transformation by elevating learners consciousness. The idea is to
educate the people to be aware of the injustices of their situations, to
collectively work together to oppose their oppressors or government (Freire,
1970). An example of this is during the Apartheid era where the majority of
South Africans worked together to abolish the racial and discriminating
system. Education is key to this transformation, where a fundamental shift of
educational implementation is required, however in some countries where this
has happened in the past, the outcomes were dire.
Definition of educational inequality
4
Inequalities in education has always been a a thorn in the road for many
different countries, societies and groups of people over the years. Educational
inequality is defined as academic resources that are not equally distributed
across institutions and society that include school funding, qualified teachers,
textbooks, technology used in the class environment (Ferreira & Gignoux,
2011).
Causes of educational inequalities
Socioeconomic factors, religious beliefs, regional differences, lack of
experienced and qualified teachers are some of the many causes for
educational inequality. Social Economic Status (SES) is a clear cause of
educational inequality as there exists a significant difference between the rich
income families and the poor income families. Rich income families have
more capital to invest in their child’s education, thus they often opt for
expensive and better education as opposed to their poor counterparts which
can’t afford the same schooling for their child (Breen & Jonsson et al.,
2005:232).
This is clear to me while teaching in China. There are many schools in rural
areas or villages as they are often referred to as, that have very little access
to education. For example the mountainous area outside of Zhangjiajie city,
there are a combination of issues such as lack of transport, insufficient
teachers, inexperienced teachers, lack of qualified teachers, lack of quality
education and lack of teaching aids. Often parents have to walk by foot,
sometimes through dangerous mountain passages (especially in winter when
the surface is covered in ice) to get to school. Although some mountain
residents that I spoke to, said that they prefer living in the mountainous area
due to sentimental beliefs and feeling attached and comfortable to that
environment. The rich income families that live in the city do not need to worry
about these issues, since the educational institutes that they choose are well
equipped and have all the necessary resources. This may also lead to long
term effect in a child’s cognitive and social development. The educational
outcomes are often prevalent. This automatically divides children on a group
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level that leads to exclusion. Some ethnic, linguistic, cultural, religious and
gender based groups have different opinions on the contents of a given
subject than other children that will exclude them from participation (Garner &
Shonkoff et al., 2012:67).
Different elements like race, social class, disability, and gender are very much
connected to educational inequality. With regards to race, the differentials
between majority, minority and ethnic groups carry on as patrons to education
injustices (Aguolu et al., 1979:522). Politics are in many instances the cause of
racial tension, thus some racial discrimination may exist between different
races (Blanton, Mason & Athow et al., 2001:486). The decline in linguistics of
certain languages in education may be prevalent when another language
becomes more dominant. Due to this, some students won’t reach their full
potential as they might not be fluent in a language and perform worse than
others because of the lack of understanding to instructions, learning,
listening and communicating.
There is still gender inequality existing in various educational institutions. Girls
have experienced a lot of discrimination in many aspects as opposed to their
male counterparts, especially in participation (Klasen & Lamanna, 2008).
People living in disadvantaged, negligible and economically weaker parts of
society do not motivate girls often to strive for higher education, mainly
because they leave girls with the household responsibilities that they feel girls
need to take care of. These include, but are not limited to, cooking meals for
the family, cleaning the house, washing the dishes and doing the laundry.
Figure 2 shows a comparison between girls and boys that left, unlikely to
enter and likely to enter school (UNESCO, 2021).
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Figure 2: Out-of-school children (UNESCO, 2021).
In poor, deprived areas, girls and women have experienced inhumane violent
crime acts against them to large extent. These violent acts include verbal
abuse, physical harm, sexual harassment, poor treatment, rape, abortion,
human trafficking, domestic violence and psychological abuse. Often when
girls and women experience these horrendous acts, it affects their physical
and psychological health. The depth of suffering usually depends on how long
and to what extent the girls or women experienced these acts (Klasen &
Lamanna, 2008). For example, in schools, girls might experience verbal
abuse from other peers, this in turn affects their educational performance in
school. Usually when girls experience sexual harassment, or other serious
criminal acts against them, they might decide to leave school entirely and
forfeit their education due to not being able to cope with what happened. This
is why violent criminal acts are regarded as barriers to gaining education.
The exclusion of disabled people in education is a global issue. People that
are disabled experience injustice and discrimination in every country in the
world, regardless of of their nationality, whether the country is wealthy or poor.
The exclusion from education and employment include lack of contacts in the
social sphere, poor health, and lack of confidence or low self-esteem. As a
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result, reduced job opportunities and income, accelerated poverty, other forms
of exclusion, vulnerability to illnesses and injuries (Yeo, 2001). The initiatives
of the Education for All organization include the reduction of poverty and
equal access to education cannot materialize without first acknowledging the
millions of disabled people in the world, especially in the Asia, Pacific and
African regions of the world (Helander, 1992).
Conclusion
In conclusion, with regards to human capital theory and development, there is
clear evidence that the quality of education has a link to economic growth,
however there is valid criticism on this theory as there are many different
factors that play a role when it comes to the economic, social and political
domains. Educational inequality exists in all parts of the world and it has been
a topic that is of great concern and how to overcome it. These educational
inequalities have many different forms and manifestations all over the world
and the causes as a result are affecting development directly. Research on
these issues are continuing to help fight against these injustices.
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List of references:
1. Aguolu, C.C. 1979. The role of ethnicity in Nigerian education. The Journal
of Negro Education, 48(4):513–529.
2. Blanton, R., Mason, D.T. & Athow, B. 2001. Colonial style and post-colonial
ethnic conflict in Africa. Journal of Peace Research, 38(4):473–491.
3. Breen, R. & Jonsson, J.O. 2005. Inequality of opportunity in comparative
perspective: recent research on educational attainment and social mobility.
Annual Review of Sociology, 31(1):223–243.
4. Ferreira, F.H.G. & Gignoux, J. 2011. The measurement of educational
inequality: achievement and opportunity. https://ssrn.com/abstract=1957030
Date of access: 18 Feb. 2023.
5. Freire, P. 1970. Pedagogy of the oppressed. London: Penguin Books.
6. Garner, A.S. & Shonkoff, J.P. 2012. Committee on psychosocial aspects of
child and family health. The Journal of Pediatrics, 129(1):52-92.
7. Hanushek, E. 2013. Economic growth in developing countries: The role of
human capital. Economics of Education Review, 73(1):204–212.
8. Helander, E. 1992. Prejudice and Dignity: An Introduction to Community-
Based Rehabilitation. NY: UNDP.
9. Klasen, S. & Lamanna, F. 2008. The impact of gender inequality in
education and employment on economic growth in developing countries:
updates and extensions.
http://conference.iza.org/conference_files/worldb2008/klasen_s146.pdf Date
of access: 17 Feb. 2023.
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10. Robertson, S.L. 2016. Piketty, capital and education: a solution to, or
problem in, rising social inequalities? British Journal of Sociology of
Education, 37(6):823–835.
11. Romer, P.M. 1986. Increasing returns and long-run growth. The Journal of
Political Economy, 94(5):1002–1037.
12. Stewart, F. 1985. Planning to meet basic needs. London: Macmillan.
13. UNESCO. 2021, 8 Mar. eAtlas of gender inequality in education
[infographic]. https://en.unesco.org/news/twice-many-girls-boys-will-never-
start-school-says-unesco-eatlas-launched-advance-international Date of
access: 19 Feb. 2023.
14. Yeo, R. 2001. Chronic Poverty and Disability. Chronic Poverty Research
Centre. https://ssrn.com/abstract=1754542 Date of access: 19 Feb. 2023.
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