PEOPLE / QUALITY OF LIFE
EDUCATION
EDUCATION BUILDS HUMAN POTENTIAL
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EDUCATION
From Chapter XX - xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
From the Burgess Book 'Turning Development Upside Down'
REFORMS NEEDED FOR SOCIO-ECONOMIC PROGRESS / LESSONS FOR THE INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
based on the author's experience over a period of more than 40 years
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Open bk009170200
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What is the Value Dynamic of Education?
Learning is a natural part of human existence. Babies learn from the moment they are born, and the process continues throughout life. Education is a man-built construct that, at its best, enables more and better learning to take place, and at its worst blocks a persons natural inclination to learn. Good education helps a person make the most of their natural talent, and prepares a person to take advantage of opportunities that they will have in the future. Education should be a good fit for the individual, and a good fit for the society. Education that is the most fun may not be the most useful. Education that is the most costly may not be the most valuable.
The very young learn have a lot to learn. In the first three or four years of life all sorts of things have to be learned. Eating and drinking, and the control of bodily functions … walking, talking … and being part of a social group, the family. At this stage education or learning and parenting are intertwined.
And then it is the first schooling … Pre-K and Kindergarten in the USA and equivalent in many other places. At this stage a child is learning not only from the family setting but now from a broader group of adults and other children.
During primary level schooling from age around 5 to around 13 a child becomes a young person and should have the opportunity to learn a lot about many things. At the core this schooling should enable students to master the 3 Rs … Reading, wRiting and aRithmetic which are the foundation for so much that is important for their future. In addition schooling should reinforce parenting in developing character and sense of value so that a person will be a contributing member of society.
As a child moves into secondary education from age around 13 to around 18, education should have some focus on what a person might be doing in their adult life. Students should be learning what is going to be of value to them as they mover forward into their adult lives. For some the track will be towards further academic education and for others the track should be towards more 'hands on' technical training. In both cases the goal should be to be getting the best match for the student and the opportunities that are going to exist in their adult lives.
Some students will benefit from academic tertiary education from age around 18 to around 23.
Some students will benefit from technical education in this same age window.
There is a cost associated with education at all the stages, and there is an important valuadd at each of the stages. In general, the management and control of costs and the optimization of valuadd are not subject to a rigorous regime of measurement, accounting, reporting, analysis and accountability.
Education, like everything else, should evolve as needed to suit the society that exists, and the society that students will have to be part of during their adult lives.
In thinking about measurement, there should be clarity about what is 'correlation' and what is 'cause and effect'.
In the past, more education for a student has had a cost, but the earnings of a well educated adult have been substantially higher than for a person with little or no education, and the relationship between cost and benefit was favorable.
At the present, education has a high cost and many more students have made the investment, but the opportunities for this investment to result in substantially higher earnings is significantly diminished. The argument or justification for investment in more education is based on past experience, and the understanding of what is optimum for today's students has changed.
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LANGUAGE
Appreciation of language is a big step to achieving understanding
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go to TOP
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NAVIGATION TO MORE MATERIAL
In Alphabetical Sequence by Name of Organization
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GO TOP
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Initiatives ... Kahn Academy
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Salmon Kahn ... Kahn Academy
Using technology to reduce the passivity of traditional education
| Open file 1448
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Khan Academy
This has the potential to be as good as Harvard, and cost about the same as Harvard's landscaping budget!
| Open file 1013
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NOT YET ORGANIZED
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The fading dream of higher education in the US
Ellen Schrecker writes that higher education, once an engine of social mobility in the US now signifies debt and lack of opportunity.
| Open file 2113
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Higher education in need of reform
Alert: The Higher Education Bubble Advances ... Online course start-ups offer virtually free college
| Open file 2150
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Higher education
Doctoral degrees ... The disposable academic ... Why doing a PhD is often a waste of time
| Open file 1837
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On-line access to education
M.I.T. Game-Changer: Free Online Education For All
| Open file 1841
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Witness ... Mohamad at Eton
We follow one boy's journey from a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon to the UK's most prestigious public school.
| Open file 1763
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Witness ... Mohamad at Eton
We follow one boy's journey from a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon to the UK's most prestigious public school.
http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/witness/2011/12/2011122071759683728.html
| Link to AJE direct
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Education for the very poor not good enough
KATHA Schools on Wheels, New Delhi, India reaches children in very poor communities in India
| Open file 1792
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Education is important
Something Theodore Roosevelt said that has important meaning in modern society
| Open file 1584
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Adult education
Adults should have the opportunity to learn, either to catch up or to learn new skills and improve themselves
| Open list0300-Adult-Education
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Does a Harvard education pay off?
The data do not confirm that better education pays better than just a good education
| Open file 0058
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Open file 0084
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Open file 0375
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Open file 0376
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Open file 2969
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Open file 2973
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Open file 3057
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Open file 3397
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Open file 3939
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APass-Evolution-of-American-High-Schools
'http://truevaluemetrics.org/DBpdfs/Education/APass-Evolution-of-American-High-Schools.pdf'
| Open PDF ...
APass-Evolution-of-American-High-Schools
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Education
The A-Pass Initiative
Links to the A-Pass Blog ... a collection of posts about many aspects of modern education
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Open file 10156
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CBPP-School-Funding-Center-on-Budget-and-Policy-Priorities-2016
'http://truevaluemetrics.org/DBpdfs/Finance/PublicFinance/CBPP-School-Funding-Center-on-Budget-and-Policy-Priorities-2016.pdf'
| Open PDF ...
CBPP-School-Funding-Center-on-Budget-and-Policy-Priorities-2016
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UN-Education-Commission-webinar-November-2015
'http://truevaluemetrics.org/DBpdfs/Education/UN-Education-Commission-webinar-November-2015.pdf'
| Open PDF ...
UN-Education-Commission-webinar-November-2015
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The Education Sector / Policy Framework for Development
From Burgess Book: Policy Options for Iraq 2006
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Education / Education sector
Education is, more than anything else, the investment that will facilitate a successful future. Education is a prerequisite for jobs and opportunities and to be able to have valuable lives. The value of education is not a “certificate” but the training of body and mind so that a person can do valuable things.
Education needs to move from basic to higher levels where a person is not only challenged academically, but also is prepared for a productive life. Accordingly there needs to be not only primary, secondary and tertiary education, but also vocational and professional eduction.
Education does not need to be done in traditional or old-fashioned ways, but in any way that works and is cost effective, including using electronic resources of various sorts. In the future, the education sector is likely to include activities related to the use of Internet resources.
Educational policy
Some appropriate goals of an education policy might be the following. No specific goals have been included. Thus:
● Expand primary education
● Address priority needs in secondary, technical and vocational education
● Improve quality and equitable distribution
● Extend new curriculum to all levels,
● Increase the number of certified primary teachers
● Lower textbook ratio
● Achieve more efficient use of teachers,
● Raise female participation
● Increase the proportion of female teachers
● Rehabilitate all schools damaged by wartime activities
Under-served areas
Most countries has some areas that are under-served. Frequently the literacy rate is very variable depending on the place. In the main urban centers literacy is around 80%, while in remote rural areas it is more likely to be 20%. Literacy among women is 50% of the literacy rate for men.
Curriculum and text books
Iraq has a well developed curriculum of education. A laudable effort has been made to revise the curriculum and prepare textbooks and teaching materials. A lot remains to be done to improve the curriculum and the teaching materials.
Textbooks are also needed for the schools and training centers. The program will support the preparation and the purchase of textbooks for schools and training centers.
Teachers
The number of teachers in secondary schools in particular is less than optimum. The proportion of female teachers in primary school is low and there are almost no female teachers in secondary schools.
New teachers need to be found, and most important, new teachers need to be trained. Iraq needs capacity to teach teachers. The teaching of teachers is needed for primary grades and secondary grades, but also for skills training and the non-formal basic education initiative.
Planning and management
Planning and management capacity at every level is very weak. The decentralization process implies that a lot more is expected from regional and local government. There are a lot of vacant posts in the regional education bureau and almost all the zonal offices are a one man offices. Most people in responsible position at all levels lack the required qualification and experience.
Women and girls
The situation of women and girls in education in the area should be addressed by the program in a practical way. There are ways in which women can expand on skills they already have to become of
very much more value to themselves and to the community. Health skills training, for example, already known at an artisanal level can be upgraded so that health skills can be used for the benefit of the community at large. Informal, but nevertheless real, knowledge can be mobilized so that it forms the basis for teaching in the non-formal educational environment.
Skills training
Skills training for mature adults is critical for the growth of the economy and to of their capabilities.
Skills training is needed for all, young and old, male and female. There is, however, and important need to address the skills training of young adults, many of whom have lost many years of education and are now uneducated, unskilled, unemployed and potentially a source of future difficulties.
Employment of jobs
Jobs is not really a sector or sub-sector ... but employment and jobs are very important. The effort to creating self-employment opportunities that require a lot of labor for very little return needs to be supplemented by much more effort to make it possible for small employers to become bigger employers, and for employees to self-improve so that they can do bigger and better paying work. The jobs that are created need to be profitable, that is value adding, in order to be sustainable. Where the value is social, as in health and education, there also needs to be jobs in productive sectors that generate the cash flows to pay all the wages.
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Issue, Basic observation, Prevailing response, and A better response
from the Burgess Book 'Hundreds of Issues that Impact Relief and Development Performance' in 2006
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Issue
Education
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Basic observation
Education can be a great success, but a minimum level of resources is needed. Very poor communities are in a poverty trap in part because of the education deficits.
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Prevailing response
Is a priority sector, but has not been well integrated into a total development framework. The “north” model usually used is more costly than it needs to be, and government budgets cannot be enough. Not much focused on economic needs of students.
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A better response
Should be a priority, but using local resources to the maximum, and not assumed to be funded by government. Education is a precondition for productive employment, .
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