The article “Defining Quality and Inequality in Education” by Cynthia Guttman discusses the problem of equal access to education in different countries and the quality of education received by children around the globe. In education exist but they are caused by diverse social, political, and economic factors. This collision of rural and urban values has been known to produce large pools of eligible candidates for opposition politics. Higher levels of literacy and education also created a market for information and explanation, which tended not to be supplied by the more traditional groups. Rural popular religion provided none of this and among the older large Islamic organizations,
The main controversial points are the relationships between income and education opportunities in low developed countries and that “poor quality of education is emerging as a foremost obstacle to progress” (Guttman, 2006). In low developed countries, all children have equal access to education despite their social class and income. A low level of education is a result of inadequate policies adopted by Asian and African countries and their cultural traditions. The author does not mention that education is seen as unimportant in many African communities relying on land resources and agriculture. Poor education is not an obstacle to progress because even if all people were educated in African countries, lack of financial resources and poor government policies would prevent these nations from fast growth.
The article pays little attention to urban-village relations. One of the most powerful magnets for urban migrants is education. In many developing nations, urban educational facilities and instruction are vastly superior to what the village has to offer, often propagating an aptitude gap between peasants and urbanites that permanently restricts employment opportunities for the children of rural families. In addition, the city is often the exclusive locale for technical, vocational, and university education. Increased levels of education provide a path to social and economic advancement.
Rapid urbanization–improved access to health services, improved diet, and education-enhanced economic opportunities–disprove the popular assumption that the inevitable consequence of rapid urbanization is increased levels of perceived relative deprivation. Unfortunately, urban growth in the Middle East has numerous undesirable consequences as well. One of these is the downside of increased education: unemployment and underemployment. Many nations are suffering the same fate as Tunisia, where a great many of the seventy thousand who graduate from the educational system into the workforce each year are unable to find work commensurate with their hard-earned qualifications. Education without adequate employment generates despair, hopelessness, and resentment toward apparently unconcerned governments. Gender and family norms usually differ significantly in the modern city, where television and movies project romance, independence, materialism, and “Western” values to the newly arrived peasant family. This sudden confrontation with modern mores is often seen by peasants as an assault on their traditional values.
In sum, the article presents important facts and data but it omits such issues as urbanization and state policies in low developed countries. Equal access to education is crucial for low developed countries but it should be promoted and supported financially by the national government and international organizations. Education should be a part of national policies and ideology to ensure the economic and social progress of these nations. A changed urban environment is an additional by-product of rapid urban growth, so educational establishments are concentrated in urban areas depriving many small rural communities of a chance to learn reading and writing skills.
Works Cited
Guttman, C. Defining Quality and Inequality in Education. UN Chronicle Online Edition, 2005.