Many societies today are becoming diverse in terms of providing education services to their residents. As a result, the education systems that different societies are adopting are aimed at rhyming with the way of life of people. ICT is also playing a major role in influencing the lives of people all over the globe.
There are certain trends which are being observed in the education sector and they are not easy to address (Hira, 2003). Many policy makers and providers of educational services are therefore facing many challenges with regard to ensuring that educational systems are in line with the technological advancements that are being implemented in the world today (Altbach, 2012).
Every person in any part of the world has equal rights to access education services. It is therefore the responsibility of countries to ensure that they implement mechanisms which can make it easy for students to access education services affordably (Hira, 2003). Institutions of higher learning should also adopt Scientific Based Research (SBR) mechanisms to enable them apply appropriate technology which would impact positively on their students (McDermott, 2007).
This paper will therefore analyze the major trends in the education sector and demonstrate how they relate with each other in order to impact positively on a society. It will also show how demographic trends, economic changes, and social development impact on educational systems of the developed countries.
Relationship between major trends in education
In order to understand the relationship between the major trends that the education sector is going through, it is important to look at the big picture of the world economy. The change in the global market is the most important trend that is shaping the education sector today. Other trends which have major impact on the education system include emerging social challenges, International student exchange program, and ICT growth (Altbach, Gumport, & Berdahl, 2011).
Globalization dynamics
Globalization is a very important trend which has influenced the way in which societies run their educational systems. In this perspective, many nations all over the world are being connected by the concept of globalization (Rizvi, 2004). Globalization is facilitating the flow of capital, goods, and services between countries across the world.
People are also able to move freely thereby spreading different cultures to OECD countries. Globalization has been made easy by the fast changing technology which is enabling people to exchange information freely in any part of the world (Britannica Inc, 2012).
Cities are the ones which facilitate the process of globalization. The quality of life in cities is therefore far better than the quality of life in rural areas. It is said that cities in different countries tend to have many features in common. Countries such as Brazil, China, and South Africa have achieved plenty of power in the global economy because of the contribution that they are making towards enhancing the growth of the global market.
Therefore, with the rate at which the global market is growing, nations have been able to share technology by educating each other. Globalization has therefore been observed to improve the quality of education in the world. This state of affairs has enabled countries across the world to focus on the same goals of widening the scope of the global market (Maartenbuis, n.d).
Emerging social challenges
As the world transforms because of the impact of globalization, societies are also experiencing a significant change. One of the most important trends in OECD societies is that the population is ageing. This is because there is higher life expectancy and lower birth rates.
In this perspective therefore, dependency ratios are increasing thereby leading to lower tax revenues (McDermott, 2007). In addition, the costs of providing health care are rising. These issues are making it is difficult to sustain the public and private expenditure. As a result, funding of education programs is becoming a challenge in many OECD nations (Mohanty, n.d).
In most OECD countries, the issue of income inequality is becoming very rampant. It is said that the people who have higher income earn more at the expense of those people who have less income. The disparity in income distribution has made many OECD countries to experience high levels of relative poverty (Mazzarol, Soutar, & Michael, 2003).
This is because some people have not been able to benefit from the increase in wealth. As a result, there is a class of extremely rich and extremely poor people. This issue has led to an imbalance in the education sector. The rich people in this case are able to take their children to reputable schools whereas the poor people are left with the option of taking their children to study in low level schools (OECD, 2010).
In many OECD countries, the structure of the labor market and the job content are changing. Most OECD countries are said to be knowledge-intensive. Globalization has led to the reduction of transport prices and transportation costs. As a result, the production of basic goods has been adopted by the developing countries which incur lower wage costs (McDermott, 2007).
This has allowed OECD countries to specialize in the production of goods and services which demand high level creativity, knowledge and innovation. Many OECD countries are therefore increasing their investment in research and development institutions thereby making them to achieve significant growth and competitiveness in the global market (Kirpan, 2010).
International student exchange programs
The international student exchange program has played a significant role in terms of facilitating states to implementing education systems that are acceptable in many parts of the world. For example, it has been observed that many European students tend to study in other European countries while students in Latin America tend to study in the US or Canadian universities (Mazzarol, Soutar, & Michael, 2003).
However, issues such as the September 11 attack in the US forced many states to implement security measures that can enable them to remain secure from terror threats. It is therefore the responsibility of government to implement measures that would enable it to protect its citizens from terror threats.
This is because as globalization advances, incidences of terror attacks are becoming more pronounced (Rizvi, 2004). Globalization is therefore not available to everyone equally. This is because there are people from certain countries who are restrained from entering other countries in order to reduce incidences of terror attacks.
ICT growth
The growth of information technology has proved to be an effective tool in terms of relaying information from one nation to another. Information technology has been very effective in making globalization issue to be successful. In addition, ICT has been observed to make a very significant impact in the education sector.
Computers are today connected through the internet. This state of affairs has made it possible for people to access the internet from their homes. People use their computers for emailing, conducting online banking services, and carrying out audio or video conferencing (Mazzarol, Soutar, & Michael, 2003).
When people have access to the internet either through their mobile phones or their computers, they can be able to access any content that they want online. People are therefore able to take online courses while sitting in the comfort of their homes. Other people use the internet to access learning materials for a particular course that they are pursuing (Allen, Bonous-Hammarth, & Teranishi, 2006).
The current trends in the education sector can therefore be said to be influenced by globalization. In addition, the growth of communication technology has been noted to have a very significant impact on the growth of the global economy. Globalization has therefore made it possible for knowledge to be transferred from one country to another easily and fast (Hira, 2003). Countries have also established institutions of higher learning whereby they welcome international students to take their studies there.
In addition, the growth of information technology has made it possible for institutions of higher learning to offer online courses to overseas students (Mazzarol, Soutar, & Michael, 2003). Most OECD countries therefore have a standardized system of education which students can easily apply in their country of residence or in any other country where they secure employment (Smart, 2003).
Impact of demographic trends, economic changes, and social development on education systems of developed nations
It is said that institutions of higher learning are not towers of ivory. These institutions can be influenced easily by the social environment. This is despite the fact that these institutions are regarded as very important in any society. Most institutions of higher learning normally obtain their funds from parents, governments, donors, and students.
However, in the 21st century, universities have been subjected to significant pressure by the societies where they operate (Hira, 2003). This is mostly because these societies are striving to become knowledge-based economies. The various factors that impact on the education system of the developed nations include economic changes, demographic trends, and social developments.
Economic changes
Many learning institutions usually lack sufficient funds to run them effectively. All institutions of higher learning depend on external sources of funds such as tuition payments, funds from the government, contracts from certain agencies, charitable donations, research grants, projects that generate income, or from the alumni of the institution (McDermott, 2007). It is said that 80 percent of postsecondary students find a place in institutions of higher learning in the US.
For all government institutions, it is the responsibility of the government to fund the operations that the institutions undertake. The students are also required to pay tuition fees in order to ensure that the organizations run smoothly. Students are also awarded loans to enable them have financial freedom while learning. On the other hand, private institutions depend on funds from the public (OECD, 2010).
However, in the last decades of the 20th century, the US government made significant changes to the funding process of postsecondary education. Initially, higher education was regarded as a public good. However, academic study is today regarded as a private good because it benefits an individual.
As a result, a person is supposed to fund his own education (Kirpan, 2010). Therefore, students are today paying a higher proportion of funds for their education than other students did in the beginning of the 20th century. Today, less than one-third of income comes from the state. The state normally has competing priorities. However, since the state has been unwilling to raise taxes, the institutions of higher education have been faced with many financial problems (Wemaere, 2012).
The higher education system of the US is regarded as the best in the world. However, many students are not able to complete college because of financial constraints. Despite all the efforts that the government makes through direct provision, tax concessions and grants, many barriers still exist.
The loans that are awarded to the students act as the most effective ways of overcoming the barriers. Therefore, students’ loan limits should be raised substantially in order to cover all the expenses incurred while studying. Before the government increases tuition fees therefore, it should look for other means of reducing barriers to higher education services (Altbach, 2012).
Demographic trends
The education sector in the Australian economy is very competitive. There have been dramatic changes which have significantly influenced the performance of the institutions of higher learning. The number of young people aged 18-21 years who attend college has been declining in the 21st century.
Most colleges are therefore competing for a declining number of potential students. It is said that most of the students who were enrolled in colleges in the late 20th century were older than the usual college age students (Smart, 2003). There are also many students who do not possess the required skills to enter postsecondary education. Such students are normally given remedial courses which are provided by colleges and universities (Coutsoukis, 2004).
The Australian higher education system has therefore had to be adjusted in order to meet a wider array of students’ interests. The population of the students has also affected the study behavior among the students. The pressures of demography on higher education system have been enormous.
This is because there has been a dramatic increase in the population of the students. In addition, there is more variation in age, variability, and interests among the students. These issues therefore deserve to be given critical attention by the government in order to determine the best mechanisms to adopt so as to reduce the inefficiencies that are associated with the demographic trends in the Australian education system (Wemaere, 2012).
Social developments
Social developments play a very important role in determining how the education system of a particular society should be run. The society influences institutions of higher learning to demand for new curriculum which would rhyme with the educational services that are delivered to other outside nations.
With the advent of globalization, many institutions of learning are influenced by the society (McDermott, 2007). This is because globalization has provided societies with access to different educational systems. Most organizations are therefore diversifying their curriculum in order to meet the needs of the society.
The German system of education however faces a number of problems. It has very many teachers in schools while the birth rates are declining. The German University system is also regarded as weak. Most German systems are usually overcrowded, understaffed, underequipped and underfinanced. The length and the structure of the degree courses are also exposed to heavy criticism (Altbach, Gumport, & Berdahl, 2011).
This is because the length of studies is very long thereby forcing many students to drop out of school. Most of the students who drop out of college argue that there is lack of correlation between their career goals and the curriculum content offered at the learning institutions. In addition, one out of three students often reports that they feel unprepared for higher education.
Moreover, the students report that there are limited chances in the labor market and the quality of teaching is also poor. The lifestyles that the Germans adopt can therefore be attributed to the poor system of education in the German society.
Conclusion
From the analysis therefore, it is true that different societies pay a lot of attention to providing quality education services to their residents. Therefore, the different education systems that societies adopt enable the residents to be at par with their society’s lifestyle. The major trends that have been observed in the education sector include globalization dynamics, emerging social challenges, International student exchange programs, and growth of the ICT sector in the field of education.
The relationships between the major trends in the education sector have been effective in enabling different societies to adopt education systems which can enable them to realize sustainable development. The paper has also shown the way in which demographic trends, economic changes, and social development have impacted differently on the education systems of developed nations.
It is therefore important for states to ensure that they implement information technology and take time to participate in the affairs of the global economy. States should also ensure that they effectively merge globalization with information technology in order to make it easy for them to adopt education systems that would enable them to realize sustainable development.
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