Externalities of Education - Essay Example

Externalities of Education Positive Externalities of Public Education Public education involves schools that are most often funded with tax revenues and managed by government agencies. Public education is among various positive externalities. Positive externalities, basically, exist when marginal social benefits of production go beyond the marginal private benefits. However, externalities may be negative and occur when social cost exceeds private costs.Below I am trying to discuss some positive externalities of public education.

The positive effects of public education can easily be considered nationwide. Public education decreases the unemployment levels, increases the standard of living and makes general public aware about good living.Public Education and Decreasing Unemployment Levels: Rising levels of public education decrease unemployment levels so public education proves to be a positive externality. In developed countries where higher education is being more public, the level of unemployment further decreases.

Moreover, in countries where technical education becomes more public this rate goes further down. When professional and skilled learning becomes public, it also increases the labor mobility rate and labor starts moving towards better occupation from traditional to more professional.Public Education Raises Living Standards: Public education is a positive externality as it raises the living standards of people. With the increase in technical and skillful education at public level, people start getting awareness about modern technology and pave their ways towards better living.

Public education offers more chances towards advancement and development especially for common man. Comparatively, it is cheap than private education so more people have opportunity to achieve the benefits. Public education is readily available which also makes common man to reap the full benefits from this system of education.Public Education and the Level of Awareness among People: As already mentioned, public education can be readily available so with the help of this education system more and more people can get awareness about common issues regarding health and fitness, balanced diet, pollution etc.

So, again we can easily say that public education is a positive externality because of its social benefits.Public K-12 School Systems versus Private K-12 Schooling SystemWhen we analyze the existence of public K-12 school systems versus Private K-12 Schooling system, we can examine various points pro and against the existence of these two. It is important to understand that both the systems have their own advantages as well as drawbacks. Most of the people who send their kids to public schools are of the view that their children will surely get quality education.

This may be true in some cases. However, we cannot assure that every child who goes to public schools always receives quality education. Anyways, it is a fact that public schools are the best place to socialize and interact with peers. Public schools provide environment where children not only learn social skills but they also learn to survive. Besides, in the environment of public schools, children do not learn much to behave with their adults. They even do not learn to think in depth.On the other hand, private K-12 Schooling system is considered the more preferable option for parents while they plan to enroll their children.

The reasons behind are unlimited. The existence of private K-12 School system is ideal for many parents because of the fact that the classrooms present in these schools are smaller in size as compared to those present in public schools. This directly impacts the level of attention that a child receives from his/ her teacher. Teacher is able to pay individual attention in this case.Moreover, in private system parents pay tuitions for their children so this fund directly goes to the administration of the school.

With the help of this fund, better facilities can be enhanced along with extracurricular activities for children. This raises the well being of children. Children become more active and there are always fewer chances of dropouts or on-campus violence.References:1. Practical Money Skills for Life. Externalities. Retrieved December 2nd, 2011 from http://www.practicalmoneyskills.com/foreducators/econ101/20090619_externalities.php