Educational Systems of the US and Middle Eastern Countries - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages Good education should also aim to make an individual enhance his/her thinking, reasoning, and other personality plus soft skills. With education turning out to be one of the most important aspects of one’s life, educators, government authorities and other relevant stakeholders are increasingly concerned about the various challenges that may impede the educational processes. Although countries of the world have their educational systems to effectively educate their children and young people, there could be some problems in each of these systems.

The United States is regarded as the most developed nation in various spheres of human existence from economy to science and technology, media power, etc. The United States can achieve that recognition, not only because of its innovative mindset and hard work but due of a strong educational system. Although the educational system is churning out equipped individuals, there are certain facts and issues, which clearly show that the education system in America needs reforms. One of the key facts is the inability of the children, students, or young adults to read and write the high-level language in various fields from science to politics. Michael Moore in his book, Stupid white men - and other sorry excuses for the state of the nation provides the statistics which depict the levels of literacy among the people in America. “There are forty-four million Americans who cannot read and write above fourth-grade level-in other words, who are functional illiterates” (Moore). He further states that even if people can read, they rarely indulge in reading activities. “I've also read that only 11 percent of the American public bothers to read a daily newspaper, beyond the funny pages or the used car ads” (Moore). This implies that though the Americans are educated, they are not utilizing their knowledge to increase their awareness about the world. If these shocking facts about the educational system are focused on a particular perspective, it is clear that the schooling system has some loopholes.

Formal education of a child begins in a school and the quality of schooling depends on a variety of factors. The conditions of American public schools particularly regarding the treatment of teachers point towards the lackadaisical attitude of the American government towards education. Teachers and their dedicated efforts are very important in the education of the child. But even these teachers are neglected by the American government and society. They are not adequately paid and this results in low quality of teaching, as the teachers are not encouraged to perform better by recognizing their efforts in form of high wages. “The twin topics of teacher quality and teacher compensation have garnered considerable attention…motivated in part by the desire to increase the quality of individuals who select into the teaching profession, and to prevent attrition.” With these problems of underpayment and attrition, it is obvious that the education of children is affected to such an extent they are never able to comprehend the true meaning of education. To correct this situation regarding the quality of education and quality of teachers, they have to be paid aptly. One obvious policy tool to deal with the quality and distribution of teachers would be to increase teachers' monetary compensation, perhaps in a targeted way. ...Download file to see next pages Read More