Coordinating public secondary and post-secondary education with projected economic demands - Essay Example

? Coordination of Higher Education and Economic Demand Introduction The coordination of public secondary and post secondary education coordinate with the economy is critical in ensuring that a balance exists towards realization of success. The comparison and analysis of the two, the stakeholders involved, the challenges experienced in coordinating the two, the plans in place to coordinate them and the reasons why the problem is still lacking concrete solution even up to now. Briefly, the education system influences the economy of a country in direct relationship. When the Gross Domestic Product of a country is low due to low income and other contributing factors, the economy of Canada is poor, thus also the education system. The market forces of demand and supply regulates the economy. Below is a detailed explanation of the ways in which the stakeholders play their roles and the strategies laid down to develop the two. Stakeholders There are various stakeholders in public and post secondary education system and each has a responsibility (Powell, 2007). Stakeholders, who include policy setters and governing board members and all those persons who have invested in higher education and the beneficiaries of higher education, have a role to play. Their inclusion and contribution to the education system cannot go unnoticed and their reward comes from their effort and sacrifice. The education sector being so wide, it requires a large team to manage it. The stakeholders include, The government and its various agencies- The government has a role to make sure that the education system is effective, efficient, and affordable to all no matter the constraints of resources. The role of identifying and establishing the demands of other parties and satisfying them is vested in the hands of the government. The issue impacts to the government in that it has to look for the resources and devise the best way in which the resources will be combined for maximum output (Kochhar-Bryant et al, 2009). For example, if it is money, the government has to identify various sources where it can get money from to finance the education system. This may be through revenues collected from payment of taxes, fines, grants, and so forth. The money so raised, may buy learning materials for the students, build more learning institutions, given to the needy students to aid them pay their fees among other uses. Co-curricular activities may also get funding from the externally raised money (Dennison, 2011). This leads to improved standards of the education system and the number of those joining the learning institutions increases tremendously. Tutors get better pay, which serves as a catalyst to their motivation in work and thus leading to maximum input in their job, hence maximum output is achieved (Garrod & Macfarlane, 2009). However, due to the stiff competition from the various stakeholders, the government faces many challenges in trying to level the opinions of different stakeholders. This interferes with the key matters and prevents the search for viable solutions to the problem. Higher education institutions- They are supposed to maintain accountability and transparency in the system as well as contenting the people’s interest in its fairing. They coordinate all the matters pertaining to higher education and formulate a plan of action in case of any uncertainties. The decisions passed to all public and post secondary education system pertaining the education sector comes from the higher education institutions. They are the key formulators and implementers of the policies in the education system (Saunders, 2011). Fair implementation and execution of the policies leads to effective, equitable, and fair education system that fit the needs of the stakeholders. The institutions have a responsibility to ensure satisfaction is achieved by all the associate parties and in the best way. Students and graduates- These are key stakeholders directly affected by the education system in any country. This is because of the need for knowledge and skills to become competitive individuals in the society in future. The students after successfully going through the education system, they graduate and easily penetrate in the market unlike those who did not complete their studies (Shaw, 2007). Maximum cooperation is needed for all the students, their teachers, and the management team for success to prevail. Employers- They benefit indirectly from the education system by receiving the services of those who graduate. The employers impact in the higher education system in that, if there were no employment opportunities offered in the market by the employers after schooling, very few or none could go to school. The more the employers in the market the more the economy can grow and vice-versa. Why the issue is a public one The above includes some of the stakeholders. The public and post secondary education has become a public issue rather than a private one because of its influence on the economy. The economy of any country has to grow through the contribution of the education. The level of expertise in the market comes as a result of the level of education the individuals employed in different sectors have. The education sector has to produce quality and reliable graduates to work in the market and improve the production. The other major reason why the education sector has become public is the politics. The influence of politics on the economy has contributed to worldwide concern of the issue hence the education system as politicians also consider the academic achievement of one to venture in politics. Politicians have also taken advantage of the lagging behind of the education system and use it as a benchmark for their campaigns and thus the issue becoming a social and public one. Responsibility of the affected individuals The affected individuals have the responsibility to act accordingly and in a manner to show support of the education system. For example, the government has to allocate the necessary resources in the education sector to boost it, higher learning institutions should formulate and implement clear and non-ambiguous policies that will help propel the education sector forward. The learning environment should remain calm to facilitate easy and free interference learning environment for the students (Sweet & Anisef, 2005). The students and the graduates should portray maturity and act of responsibility in their actions suggesting that they support the education system. Employers should make sure they create enough employment opportunities in the market for the graduates to encourage many to join school and study. The market terms and conditions should favor the new entrants in the market so that they do not get demoralized easily and give up. Role of Canadian firms in the economy The Canadian firms have the responsibility to contribute to the success of education by assisting in the provision of resources. The resources the firms can extend to the education sector include money and learning materials to boost the system. The firms can still extend financial advice to the education sector on ways of developing the system further and strategies of solving the challenges that may occur (Nerad & Heggelund, 2008). The firms should as well create employment opportunities for the graduates, as this will motivate more people to join school and those already schooling to struggle to the end. The salary or wage package should also be average and motivating. In addition, the firms should visit the learning institutions and offer career advisers to the students through their career experts. This helps the students to make their career decisions wisely and to focus on their future (Sweet & Anisef, 2005). The firms should also contribute in the making of the policies by the higher learning institutions, which govern the education system. In this area, they will advise the institutions on the best policy combination which can suit in the market and make the students reposeful (Saunders, 2011). They will advise the institutions on the state of the market in terms of technology and expertise. In addition, the firms should develop the infrastructure to facilitate easy movement and access to the learning institutions. Responsibility of the governments The governments that include the Federal, Provincial, and Municipal have the responsibility to contribute to the progress of the education system. This can come through various ways and which includes: a. Through providing money to the learning institutions which when wisely planned for and accurately used will bring developments. The money may pay fees for needy students, build more classes for learning, buy, or add the learning materials in the institution, pay some workers among other functions. Through providing learning materials to the institutions, that will aid the students in their studies. These materials may include computers, textbooks, drawing materials and others. b. Through advising the institutions on the kind of education system, needed in the country. This helps the institutions in training the students up to the current expectations (Dennison, 2011). c. Through organizing sensitization campaigns, that help to educate every citizen of that nation, who is eligible to learn, the need of education. This helps to reach even those in the interior areas, and help them know the importance of the education. The government needs to collect money from taxes to finance the developments in the education sector. The taxes should come from all employed individuals who receive monthly salaries, companies, use of public facilities, rent paid by those using government premises and so on (Stenberg, & International City/County Management Association, 2006). The parties named above have the responsibility to pay taxes since they constitute the key factors to the growth of the economy and also because they should as per the requirements of the laws of the land. Other groups who have responsibility in the issue a. Donors- They have a responsibility of donating funds or any other resource to the education sector to boost it. b. Non-governmental organizations- These organizations can extend their support to the education sector and develop it. This may mean giving them money or buying capital equipments for the sector. c. Charitable organizations- may give them money or buy them some learning materials. All the above groups have the capacity to do all the mentioned tasks since they have money and have the heart of lending. Why conflicts persist in these areas Conflict in education and economic sector will never end since the two compliments one another. The economy‘s stability facilitates high education standards and vice versa. Those who develop the economy gain the knowledge and skills from education. One of the conflicts in these two areas is lack of sufficient funds to finance the areas. The money available to a country may not be enough for allocation to the two fields sufficiently (Wiseman, 2012). Thus, the government has to devise a means of prioritizing its needs, to timely allocate its resources. Another conflict arises due to lack of enough labor in the market to work in both the education sector and the economic sector. In other situations, the labor is there but lacks the required expertise to work in the areas. The reason why the conflicts persist may include poverty, poor planning, and lack of cooperation from all the stakeholders and poor policy formulation and implementation (Great Britain et al, 2010). Conclusion Higher education sector being a very sensitive area needs thorough actions taken by all the concerned parties in case of any issue so as to prevent inconveniences later. The campaign for the need of education must tighten up to encourage and increase the number of graduates. This will help improve the skills of the labor available in the market and thus high production a guarantee. The economy will eventually grow and the living standards of the people in the country improve and also accessibility to better services. References Dennison, J. D. (2011). Challenge and Opportunity: Canada's Community Colleges at the Crossroads. UBC Press Garrod, N., & Macfarlane, B. (2009). Challenging boundaries: Managing the integration of post-secondary education. New York: Routledge. Great Britain., et al. (2010). Monitoring the principles for good international engagement in fragile states and situations: Country report 1. Paris: OECD. Hopson, R. K., Yeakey, C. C., & Boakari, F. M. (2008). Power, voice and the public good: Schooling and education in global societies. Bingley: Emerald JAI. Kochhar-Bryant, C. A., et al. (2009). Transition to postsecondary education for students with disabilities. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Corwin Press. Kumar, D. (2010). 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