Education in Developing Countries - Essay Example

? Education in Developing Countries Case Study: Egypt Jean Piaget once said, “The principle goal of education is to create men who are capable of doing new things…men who are creative, inventive, discoverers.” Unfortunately, current educational systems adopted by most high schools in various countries of the world are failing miserably at achieving such goals. In fact, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings described the malfunction of the educational system by asserting that the high school diploma has become “a certificate of attendance” rather than a “record of achievement” (FDU). Even though, we are living in an era during which knowledge has become one of the most important commodities, schools are providing students with minimal knowledge that such a young generation can use to be able to adapt to and actively thrive in life after high school (Langer). Moreover, our rapidly evolving information societies are showing yet another weakness in the educational system, which has in may ways failed to keep up with needed skills in such environments. All these defects and problems in High school systems urged me to present a profound study of the drawbacks of the current educational system, while focusing mostly on its failure to prepare students for life after high school in order to propose a sound educational system that would overcome such drawbacks in current education systems. The controversial question of what students need to prepare them for life in societies today, and how the school system should provide it, will hence be raised. Finally, the proposed model is an active attempt to redesign our high schools, so as to reflect the change in our society, and better prepare our students for the new realities of work or further education. One of the most serious defects in current education systems in high schools is the coverage of a relatively large amount of educational ground during the four years of high school. Students are taught subjects of various natures, mainly sciences, math, humanities, languages, and usually even arts. According to different stages at which the courses are taught, students usually master these subjects at very high levels, allowing them to gain relatively deep perspectives of the subject. Moreover, in almost all high schools, teachers adopt a purely theoretical approach to the subjects, whereby they aim at merely explaining text presented in books to the class. High school systems also commonly depend on tests and exams as the tool for assessment of student achievement in the different subjects. Hence, excellence has long been defined by the student’s ability to familiarize oneself with the information such that he/she would write it on paper during an exam; hence he who is not able to put clear thoughts on a paper is “labeled as a failure” (what is education). Parents send their children to high school to, as Piaget put it, “[become] creative, inventive, discoverers”; yet the problem here is that the current education systems of high schools work on stuffing information in students' minds without caring much on making them 'creative, inventive, [or] discoverers.' Another core problem in current high school syllabi is the embodiment of the concept of memorization instead of understanding. Taking Egypt as an example of an undeveloped country, High school tests is basically designed to assess the student's ability to memorize as much information as possible, no matter whether this students understands what he memorizes or not ("Public Examination System"). Education specialist Rober B. Kozna realizes that "currently in Egypt, the teaching, curriculum, and textbooks all emphasize the memorization of isolated facts and the application of principles disconnected from the real world" (Kozna). Even though traditional methods of comprehensive examination may reveal students’ familiarity with theoretical concepts, they are no longer sufficient indicators of preparedness. In fact, the strict nature of tests, which involve students providing a limited answer to a question, is a weak measurement of intelligence or ability, yet measures students ability to memorize selected knowledge. Moreover, the apparent short-sightedness of the exams, which makes the students regard knowledge as a way to pass , prevents them from attaining the desirable attitude that education is a life-long experience rather than a temporary process (Fergany). This led many scientists to argue that "old standards of simply being able to score well on a standardized test of basic skills, though still appropriate, cannot be the sole means by which we judge the academic success or failure of our students" (Grier). In that sense, current education systems in high schools do not produce distinguished mentalities, such as those who attributed to humanity throughout history. The irony here brings the authenticity of the high school program into question for their ability of turning our students into citizens “capable of doing new things” becomes most staggering when one realizes that some of creme de la creme of intellects and leaders who have brought change to our societies, such as Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and even Bill Gates, did not complete their high school education. Does this therefore suggest that excellence is not only one’s ability to put memorized facts on paper? It indeed does! In fact, the notion that one can be able to reach such high levels of achievement without high school education, along with the realization that many high school graduates are not able to compete in the workforce, suggest inefficiencies of the current educational system to bring out socially and intellectually competitive students. Most of the studies about the issue of education in Egypt realize that a large number of students in the primary stage in Egypt can not read or write well, while after 2 years of school in the United States, essentially all children can recognize the letters of the alphabet. By the end of the first grade, almost all children in the United States have mastered the reading skills. Many analysts resort this advancement in the education system of the United States to the heavy use of technology and computers since very young ages. Consequently, it is a must for Arab countries to efficiently introduce computers and thinking softwares not only to elementary schools but to students at very young ages, and even during preschool period. Nevertheless, from the sociological side, the educational digital divide in Egypt deprives poor students from getting the same benefits as the rich students. Because of the digital divide, poor Egyptian students have limited educational opportunities than rich students (Taglang). This is basically due to the inability of poor and middle-class students to afford access to computers and other technological devices (Warschauer). While private schools in Egypt provide their students with access to computers and Internet throughout their academic career since Kindergarten till high school, government schools on the other hand can not afford to provide their students with computers; and even when small labs exist in some distinguished public schools, there are not enough equipment in those labs, and more then five students usually use the same computer at the same time. In addition, the poor students in public schools do not usually have computers at home, and so, their computer knowledge does not advance at the same pace as rich students, who have access to computer at school and at home. In "Dissecting the Digital Divide: A case study in Egypt" by Mark Warschauer, a 3-year longitudinal study, ending 2003, which investigates the effect of technology on education in undeveloped countries, taking Egypt as a case in point. In his research, Warschauer examines the efforts taken by the government to implement technological advances such as computers an the internet into the education system, as part of the claimed reform plan. Another aim of the study is to see how effective this implementation of technology was in the Egyptian education framework. Warschauer carried out the research by selecting samples from a variety of educational and economic levels to examine. He used a variety of research procedures to gather information, such as interviews, observations, surveys and discussions. In addition, he collected official documents that contained data and statistics concerning the educational reform program. The results of the study show an insignificant implementation of computers in public schools, and even where technology was adapted, it was not properly utilized. This means that technology did not help reduce the poor quality of the Egyptian education system, since it was not properly introduced to the students who were unable to comprehend this new technology. Accordingly, most of the literature about education in Egypt concluded that the digital divide in the education system in Egypt would not be solved unless a sincere and efficient cooperation exists between the public and private sectors as well as the non-governmental organization. In that context, one of the important projects run by the government to close the digital divide gap in Egypt was the "Computer for Every Home" project, which enabled poor families to own computers for their students for low monthly fees. This project gives a high chance for poor students to have access to computers and get all the benefits got by rich students. Finally, it has to be mentioned that ignoring the problem of digital divide in the Egyptian educational system would lead to complicated economic and social problems, because it will make the poor poorer and the rich richer, deepening the civil unrest in the Egyptian society. Several studies discussed used the same approach to benchmarking the Egyptian education system, and that was to compare it with other Arab and neighboring countries in order to get a clear picture of the current situation. "Connecting Future Research: Egypt Summary Report", "Egypt: Draft National Educational Profile" and "Schools System and Education in the Arab World with Special Reference to Egypt" are the studies that compared the Egyptian system to other related countries' systems. These studies agreed in their findings that Egypt performed comparatively better than other countries in its situation, specifically in terms of attendance levels in schools and graduation levels from universities. However, one study showed results which proved that Egypt was also better in terms of quality education, while the others disagreed and found results that showed without a doubt that Egypt was inferior in terms of education quality. However, one of the major gaps in these studies is that they focused on data collected from the government and ministry of education which may be biased or inaccurate. In addition, the studies did not focus on the relationship between the education system and other economic indicators. Another gap was the lack of comparisons made between developed countries and Egypt in order to show the contrast in the education system, so as to avoid misleading results which show that Egypt is relatively high on the education scale. Thus, the main recommendations for future research are to expand the research criteria, as well as the sampling methods in order to get more accurate results. In addition, it would be useful to rely less on government sources and more on personal sources and observations of the researches. Also, the tendency of research to focus on the previous results in comparison misleads us from the purpose of the education reform program. In fact, one of the most important and prevalent drawbacks of current educational systems in undeveloped countries, is their failure to prepare students for leading a successful life after high school—be it work, citizenship or secondary education. According to a 2004 report by the American Diploma project, almost 40 percent of graduating high school students feel unprepared for work or college. Moreover, the report also showed that employers were equally dissatisfied with the level of preparedness of high school graduates as 84 percent said that from kindergarten to senior year, schools are “not doing a good job in preparing students for the workplace” (Rivero). The surfacing of such staggering statistics has made many scrutinize the current educational system, while pointing to the major characteristics that lead to such failures. In other words, current education systems, including curricula and syllabi, should be changed in order to produce students who develop the capacity to cope with the outside world. When high school students move to universities and then graduate and become eligible to work, they should be ready to meet the challenges of the job market. Actually, those students will not be able to compete in the job market unless they were adequately trained how to be active participants in life. This necessitates making radical changes in our education systems in high schools. In order to detect inefficiencies of the system, the most important aspect to examine is the curriculum. Students have for long argued that courses being taught in high schools, such as math, science, and history, are ones that have little applications to real-life situations, and are hence regarded as deficient (Fuleki). In effect, according to a 2005 survey by the National Association of Manufacturers, 51 percent cite math and science deficiencies, while 38 percent site reading and comprehension (fdu). This may indicate that the content being taught is theoretical data that is of little application to everyday life, or the failure of instructors to present the information in light of applicable examples. Moreover, even though students do exercise, to an extent, the choice of subjects to be studied, they are usually limited to several options under larger topics, such that the student is required to take a math, science, language, and arts class for instance. The problem with such an organization of the curriculum is the lack of specialization. That is, all students receive the same information, despite differences in job interests. For instance, a student willing to work in the field of engineering is sometimes required to study details of the human body. The disadvantageous to those trying to enter the workforce in present-day societies, which are advancing with the spur of the moment, as the only way to keep up with such advancements is specialization. However, it is unfortunate to realize that the system’s weaknesses fall at deeper levels than the subjects being taught. Upon observing any traditional high school classroom setting, the first thing that would come to one’s attention is the absence of a teacher-student relationship. The teacher communicates the information to the class, while the students collect the knowledge, with the goal of gaining information that would help them attain high grades on a test or having the approval of the teacher. Thus, this system gives the student a passive role in the learning system, which in turn takes away the motivation to process the knowledge they are being taught. As a famous Native American proverb suggests, “Tell me and I’ll forget. Show me, and I may remember. Involve me and I will understand.” (garden). This hence suggests, that the current educational system, in which teaching is based on presenting the information (orally or visually), does not really allow the students to digest the information. After recognizing the major weaknesses of the current education system, it is most apparent that an educational reform is strongly needed. Thus far in the study, the failure of the educational system has been regarded as through the scope of student needs; yet an important step towards successfully reforming the system is understanding its affect on the nation as a whole. It is important to recognize that a nation’s standard of living depends on the quality of the workforce, and that hence an educational reform aimed at preparing students for the workplace is of essence. In fact, as the asserted in the USA Today newspaper, “the future of the U.S. economy [one of the leading economies of the world] depends on the ability of public schools to produce graduates who can compete internationally”. On the other hand, preparing students for life and citizenship will have a great impact on the nation’s organizational structure. As Thomas Jefferson put it, “If you want a nation that is both ignorant and free, that is something that never was and never will be.” (American inquirer). The tie between education and the well-being of the nation hence puts the final straw to notion of improving the academic system. Therefore, the curriculum which I propose for schools in undeveloped countries is based on an objective to develop people who are capable of using appropriate technology for their work, with historical and contextual knowledge that would make them good citizens in society. The proposed high school will be a 4 year long high school, divided into one “foundation year”, and three “specialization years.” The foundation year will be divided into four separate semesters in which students will be taught skills that are of paramount importance (according to Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills). Subjects will be divided on the semesters as follows: basic skills, referring to the ability to read and write smoothly, perform necessary mathematical operations, listen and speak effectively; thinking skills, referring to the ability to think creatively, make decisions, solve problems, visualize; personal qualities, referring to responsibility, self-esteem, good interpersonal skills, self-management, integrity; and broad competencies, referring to the use of resources, information, technology, systems thinking. As for the specialization years, during the three years, students will study courses that correspond to their majors (according to system of intellectual hierarchy or levels whereby students are given classes based on prerequisites). Each year will be divided into two semesters: the first semester requires strictly theoretical learning methods (in classrooms and laboratories) so as to permit sold understanding of essentials, while second semester requires fieldwork, and during the second semester, all students are required to engage in tasks pertaining to theoretical subjects they studied—workplaces and fields will be provided by leading firms in areas of concentration. In solving real-world challenges students will gain and be motivated to learn further mathematic and communication skills. Tasks will be based on mastering one task to reach another so that by the time of graduation small tasks will be put together to make something that would benefit environment in someway be subdivided into two main majors (most needed and desired [according to recent polls] in present-day societies). As for the additional features in the proposed high school, there will be strict discipline on things that will improve work ethics, such as attendance and timeliness. There will be no school uniform, and every student will have a personal guide, chosen by parents and students according to authentic reports and interviews. Guides’ use of apprentices, advanced students, and volunteers from field to further learning and development. Lastly, there will be extra-curricular clubs, giving certificates from leading firms to ensure two year job post graduation. Works Cited Fergany, Nader. "Towards High-Quality Universal Basic Education for Girls in Egypt." Sept., 2000. 06 Dec. 2011. Fuleki, Laurie. "Setting the Stage for Emergent Curriculum by and Gretchen Reynolds." Canadian Child Care Fedration. Winter 2001. 05 Dec. 2011. Grier, Katherine. "Storytelling with Preschool Children: Making a Start." 05 Dec. 2011. "Jean Piaget Quotes." 04 Dec. 2011. Kozna, Rober B. "ICT, Education Reform, and Economic Growth." Nov., 2005. 06 Dec. 2011. Langer, Ellen J. "How Students Learn." The National Teaching and Learning Forum. Sept.,. 2004. 05 Dec. 2011. . "Public Examination System." 09 Dec. 2004. 05 Dec. 2011. Rivero, Victor. "The Future Is Flat." Sept., 2006. 05 Dec. 2011. Read More