Equal Chance of Educational Success - Essay Example

EVERYONE HAS AN EQUAL CHANCE OF EDUCATIONAL SUCCESS College In assertion of the above ment, the following are pointers as to why there has been inequity in getting a fair opportunity to acquire educational success. The views further reflect the great possibility of this happening given a fair level ground for everyone. Indeed everyone has an equal chance to educational success. The main objective of education is to bridge the differences between students and give each an equal opportunity to excel and to soar to great heights in life. It is seen as a way to empower children and increasing their chances of success and generally a better life. Indisputably, children’s success in school is a major stepping stone to their success as adults. Their gradual procession in classes will ultimately determine where they go to college, what professions will be pursued and ultimately what their annual return will be. Success in life is becoming what you want to be. This desire should not be hampered from materializing regardless of one’s race, gender, ethnic group, social economic background, disability or any other proclivities. Educational success should not be elitist or impartial hence its services should be available to people no matter the differences people may have. The only fighting ground open or required to take advantage are the student’s effort, an eager and open mind and dedication. Chances to equal educational success are hampered by the inequality in distribution and availability of education and the benefits that ensue from it are only beneficent to a certain group of people, certain region, certain social class etc. Several pointers bar education with its role of being the great equalizer. Schools that admit low income students often get a biased distribution of national resources (Conley, 2004). More often than not, the teachers here are less qualified and due to the low pay they are less motivated and this shifts to the students. These schools get low input in materials compared to schools that are more endowed. Schools with a more intake from the elite have a positive climate. Indeed such an environment is associated with good performance and delivering more confident students that are likely to be go getters in contrast with the ones from the poor schools. Developing countries are succumbed by the challenges of improving on their education due to limited resources. This is a reason as to why these countries’ workforce cannot be in the same level and hence education success is different between the first and third world countries. In majority of countries where poverty has deepened, there is profound regional disparity in education development. With an overwhelming margin between the elite and marginalized, poor parents are forced to be content with inferior quality education. The poor students suffer the penalty to be subjected to lesser professional and employment opportunities. There are stark contrasts in the learning environments where the poor have their schools in poor conditions but the elite have cleaner and better physical surroundings. This social inequality deprives them of better prospects to make them successful. These disparities pose a great risk in diluting the leveling effects education seeks to achieve. In the same vein, low performance of poor children cannot be fully attributed to poverty, it is clear that wealthier children have more resources, better teachers while the poor have less teacher expectation and scarce resources. Children regardless of their socioeconomic background should be given a fair start in life: a failure to invest in these in them early enough may put them at a disadvantage of never catching up. Poor test results and many dropouts have exhibited the schools as ineffectual. Many critiques of public schools have argued that children are not exposed to the same opportunities and are less likely to match the status of the private schools. The system in developing countries does not try to eradicate this disparity hence Policies formulated should strive to commit to reducing the gap of the educational success between different social groups (Davis, 2009). The school curriculum should be able to equip the students with relevant information that is essential to make them progress further. The student’s abilities when noticed by the teachers should be nurtured and given a proper direction that can coincide with the school curriculum. School curriculums that do not help in acquisition of knowledge and development may not provide an opportunity for the students to excel in a field that they could be more conversant with. Elite schools have a smaller teacher to student ration and thus give more attention to the students. Providing this to all schools can give all students an equal opportunity to educational success. Inequality of opportunities in Educational success is a common phenomenon in multi-ethnic countries. The disparities often translate to the ability of the individuals to seize employment opportunities due to their discrimination. Societies with unequal opportunities have been characterized by little social mobility where more often than not, a person’s success is attributed to their religion or ethnic group. This hampers proper development in the learning institutions as segregation happens there too. Education equity should be distributed according to the student’s learning efforts and not because of family backgrounds that the child cannot be held accounted for. Gender disparity is also a vein impeding to educational success. This is more rampant and perverse in developing countries where gender disparity greatly hampers wealth creation and poverty reduction. The benefits that accrue from female education give them knowledge, competence and skills required for them to succeed. In addition to increased acquisition of knowledge, gender equality in education translates to probable success. It is clearer that when learning opportunities are open to girls and women, the benefits accrued are very considerable. In some developing countries however the female illiteracy percentage is twice as much as that of males. Some do not even get basic primary education and thus their capability of pursuing better employment opportunities and to get a better life is slowed down (Caplan, 2001). Secondly, educational success chances may be alternated by gender disparity result in schools where girls are assumed to be more sensitive and are thus underrated .Girls are under-represented in some courses such as engineering and therefore unable to pursue some careers that may be more fulfilling to them. If girls are not able to pursue a career because it is regarded as a “boys” field, then maximum fulfillment will not be reached. With a total elimination in gender segregation, educational success will be permeated. .Educational success is limited by racial disparities in schools; there is an existing discrimination of minority students in multiracial institutions. This in many ways limits their future employment prospects and consequently the success in their adult life. Under normal situations white students are more appreciated and more “wanted” while blacks fundamentally get different views about their right to be in the same institution. Academically there is an assumption of failure reflecting low achievement and no success. In most cases the teachers are more lenient and more cordial to whites than blacks. Furthermore, the minorities are more often enrolled in public schools. More scrutiny is given to the favored race translating to the lagging performance of the other students. If bright students are choosing not to attend some higher education institutions because they think their face does not fit the environment then that becomes a constraint to educational success. In spite of having endeavors to eradicate this disparity in most countries, students in some countries still face underachievement due to discrimination of their race. Effective monitoring systems on discrimination are lacking in many countries. No child should face harassment or prejudice in school because of his race and therefore fail to succeed in life as a result. Closely associated with race disparity, a barrier that impedes educational success in the education system is disparity to immigrants who also find it hard to be at the same level of performance with their peers. A great barrier is also the curriculum that does not address their cultural needs. The system should thus find a way in which the minorities and migrants are integrated to give a level field in performance (Kaufman, 2002). A chance to educational success should also be given to the special needs children, a chance to learn and realize their talents. With time, this will empower every child regardless of their physical or mental orientation. Intellectually speaking it is undisputable that these students are not on the same level with the other students, that regardless they also deserve an equal chance to attain educational success. In this regard they should be institutions that can help them develop their skills and abilities and thus provide stepping stones to getting better employment opportunities which will translate to a good income, more socializing and hence success. Equal provisions in education should be given to them although more human resource may be needed. Disabled or otherwise anyone is eligible to strive to his limit to earn a better future. In essence, three factors stand out in giving everyone an equal chance to educational success: equal and fair treatment, equal and fair educational opportunity and educational adequacy of required resources. Everyone has an inalienable right to all the development and success he or she is capable of attaining. Everyone is equal in the eyes of the law and should therefore not be deprived of their right to gain educational success.(Aronson, 2001). Educational success is perfectly achievable to every individual. Everyone has the right to a proper and beneficial education. Educational success is important because it is greatly connected to the positive outcomes of increasing the quality of life. In any way to promote efficiency and educational for all, every child should be given an equal chance to make it in life, an equal chance to gain educational success! Bibliography; ARONSON, R. (2001). At-risk students defy the odds: overcoming barriers to educational success. Lanham, Md, Scarecrow Education. CAPLAN, N., CHOY, M. H., & WHITMORE, J. K. (1991). Children of the boat people: a study of educational success. Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Press. CONLEY, D., & ALBRIGHT, K. (2004). After the bell: family background, public policy, and educational success. London, Routledge. DAVIS, S. N., CRAWFORD, M., & SEBRECHTS, J. (2009). Coming into her own: educational success in girls and women. San Francisco, Jossey-Bass Publishers. KAUFMAN, R. A. (2002). Mapping educational success: strategic thinking and planning for school administrators. Newbury Park, CA, Corwin Press. Read More