Education and Economy

Related to my last post of Rwanda abandoning French being taught in schools for economic reasons (although angering the French was an added bonus) I started thinking about how economy can dictate and control the flow of education.  I started looking for articles that spoke to this change.  For a while now countries have been deeply connected economically.  Economies have become interconnected, and reliant on one another.  Competition and pressure to succeed is incredibly high for individuals throughout the world.  Much of this pressure is placed on educators.  It is schools duties to ensure that their young people are prepared to be successful in the world market.  This pressure is being placed upon educators all the time and it creates a difficult situation for many to teach under.  Because of this pressure, education becomes less about critical thinking and more about canned standards and lessons that are geared toward getting students ready to become productive members of the economic process.  Many of these changes are very apparent in countries struggling to catch up or progress economically, and many governments see that the key way to close this gap is education.  Teachers in Vietnam are protesting the reliance on canned lessons and teaching from the textbook.  They champion relying on teacher ingenuity but the government believes that teaching uniformly from the textbook is the best road to success.  Huong Lee, in the article Teachers Slam Teaching Methodology a teacher in Vietnam argues against government mandated tests:

“one of the problems was that the country’s examination system only evaluates students’ knowledge of information and not the critical thinking skills they’ll need to excel in an increasingly competitive working environment.”

Vietnam is struggling to catch up with education in a increasingly competitive environment for jobs.  They are having trouble achieving a effective balance between quantifiable testing and critical thinking.  To the government, giving students an education geared towards the economic system they will work in is the key role of education.  Another example of this process can be seen in Botswana.  Here they are also struggling to decide in which direction their educational practices should go.  An article from Mmegi Online states:

“Traditional universities have always been assessed on their research, teaching and service. In the future, a key aspect of this community service will include income-earning activities. This third pillar could be called “enterprise”.

Botswana is no longer happy with educators being good teachers and members of the community.  They want quantifiable quality. They want publishing, enterprising individuals who desire economic and academic success.  The competative spirit is seen in both Vietnam and Botswana are characteristic of the change many educational systems are having around the world.  It is starting to become less about creating a well rounded individual, and more about manufacturing people who fit the criteria necessary to have success within the worldwide economy.  The balance between the two is dellicate and teachers and educators must try and strike a balance to have quality education.

Botswana Article on Education

Vietnam article, Educators Slam Teaching Methodology