EDTE 102 Economic Functions of Education - Week 6 Lecture 6 PDF

EDTE 102: Sociological Foundations of Education in Ghana Dr. Priscilla Commey Mintah Week 6; Lecture 6 Lecture EDUCATION & ECONOMIC 6 DEVELOPMENT  By the end of the lesson, student will be able to explain: 1. Meaning of Economic...

EDTE 102: Sociological Foundations of Education in Ghana Dr. Priscilla Commey Mintah Week 6; Lecture 6 Lecture EDUCATION & ECONOMIC 6 DEVELOPMENT  By the end of the lesson, student will be able to explain: 1. Meaning of Economic Function Of Education 2. Two Dimensions Of Economic Learning Function Of Education Outcomes 3. Forms Of Unemployment 4. How School Can Address Unemployment Problems 5. How Two Sociological Paradigms View The Economic Functions Of School 6. Economic Benefits Of Education What Does The Economic Function Of Education Mean? ❖The economic functions of education refers to the contributions education make to the economy of a society ❖It is recognized in the world over that education makes positive contributions to economic development. ❖The human resources of a nation are more important than the material resources because it is the human being that changes the material resources to usable things. (Forojalla, 1993) 2 Dimensions Of Economic Function Of Education QUANTITATIVE QUALITATIVE DIMENSION DIMENSION  What is The Quantitative Dimension This refers to the role education plays in the training and development of the right quantity of human manpower with the right skills to serve the economy.  How Does Education Produce The Right Quantity Of Manpower? Educational Curriculum – introduce more programmes Diversifying and courses to train different kinds of manpower new need-driven courses like computer science Introducing that are found to be very crucial in the economy Increasing enrolment in areas where there is a crucial need. Awarding scholarships short and flexible schooling hours to absorb more Introducing students without compromising on quality ❖Different levels of education produce different levels of manpower. ❖One of the things that education does in the economy is to stabilize it and provide employment. ❖Unfortunately, education can also create unemployment.  Two Forms Of Unemployment  Structural Unemployment ❖Structural unemployment exists when there are jobs available and people are willing to work, but there are not enough qualified labour to fill the vacant jobs. ❖Jobs are available, but there is a serious mismatch between what companies need and what workers can offer. ❖Structural unemployment is usually caused by technological change, government policy or sift competition which make the job skills of many workers obsolete.  ❖Teachers who are unable to do online teaching may end up unemployed ❖Uber against regular taxi drivers in Ghana – regular taxi drivers can't drive uber if they don’t know how to use the apps and read Examples of maps Structural ❖Lockdown causing tomatoes and grocery sellers to move from physical trade to online Unemployment trade ❖Government bring in a policy that says all manual writing in government offices should be digitized ❖Those who produce manual bicycles are facing competition from new manufacturers who are now producing electronic bicycles  1. Employees should be offered refresher or on-the-job training to equip them with new skills to help them adapt with the How To Solve new changes brought about by technology. The Problem Of Structural Unemployment 2. Students must be equipped with general knowledge that will help them adapt to techno- economic changes. 3. Revise school curricula often to meet the growing needs and skills sets that will be required to satisfy the economy. 4. Introduce new need-driven courses – E.g. Computer coding, oil and gas, aeronautics etc. 5. Academia should often interact with industry to identity and eliminate obsolete knowledge that are being taught in schools and are no longer needed in industry and economy Aggregate Unemployment  ❖This kind of unemployment occurs when the right number of the required manpower is produced but the economy does not grow in What is a manner that is able to absorb them. Aggregate Unemployment? ❖Graduate unemployment - Here job seekers possess the required skills and qualification but there are no jobs to employ them.  Example OF Aggregate Unemployment ❖More nurses are trained but they stay home for 5 years because there no jobs ❖HR. Managers are trained but there no jobs in the market to absorb them ❖Taxi drivers learnt how to drive but have no taxis to drive  Causes of Aggregate Unemployment 1. Unrealistic High Wage – when the demand for wages is high and industry is unable to make profit to pay for the high wages, they are forced to either cut down on employment or freeze employment. 2. Lack Of Investment – when industries do not make enough profit to save, reinvest and expand their operations to employ more skilled labour, there will be graduate unemployment 3. Poor Management Of The Economy – if the economy is not well managed and the economy is not growing to create more avenues for more jobs to grow, skilled labour will be chasing after fewer existing or unexacting jobs  How School Can Address Aggregate Unemployment Problem 1. Equip students with the skills, mindsets and inspiration to create jobs and not only go seeking jobs after school 2. Entrepreneurial Studies in our schools should be more practical, relevant and hands on so people can leave school to either start their own businesses or manage existing businesses profitably 3. Teach value added skills and knowledge to help students to refine raw products into fine attractive products which will be useful for both domestic consumption and international export 4. Schools should teach ‘need-driven courses’ which will train and deploy students into different aspects of the economy 5. Introducing courses to equip people with the skills needed for a sector. 6. By increasing intake and training of students in critical areas of the economy which is rapidly growing. For example, intake for teachers, doctors, computer programmers, etc. should be increased to handle the pressure in such sectors.  The Qualitative Dimension Of The Function Of Education  WHAT IS THE QUALITATIVE DIMENSION OF THE FUNCTION OF EDUCATION ❖This involves the acquisition of skills, habits and dispositions that go with the skills required to be productive. ❖Thus, education equips people with not only the hard skills but also the soft skills, habits and personal disposition needed to be successful and productive, ❖Soft skills such as time management, planning, supervision, creativity, corporate governance, public speaking. presentation skills, etc. are transmitted through schooling. For Example … ❖Having school timetable teaches students to acquire skills in discipline, planning and personal management. ❖Students are punished when they disobey rules while those who respect them are rewarded. ❖Make presentations in class equips students with presentation and communication skills  How Two Sociological Paradigms View The Economic Functions Of School Functionalist View Of The Economic Functions Of School They are of the view that school a. Produces appropriate manpower for different sectors of an economy. b. Should not only give hard skills but also develop the qualities that trained workers would need to function at their work places.  According to the conflict theory, schools are being manipulated by the capitalists’ class to exploit others and perpetuate Conflict inequalities in society Theory View Of That is, the Capitalists want workers of certain The Economic caliber. E.g. they want workers who are submissive, respectful, punctual, regular and Functions Of hardworking so that they can exploit them. School That is, the schools are in collaboration with the capitalists to produce people to be exploited. What Are The Economic Benefits Of Education? 1. Indirect/Social/Public Benefits-They are benefits that accrue not only to the individual but also to the society at large 2. Direct/Private/ Individual Benefits which accrue directly to the individual  Social/Public Benefits of Education. According to T.W. Shultz (1963) educational benefits can be grouped by 1. Research - Through research new products, new techniques of production new processes and so on are discovered or invented and put to use in the economy to promote development. 2. Production of Human Resources – education trains all types or levels of manpower are produced to service the economy. For example, through education engineers, technicians, craftsmen, agriculturists, teachers, accountants, doctors and so on are produced for the economy. 3. Political Consciousness - Education makes people politically conscious and politically responsible. It makes people confident to participate in the affairs of the community – Education thus, facilitates self-government and democracy. 4. Harmonious Co-existence – Education makes people develop qualities that make harmonious co-existence with neighbours and work mates (co-workers) possible. 5. Education of the next generation - Educated people give their children (next generation) a chance for better education which leads to a better life 6. Productivity Of Labour - Through education individuals acquire specialized skills and as a result quality of labour improves and in the long run it increases productivity of labour (ie. improve skills). 7. Education Provides Long Term Cost Saving To The Community - For example in the USA, about 40% of the people jailed have very low levels of formal education. With education the country stands to reduce the probability of high unemployment. 8. Education Limits Population Growth - Research shows that education delays marriage and child bearing, thereby limiting population growth. Also educated elites do not give birth to many children. 9. Education Bring About Gender Balance In Employment - Research again shows that education enables women to participate in the labour force, thereby earning income and avoiding dependency. 10.Promotes Good Nutrition - The children of educated women are well fed and thus, become healthier. Kalmijn (1993) found the effect of mother’s education on their children to be stronger than that of the man on the children. Hence the adage “if you educate a man you educate an individual but if you educate a women you educate a nation” works.  Private/Indiv idual Benefits of Education The private benefits of education can be grouped under 2 main categories 1. Consumption: A product or service is consumption when it yields satisfaction or utility in a single period only. For example, when you buy a bar chocolate your enjoy it alone and it is gone 2. Investment: It would be called pure investment when it is expected to yield satisfaction or utility in future period only. a. Education yields satisfaction to the student at the time it is given. It also provides future satisfaction in the form of employment and increased productivity and increased earnings. Specifically, the private benefits of education include the following 1. Education gives psychological satisfaction: This benefit is derived from the possession of knowledge and understanding of one’s world and the ability to rub shoulder high with enlightened people, to interact with the men and women of civilized culture. 2. Education increases an individual's chance of earning higher income 3. Education provides a hedge against unemployment - The individual who obtains a more general education is more flexible in adopting new job opportunity when technical change occurs. The flexibility provides the individual a hedge or hedging against unemployment. 4. Educations helps individuals to think critically about their lives 5. Education provides the opportunity for upward social mobility – (ie movement along the social ladder) - if an individual wants to move higher the social ladder it can easily be done through education.