Not all of Hurn’s tests of meritocracy, when applied to actual outcomes, have proved true. In the first case, international experience supports the proposition that education has become the strongest determinant of individuals’ occupational status and chances of success in adult life. For the two other variables, however, the evidence does not demonstrate a decrease over time in the relationship between family background and children’s educational attainment. Rather, the correlation between family SES and school success or failure appears to have increased worldwide in recent decades. Moreover, long-term trends suggest that, as societies industrialize and modernize, social class becomes increasingly important—compared with the role of school-related factors—in determining educational outcomes and occupational attainment. Social consequences of education in developing countries
Evidence is similarly mixed with regard to gender equality in access to high-quality education and opportunities to enter nontraditional fields of study. Although international agencies and national governments have been active since the late 1980s in promoting education rights for girls and women, complex changes were not adopted swiftly. Of the 120 million children excluded from education systems at the turn of the 21st century, for example, approximately 60 percent were girls and nearly three-fourths were living in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. At the same time, of the nearly 900 million illiterate adults in the world at the beginning of the 21st century, almost two-thirds were women. Again, the greatest number and percentage of illiterate female adults were located in the poorest regions. If geographic location and ethnicity are taken into account, as many as two-thirds to three-fourths of rural indigenous women in the least-developed countries lack the basic literacy skills to claim their citizenship rights—for example, the right to vote. In some contexts there are strong cultural, economic, and political obstacles to women’s access to education. Despite these negative patterns, there have been indications of gains made by women. In many countries a majority of secondary-education graduates and university entrants are women. In the 1970s and ’80s women also began entering technical and professional fields such as engineering and computer sciences in greater numbers, although these advances had plateaued by the turn of the 21st century. In developed and developing countries alike, however, higher educational attainment for women does not necessarily translate into thorough equality in occupational status and income. Education nonetheless leads to healthier, more productive populations, which is why many international organizations argue that the best long-term strategy in the fight against AIDS is universal primary education. The role of the state
Equality of educational and occupational opportunity and outcomes for women as well as for other previously underprivileged groups (working-class, rural, and minority children) is greatly dependent on mutually reinforcing economic and education policies. Comparative studies suggest that government policies favouring overall poverty reduction and wage equity can contribute to overcoming past educational and economic disadvantages. At the same time, there are strong convergent policies internationally that call for a diminished role for the state in the provision of social services such as education; for decentralization of educational governance and financing structures; for privatization of public education through school-voucher programs or by charging fees for services once provided free; and, generally, for the application of a market logic to the overall workings of public schooling.
Critics of these decentralized, more market-oriented approaches acknowledge that they are well-intentioned and are aimed at increasing the equity, quality, and efficiency of education systems through greater local participation in decision making about school standards, competitiveness, and accountability. But critics believe such policies may contribute to disappointing and contradictory results. For example, in countries with great disparities in the wealth and resources of different regions, the transfer of funding and administrative responsibilities to subnational governmental units (on provincial, departmental, municipal, and even specific-school levels) may lead to increasing gaps between educational outcomes for the rich and the poor. Moreover, scores on standardized achievement tests tend to reflect differences in family background and community resources; test results tend to show that urban children from affluent backgrounds attending better schools (whether public or private) typically outperform less-well-off rural children in public schools, and achievement tests similarly document the continuation of past inequities in educational opportunities for ethnic minorities and indigenous peoples. Furthermore, some government policies that reduce basic social services have increased the overall level of poverty and the distance between top and bottom income earners within and between countries. In poorer countries the rate of school expansion is decreasing, and in some cases a process of “deschooling” (keeping children out of school) is occurring not only for economic reasons but also because of the inappropriateness of education systems that do not recognize the particular needs stemming from local cultural values and languages. In the long run, however, there is the possibility that local values will be complemented or supplanted by more cosmopolitan ones.
Despite these constraints, there are poor countries that have nonetheless achieved outstanding results on international standardized achievement tests in the areas of language, mathematics, and science while also providing near-universal secondary education. One such example is Cuba, where education and health have been viewed as fundamental components of the Cuban Revolution (1959). Alternatively, Finland exemplifies a wealthier country whose students on average have performed well on various measures of achievement and where differences between top- and bottom-scoring schools and between various categories of students have been minimal. Such successes tend to occur in countries that give priority to investments in education, health, and other social services, while other positive academic results can be seen from governments that are willing to experiment with alternative forms of education and to support innovative programs.
A number of examples from around the world indicate that governments can improve the educational achievement of the great majority of students—even those most at risk of academic failure. Studies such as Unequal Schools, Unequal Chances: The Challenges to Equal Opportunity in the Americas, edited by Fernando Reimers (2000), identify measures governments have implemented with successful results. These can range from the provision of health care services and supplemental nutrition to improvements in school infrastructure that provide poorer children with basics such as school desks and chairs, electricity, and running water. Other solutions may involve flexible academic calendars that mesh with the socioeconomic needs of students and their families in different parts of a country. Also important are adequate numbers of books and teaching materials that are culturally sensitive, socially relevant, and written in “home” languages. Measures that improve the quality of instruction include teaching guides to accompany new curricula, active pedagogies that involve teamwork as well as one-on-one attention, relevant certification and ongoing education programs for teachers, and professional development opportunities and extra pay for teachers serving in challenging settings.