Access to Education and Training as a Way of Promoting Equality of Opportunity - Term Paper Example

Contemporary social issues Name Institution Date Access to education and training as a way of promoting equality of opportunity Introduction Education performance varies largely between high and low socio-economic groups in many countries. The achievement disparity can be attributed to in opportunities and resources. Scarcity of employment opportunities or jobs is usually at the core of the challenge of social exclusion and deprivation. However, inability to access training and educational programs is the major factor. Low levels of schooling or absence of formal training contribute to disparity of integration into the job market. The significance of education is not limited to offering youths access to a decent living; the admission of disadvantaged groups to training and educational training programs is part of a big step towards promoting the educational process throughout a person’s life, the critical condition not only for durable job market integration, but also active and full citizenship. Education investment yields long-term effects permitting one to eradicate the transmission of poverty from one generation to another. Education equality leads to high standards of living and improved access to housing and health care. Knowledge through education empowers citizens to be able to make wise decisions. Access to education is a way that can be effectively used to promote equality of opportunity in today’s Australia. An empowered generation through provision of education can access the job market will a lot of ease and access basic amenities through economic empowerment. An informed population reduces to a great level the chances of social inequality due socioeconomic status. Students from rural areas are likely to quit school as compared to their counterparts in urban areas. Education and training makes the people to be well informed when it comes to making important decisions in life (Saunders, 2002). Basic hygiene and precaution is observed in order to maintain healthy standards. Promoting equality access to education and training will eradicate prejudices and stereotypes against certain communities as people embrace diversity. Opportunities in the society can be aptly identified by people who are informed. Educated people who are well training have high chances of securing well paying jobs and accessing health care, transport, housing, and insurance. People who are educated and are informed know how to fight for their rights. Chances of educated people being marginalized are very minimal. Australian indigenous communities have been found to lag behind when it comes to access to education particularly beyond basic compulsory education. Chances of employment rises with the level of education attained. Manual jobs are performed by people with little or no education at all. The gap between the rich and the poor has escalated owing to inequality in access to education and training. People are empowered when they have the right training and education. Studies have indicated that education success rates at school and post-school are to a large extent influenced by social class origin like the wealth of the parents, occupational status, aspirations, and education. Education inequality leads to employment inequality (Masella, 2006). The objective of the government fiscal and regulatory involvement is to control the parental advantage through assisting disadvantaged individuals to attain their desired education preferences and capabilities. Through making education outcomes to be more dependent on motivation, effort, and intelligence, government intervention, well implemented and targeted, can benefit the entire society. Many people cannot make informed choices since they possess limited knowledge of the income returns that they can get from various inputs in education. These people cannot exercise their preferred choices owing to limited resources. Companies are dissuaded from training employees with low education due to the risk of poaching and high cost. Markets of education work in an imperfect way in utility maximization (Saunders, Naidoo & Griffiths, 2008). Disadvantaged people cannot exploit positive externalities from the wider access of citizens to training and education. Access to education enhances political health of the nation since voters are better placed to take part in community, political, and social life and make balances and intelligent choices. It also reduces the risk of excess concentration of political power (Meer, 2007). Education minimizes social tension that emanates from perceived inequalities of opportunity. Social tensions and suspicion between members of different social groups can be eradicated through equal success to education. Crime and other evils in social are mostly perpetrated by people who are less educated and have therefore less chances of success in life. In Australia there a number of social groups that have limited access to education and training. Australia is a heterogeneous country that consists of immigrants and indigenous people. The indigenous people are the first group which is disadvantaged when it comes to education and training. The educational outcomes of Torres Strait Islanders and Aboriginal are usually less favorable as compared to the rest of the Australian population. Factors influencing participation rates, access, and attainment levels of Torres Strait Islanders and Aboriginal are complex, and may include social marginalization, economic disadvantage, health problems, geographical isolation, and differences in community expectations (Hill, Le Grand & Pichaud, 2001). Indigenous educational disadvantages are linked to colonization and it’s persist manifestation in education system and school curriculum. Rural students are also disadvantaged. Students found in rural and remote areas have limited access to education and training as compared to their counterparts in town. Levels of study and range of subjects available to these students are usually limited because they have limited access to technology and other advantages. Early childhood education that is non-compulsory in these rural areas is often absent. Besides, post-tertiary education is absent in most of these regions. Long distance and isolation as well as high cost of setting up facilities make accessibility to competitive education and training limited. Studies show that students from rural Australia are hugely disadvantaged with respect to proceeding to tertiary level. Students from rural areas were three times less likely to proceed to tertiary education (Karoly, Kilburn & Cannon, 2005). Low socioeconomic status limits families’ access to training and education. Low income levels make education to be unaffordable and lead to high levels of school drop-outs. Poor families can only afford compulsory schooling which is government funded. Family and cultural attitudes towards the value of education can inhibit students from poor backgrounds from pursuing education beyond compulsory schooling. Schools in disadvantaged communities face challenges in obtaining resources and support from the local community and parents. Youth and children living in low socioeconomic conditions have less access to information and communication technologies (Spicker, 2007). Non-English speakers from different cultural background are disadvantaged in education access. Geographical disparities that place other places in remote regions contribute to social inequality and forgetting of the marginalized groups. Privileges in political class will not be reserved to a few people if everyone can access education and therefore get informed and knowledgeable. Knowledge is power. Chances of success in life are increased with attainment of education. Low incomes coupled with the stress of long periods of paid work seriously affect the education efforts of Australian university students from poor backgrounds. Cultural inclusive social policy in respect to indigenous education is fundamental to attainment of social justice. Assimilation and integration have not been enough in addressing education inequalities in Australia. Negotiation and consultation are fundamental to the development of any social policy that includes indigenous people. The Aboriginal Education and Training policy has a framework where schools can adapt and utilize the policy according to the needs of the community and the school, acknowledging the diversity of all communities and students. Social inclusion policy has led to major reform of the manner in which governments provide social services (Atkinson & Davoudi, 2000). Community and health services sectors have been changed or transformed through structuring changes coming from joined up government arrangements and other multi-sectoral partnership. The social inclusion policy has to be implemented in places where it is acceptable. Cultural consideration has to be considered in cultural development. The local community has to assist the government in providing education through offering important information that will assist in knowledge and information dissemination (Caldwell & Keating, 2004). Government funding and community cooperation can be used effectively in reducing the effects of inequality by creating easy access to education and other basic services like health care. The government has used the inclusive policy to come up with a school curriculum that caters for the needs of the indigenous people. Government funding in remote and rural villages has to be increased to ensure that adequate education facilities are created. The government has to involve the local community when it comes up with policies of improving accessibility top education. Conclusion Access to education can be a means of rooting out inequality to opportunity in society. People are empowered through education. The gap between different social classes is widened following disparities in access to education. The local community and the government has to work together to ensure that every person has easy access to education. In Australia, rural and remote are marginalized and while indigenous communities consisting of the Torres Strait Islanders and Aboriginal continue to experience problems when it come to access to education. The inclusion policy has tried to incorporate cultural values in the school curriculum. The importance of education as a means of removing inequalities in society has to be stressed. References Atkinson, R. & Davoudi, S. (2000). The concept of social exclusion in the European Union: context, Development and possibilities, Journal of Common Market Studies, 38 (3): 427-448. Hill, J., Le Grand, J. & Pichaud, D. (2001). Understanding Social exclusion, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Saunders, P. (2002). The impact of unemployment on poverty, inequality and social exclusion, Saunders, Peter and Taylor, Richards (Eds), The price of prosperity: The economic and social costs of unemployment, Sydney: UNSW Press. Spicker, P. (2007). The idea of poverty, Bristol: The Policy Press. Masella, K. (2006). The negotiation table: The work of the NSW Aboriginal Education Consulting Group, Public Administration Today, 7: 32-36. Caldwell, B. & Keating, J. (2004). Adding value to public education: An examination of the possibilities for public private partnerships, Melbourne: Australian Council of Deans. Karoly, L.A., Kilburn, R., & Cannon, (2005). Early childhood interventions, proven results, future promise, Melbourne: Rand Corporation. Meer, J. (2007). Evidence on the returns to secondary vocational education, Education Review, 26: 559-573. Saunders, P., Naidoo, Y. & Griffiths, M. (2008). Towards new indicators of disadvantage: Deprivation and social exclusion in Australia, Australian Journal of Social Issues, 43 (2): 167-175. Read More