Inequality of Education Essay Example

When people argue about education, they refer to the process via which learning is facilitated or the process that individuals acquire values, beliefs, habits, skills or even knowledge that aids them on survival. Therefore, the essay will explore the inequalities related to an education that many of the individual's term as a bad thing. Although from the examination conducted the difference in school hits the headlines as good things which will also be covered in this essay, the study was carried on by the National Center of education providing examples on how children from a poor background and those with affluent backgrounds relate on matters about performance in school. Even though there are improvements noticed in the education system, the wealth, racism, and gender inequalities continue to persist of which the parents and pupils personal characteristics are more influential than the meso- and macro-characteristics of the education system.

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It was identified from that study that there is a quite narrow gap when it comes to academic performance between high and low-income children. It is because in the current years whether the kid is joining kindergarten from wealthy or poor background all of them in matters of academic success they are all equally ready and prepared (Matter). For instance, when National Center for Education Statistics took the majority of their employees to approximately 1000 private and public schools for research purpose, enabled them to quickly identify the content that the children had on their studies. Also, they talked to the kids' parents to learn the experience and challenges facing them. They found out that the gap between wealthy families and low-income children in connection to good performance and reading was at minimal which was facilitated by the rapid skill improvement by children from poor background entering kindergarten.

Gender is the other identified determinant of inequality in education which is based on whether one is male or female. Evidence showed that in China's education system, gender inequality has persisted and for approximately three decades which have passed there have been some improvement in educational attainment. It has been identified that it varies by area and grade level. For instance, there is no noteworthy gender inequality in urban areas in case of girls or the situation of the compulsory nine years of education while girls in rural areas continue to face disparities (Zeng). However, when they make it to high school and even beyond, gender inequality in education keep falling over time.

Wealth and Gender are not the only determinant of inequality in education but also one's color plays a mega role, and the discrimination of people on the grounds of either whites or blacks in color is what is termed as racism. In the education system, both children of the blacks and the whites perform equally, and the present study identified that until the fourth grade, the improvement rate between these kids persists. National Assessment of Education Progress determined that when they attained fourth grade, their rank was higher than their 12 years earlier predecessors and it was equivalent for poor and affluent families (Reich). Thus, this is an indication that as society grows and facilities improved, it is quite challenging to differentiate children based on their education performance as services provided to the kids are excellent.

Most of the people are fascinated by this development related to educational inequalities. On this basis, it can be said that the narrow readiness gaps were as a result of low-income families' capabilities to acquire for their children the preschool programs which are fully publicly funded. Thus, the increasingly affordable and quality improved services facilitated the low-income families' children to catch up with their fellow kids from well-established backgrounds. In the current years, the numbers of the poor children who access the public preschools had increased as compared to late 1990 when poor children never had the chance to attend the preschool and the improvement in learning quality has been stirred by the high rate of unemployment. Also, the public preschool's standards have gone up reaching the well off communities.

The narrowing of the gap is also as a result of the changes occurring in the home the children, and via listening to the parents, it was established that kids from both poor and wealthy families had sufficient books to facilitate their studies with the help of their parents. However, those from poor backgrounds lacked the access to the internet, computers, and video games that gave them time to keep reading hence making them sharp (Leonardo, Zeus, and W. Norton Grubb 50). Their parents were also identified to spend time with them and took them to the libraries. It was therefore concluded that all the opportunities experienced by the poor were all available to the rich.

The issue of the causes of inequality in education is raised by Brock-Utne who attempts to identify whether meso- or macro-characteristics of the systems of education are the causes. The study found out that in one side there is a negative answer of them not being the root of education inequality and the personal characteristics of the parents and pupils are more influential as compared to the meso-characteristics or macro-characteristics. While on the other side an affirmative answer was identified where educational opportunities disparities get their form within those features, and the inequalities may vary by the system of education in which it grows. "Individual potentials and constraints and opportunities stemming from the surrounding contexts are interacting with each other in the constant process of adaption and change" (Brock-Utne 326). Therefore, this study revealed that the parents and pupils personal characteristics are more influential than meso- or macro-features of the education system and the inequality varies with the educational system.

Conclusion

It is vividly clear from the essay that despite the much inequality concerning education, what counts a lot is how these kids are raised during their childhood and the place. Therefore, if up brought in low-income families and much time spent to show this kid the significance of education she or he ends up working hard hence succeeding in education. Also, if raised in rural areas where the gender inequalities are high, the girls tend to experience disparities in educational chances which is the difference in urban areas. In case difference as a result of color, parents attempt to show their children to uphold, appreciate and love the way they are created which improves their moral to study as well as enabling them to compete with their counterparts who are white. Also, the parents and pupils personal characteristics have also been identified to be more influential than the meso- or macro-traits of education system inequalities, and at the same time, the biases vary with the educational system being used.

Works Cited

Brock-Utne, Birgit. "Quality and inequality of education: Cross-national perspectives." (2011): 527-528.

Leonardo, Zeus, and W. Norton Grupp. Education and Racism: A primer on issues and dilemmas. Routledge, 2018. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315101200

Matter, G. "Opinion\The Good News About Educational Inequality - The New York Times." N.p., 2016. Web. <https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/28/opinion/sunday/the-good-news-about-educational-inequality.html>.

Reich, Michael. Racial inequality: A political-economic analysis. Vol. 4883. Princeton University Press, 2017.

Zeng, Junxia, et al. "Gender inequality in education in China: a metaregression analysis." Contemporary Economic Policy32.2 (2014): 474-491, onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/coep.12006