Is The World Getting The Education It Needs?

Is The World Getting The Education It Needs?

Is The World Getting The Education It Needs?

People are always telling kids to stay in school and study hard. They say education is vital, But is the world getting the education it needs? Are people actually staying in school? Let's find out!

Well, as of 2016 86% of people 15 years and older were literate, Compare that to 1950 and you’ll see that just 35.9% of the world population was literate back then. So that’s a good sign.

The net enrollment rate in secondary school was 65% in 2014, compared to 55% in 2000. Also, the Millennial generation looks as though it will be the most educated generation in all of US history, in terms of bachelor’s degrees.

But why does all of this matter? What kind of benefits does education have? As it turns out, it has a lot.

Education is hugely important for individuals as well as societies. Let’s start with personal health. People without a high school degree have been found to have mortality rates over twice as high as people with some college education. Americans with less education are also more likely to develop chronic diseases such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes than their more educated counterparts.

Does dropping out of high school really cause you to die at a younger age? Well, if you’ve ever taken a psychology class you’ve probably heard an important rule: correlation does not equal causation.

Being more educated might not directly cause you to be healthier.

Education creates opportunities that can influence health, like a higher income and, therefore, better access to healthcare. So while the statistics favor more educated people, it’s not necessarily true that an extra degree will add years to your life.

But let’s take a look at society as a whole. What kind of benefits does education have on a group of people? On a political level, higher education is correlated with greater participation in democracy. It increases the chances of anti-dictatorship revolutions, while decreasing the chances of anti-democracy ones.

More education is also associated with lower crime rates. Education sounds pretty important. So why isn’t everyone staying in school and getting PhDs?

The answer? Barriers.

There are tons of barriers that prevent people from accessing education. For starters, racism affect people’s perceptions about their ability to learn. In the US, 45% of schools with many students living in poverty receive less funding than other schools in their districts, setting these students back even further.

Around the world, approximately 263 million children and teenagers are not in school. There are many reasons for this.

In some countries, mandatory education only lasts 5 or 6 years. A few countries don’t have required education at all.

Gender and social class also have strong effects on kids’ education rates. Girls’ literacy rates and formal education rates are lower than boys’ worldwide.

In some countries, differences have been found between the richest 40% and the poorest 60% in terms of how many students started school at a later than average age.

Education is super beneficial, but in many places, it’s inaccessible for lots of people.

So next time you find yourself wondering why you have to stay in school, remember how important it is and how lucky you are to be there.

Anyway...
Do what you can to educate yourself, and to help others get educated too.






Some Sources:
Life Noggin
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2103.html
https://ourworldindata.org/global-rise-of-education
https://data.worldbank.org/topic/education?end=2014&start=1999
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/02/15/u-s-students-internationally-math-science/
https://www.ahrq.gov/professionals/education/curriculum-tools/population-health/zimmerman.html
https://www.elc-pa.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/BestInvestment_Full_Report_6.27.11.pdf
https://societyhealth.vcu.edu/work/the-projects/why-education-matters-to-health-exploring-the-causes.html