CriticalThinking

Collaboration

GlobalAwareness

8.5

7.5

EducationAcrossTheGlobal
CameronKroonenberg
Thesis:
A
crosstheglobe,educationsystemsaresetupverydifferently.Student
participationandgraduationratesreflecttheculturesviewoftheimportanceof
education.

Countries
Norway:
100%Literacy
MinistryofEducationbelievesthateveryonehastherighttoequaleducationalopportunities
andequalamountsofeducation
KindergartenPrimaryschool,Secondary,UpperSecondary,TertiaryVocational
education,Highereducation
99.3%completionrate
1.5%ofstudentagedchildrendonotattendschool

In2010,Norwayspent15.3%ofitsgovernmentspendingoneducation.Onaverage,
Norwayspent$13,000perstudentfromelementarytohighschool.
NorwegianMinistryofEducation
TheMinistryisinchargeofallofNorwaysdifferenteducationlevels.Everyyeartheystriveto
improvetheeducationsystem.Theyfocusonimprovingstudentperformanceaswellas
teacherperformance.Theirgoalisforeachagegrouptobesmarterthanthepreviousage
group.Allpubliceducationispaidforthethegovernment,includingadvancededucation.This
generatesequalopportunitiesforeveryonetopursueeducationtothehighestleveltheywish
toachieve.Thisallowseveryoneofeverysocialclassfairopportunitytogetaneducation.

SriLanka:

98%Literacy
Startsatage5
Primaryschool5grades
SecondarySchool:3cycles
JuniorSecondary:69
SeniorSecondary:1011
CollegiateSecondary:1213Threetrackswithin1)Science2)Commerce3)
Arts
6%ofstudentagedchildrendonotattendschool
97%completion
$80peryearperpupil4.8%ofGrossDomesticProductisspentoneducation
FreeEducationandMilitary

SriLankasupportsfreeeducation.However,recenttrendshaveshownashiftofgovernment
spendinggearedtowardsabiggermilitarybudget.Duetothisincreaseinmilitarybudget,the
MinistryofEducationsyearlybudgethasdecreased.Asaresult,morefamilieshaveelected
privateschoolsinwhichtheywouldpay.Asaresultofthebudgetchanges,theamountof
fluentEnglishspeakers,andthoselearningtobefluentinEnglishhasdeclined.Schoolshave
beguntobemoreultranationalisticandhavefocusedonlearninglocaldialectsand
vernacular.

Afghanistan
:28.1%LiteracyWomen12.6%Men43%
Startsatage7
Primary6grades
Secondary
Lower79
Upper1012
%completionrate(Basedoffsocialclass)
UpperClass65%
MiddleClass35%
LowerClass16%
%ofstudentagedchildrendonotattendschool(Basedoffsocialclass)
Upperclass36%
MiddleClass60%
LowerClass80%
GenderInequality
AmongstAfghans,thereisahugeinequalitybetweenboysandgirls.Previously,under
Talibanrule,girlswerebannedfromgettinganeducation.Withrecentchangesin
government,womenaregettingmoreinvolvedineducation.In2008,34%ofallstudentwere
girls.
LackofTechnology
ItisnosurprisethattheAfghanschoolingisconsideredinadequateaccordingtofirstworld
countrystandards.Mostschoolsconsistofadirtyroomwiththebareminimumequipment
chalkboard,chalk,andacouplesetsofbooks.

Argentina:

98%Literacy

Startsatage6
Primary16
Secondary
Upper:79
Lower:1012
Tertiary:Splitinto3phases3yeardegrees,46yr,andgraduatequalifications
1.7%ofstudentagedchildrendonotattendschool
DropoutRate:73%atcollegelevel

 16.4%ofGrossDomesticProductisspentoneducation
Textbooks
OneofthemajorflawsintheArgentineeducationsystemhasnothingtodowiththesystem
itself.Thebiggestproblemisthatmajorityofschoolattendingfamiliesareunabletopurchase
textbooksfortheirstudents.Thisproblemmainlyresideswithfamiliesthatareinpoverty,and
areunabletofinanciallypurchaseaneducationaltextbook.Oftheentirestudentbody,only
30%areabletopurchaseoneormorebooksneededfortheyear.Therearemorestudents
thantherearetextbooks.Schoolshavetoreverttomakinguselesscopies.

Russia
:99.7%literacy.
Startsatage6

53%hastertiaryeducation
5%ofGrossDomesticProductspentoneducation
Primary:14
Middle:59
Secondary:1012
During11thand12thgradeRussianstudentseitherentervocationalschoolto
learncertaintradesandskills.Otherscontinuestudyingtoprepareforcollege
classes
Required10yearsofeducation
Onaverage,Russiaspent$5,000perstudentfromelementarytohighschool.
ProblemswiththisSystem:
Russiaseducationsystemiscenteredaroundtheuppersecondaryandlatergradesofthe
educationspectrum.PrimaryandLowersecondaryschoolsarenotconsideredapriority.This
provestobeproblematicasstudentsarelackingasolidfoundationofknowledge.
Consideringhowadvancedthesystemis,theRussianGovernmentisonlyspendingaround
$5,000dollarsperstudent,whichputsthemwellundertheglobalaverageof$8,500.
However,despiteaweakbase,theRussianeducationsystemisoneofthebestworldwide,
especiallyinthehigherlevels

Australia
96%literacy
Startsatage6
Primary:17
Secondary:812
VocationalorTertiaryfollowsdependingonwhatpathyouwantedtotake.
2.4%ofstudentagedchildrendonotattendschool
28%graduate
SchoolstartsinlateJanuaryandendsinearlyDecember(FactMonster)
Requiredtotake11yrsofschooling
14.8%ofitsgovernmentspendingisdedicatedtowardseducation.Australiaspends
$10,000perpupil.ThesestatisticsaresurprisingsinceAustralialedtheglobewiththe
highestdropoutrate.
DropOutRate

Highdropoutratecanbeprimarilyexplainedbytworeasons.First,therehaslackof
employeestodomanuallaborjobs.Inordertocombatthis,businesseshirehighschoolersto
filltheseopenpositions.Secondly,inAustralia,therehasbeenalackofmathteachers.Asa
result,studentsareunpreparedtobesuccessfulincollegelevelmathclasses.Subsequently,
manystudentsdropoutofcollegemathcourses.

DemocraticRepublicoftheCongo
:66.8%Literacy
Startsatage6
Primary16
Secondary712
TertiaryOptionsbutnotmanyenroll
CompletionRate
RichestClass80%
MiddleClass26%
PoorestClass10.3%
%ofkidsareoutofschool:
RichestClass14.8%
MiddleClass28.6%
PoorestClass33.5%
2.5%ofGrossDomesticProductspentoneducation
ChildSoldiersandUnderfunding
ThetwolargestproblemswithDRCseducationarethesevereunderfundingbythe
government,andtheextremefearofchildrentogotoschool.InCongo,therearewidespread
armedconflictamongstthestate.Thesefightingforcesareinfamousforabductingchildren
andusingthemaschildsoldiers.Asaresult,kidsareafraidofgoingtoschoolduetoa
realisticfearofbeingabducted.Thisfearkeepsanastoundingthirdofthelowerclasses
studentpopulationoutofschool.Thestudentswhowenttoschoolwerejustasunfortunate,
notonlyaretheyafraidofbeingabducted,theyalsohavetodealwithainsufficientlyfunded
educationsystem.TheDRCGovernmentonlyallotted2.5%oftheGDPforasolideducation.
InDRC,withaaveragePerCapitaIncomeof$400,schoolingisoneofthefewluxuriesof
Congo.

SurveyResults:
1. Question:
Rankthefollowingcountriesbasedoffhowgoodtheireducationsystemis
Norway,SriLanka,Afghanistan,Argentina,Russia,Australia,Congo,andUSA.
a. Results
:
Norway
,
Russia,
and
USA
werethehighestrankingcountriesin
peoplesopinionswhile
Congo,
and
Afghanistan
werethelowest
2. Question:
ShouldtheGovernmentpayalleducationfeesthroughHighSchool?
a. Results:
75%saidthegovernmentshould
3. Question:
ThoughtsontheUnitedStateseducationsystem?
a. Results:
i.
ii.

Itisnotahighpriority.Notfundedwell.Lowexpectations.Poorresults.
Toostressfulandsubjective

iii.
iv.
v.
vi.
vii.

Weird,Fed,biasedonkidswithcertainlearningabilities
isnteffective
Organized,thankfultoliveinacountryinwhicheducationisexpectedamongcitizens.
Educationisaveryimportantpartandneedofsociety.
Seemsbasedmoreongradesthanonlearning
Notverygood,focusongpanotlearning.

4. Question:
Shouldcollegeleveleducationberequiredforeveryonetotake?
a. Results:
100%saidyes
5. Question:
Australiahasthehighestdropoutrateworldwide.Thoughts?
a. Results:
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
vi.
6.

Doingsomethingwrong
Lessdeveloped,parentsmightneedmorehelpontheirland?
Theyhaveapooreducationsystem
Theyar
eallhippies
Seemstobeverypoorsystemofgovernmentandeducation
Terrible...Iwonderwhyit'ssodifferenttherecomparedtootherplaces.Alsowonderhow
thatstacksupagainsttheUnitedStates.

Question:
Shouldeveryonebegivenequaleducationopportunity?Despiterace,
socioeconomicclass,socialstatus,religion?
a. Results:
100%saidyes

Reaction:

Acrosstheglobe,eachcountryseducationsystemissetupdifferently.Some
countriesemphasizeearlychildhoodlearning,whileothersfocusoncollegeleveleducation.
Mostcountriesfollowedthesameeducationsystemconsistingof6yearsofprimaryschool
(elementary)and6yearssecondaryschool(middleandhighschool).Differentcountriesvary
intheirparticipationinschool.Insomecountries,suchasAustralia,only70%ofstudents
completeasecondaryeducation.Thiswasaunexpectantstatisticforafirstworldcountry.
Generally,firstworldcountriesinvestintheireducationalsystems.AsIwouldhaveexpected,
withthisinvestment,goodcompletionratesandhighliteracyratesareevident.Norway
spendsanaverageof$13,000perstudentanddemonstratesa100%literacyrate,lowdrop
outrate,andhighcompletionrate.Norway,unlikemanycountries,seemsverydeliberatein
improvingitseducationalsystemonanannualbasis.Mysurveyresultsrevealedthatofthose
polled,Norway,theUSA,andRussiawouldofferthebesteducations,andtheDemocratic
RepublicoftheCongoandAfghanistanwouldoffertheworsteducations.

Educationalopportunitiesvarygreatlyfromcountrytocountry.Theamountof
resourcesallocatedtosupporteducationalsovariesgreatly.Typically,themoreresources
investedtendstoresultinthebettereducationalsystem.However,SriLankahasachieved
thehighestliteracyrateamongthirdworldcountriesinspiteofspendingjust$80perstudent
peryear.Itwasshockingtolearntheeffectthatgenderandsocioeconomicstatusplayin
somecountries.Untilrecently,girlswereunabletogotoschoolinAfghanistan.In
Afghanistan,80%ofchildreninthepoorestsocioeconomicclassdonotevengotoschool
regardlessofgender.OfthepeopleIpolledaboutglobaleducation,100%believedeveryone

shouldbeentitledtoanequaleducationregardlessofrace,socioeconomicclass,social
status,andreligion.Evenmoresurprisingwastheissueofsafetythatsomestudentsface
whengoingtoschoolinsomecountriesintheworld.IntheDemocraticRepublicofCongo,
studentsfacefearofbeingabductedtounwillingserveaschildsoldiersinthiswartorn
country.Sadly,on12/15/14126peoplewerekilledataPakistanischool.Mostofthosedead
arebelievedtobechildren.Althoughthisisamilitaryschoolforfirsttotenthgradestudents,
mostoftheattendingstudentsarecivilians.TheTalibanhasclaimedresponsibilityclaiming
revengetobetheirmotivation.

WorkCited

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EducationSciences,Jan.2014.Web.9Dec.2014.
<
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cmd.asp
>.

"EducationfromKindergardtentoAdultEducation."NorwegianMinistryofEducationand
Research,n.d.Web.9Dec.2014.
<
http://www.udir.no/Upload/Brosjyrer/5/Education_in_Norway.pdf?epslanguage=no
>.

"EducationSysteminAustralia."
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<http://www.classbase.com/Countries/Australia/EducationSystem>.

Fhi360
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>.

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@insidehighered."
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@insidehighered
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<https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/worldview/argentinatop%E2%80%94itsdropoutrat
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"GenderEqualityinAfghanistan."
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<http://www.wikigender.org/index.php/Gender_Equality_in_Afghanistan>.

Hughes,Mark."SchoolYearsaroundtheWorld."
FactMonster
.N.p.,n.d.Web.13Dec.2014.
<
http://www.factmonster.com/world/statistics/schoolyears.html
>.

"MinistryofEducationandResearch."
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<https://www.regjeringen.no/en/dep/kd/id586/>.


Ross,John."LackofMathsPrerequisitesleadsStudentstoDropOut."
TheAustralian
.N.p.,
29July2014.Web.13Dec.2014.
<http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theaustralian.com.au%2Fhighereducation%2Flackofmathsprerequ
isitesleadsstudentstodropout%2Fstorye6frgcjx1227004756725%3Fnk%3D98faa5899ec3
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"10CountrieswithHighLiteracyRateintheWorldFedenaBlog."
FedenaBlog
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<
http://blog.fedena.com/2014/01/10countrieshighliteracyrateworld.html
>.

TalibanStormPakistaniSchool,Killing
126
PESHAWAR,PakistanDec16,2014,8:56AMET
ByRIAZKHANAssociatedPress

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/pakistantalibanattackmilitaryschoolkill2762
6582