Worldwide, people understand college to be the benchmark
of achievement and the gateaway to a better life. Yet sadly many poor and
minority students have been denied the opportunity to to attend college.
Denying anyone the opportunity to go to college is a loss, not only for
individuals, but for a society as a whole.
In past decades, many U.S. high schools have had two
tracks, that is, distinct programs of study for groups of students based on
their ability. One was for college-bound students ad one for work-bound
students—and this led to a practice of advising poor and minority students to
take the career or vocational track. Classes in the career track were typically
not as rigorous, challenging, as those in the academic track, so once students
entered the career track, they quickly dropped behind their peers. Because the
curricula (programs of study) and the rate of study of the two tracks were so
different, students in the career track found it nearly impossible to transfer
into the academic track. To make matters worse, the vocational track did not
always prepare students for employment. Too often, students graduated from vocational
programs without the skills that they needed to secure well-paying jobs. The
inenvitable result of an inferior, that is, low-quality, education is a
lifetime of work in low-skill, low-paying jobs without the opportunity to enjoy
a middle-class lifestyle, and this has been the fate of too many underserved
students.
If a society is committed to fairness, it cannot exclude
any of its people from its benefits. College is a unique experience for youth
in that it offers them an abundance of resources. It offers intellectual
stimulation of all kinds, opportunities for social networking, and, most
importantly, the chance to acquire the skills and knowledge that are the key to
satisfying employment and economic security.
Yet a post-secondary education is much more than a
benefit to individuals: An educated population is an asset to an entire
society. Educated people are the innovators who start new businesses and
develop new products. They design the systems that help companies run smoothly,
and they guide and inspire others. Furthermore, in today’s challenging business
environment, educated people are essential to a country’s economic
competitiveness. Technology is rapidly changing, and, at the same,
transnational corporations are shifting operation accross borders with growing
frequency. According to Anthony Carnevale (25), director of the Global
Institute on Education and the Economy at Georgetown University, “workers with
the most education are likely to be the most effective learners in the
high-performance work organizations” of
today. College prepares young people to welcome challenges and to demand the
most from themselves. Moreover, college degree programs have become
increasingly aligned with occupational demand (Carnevale 25). Therefore, the
majority of college graduates have knowledge and skills they can apply in
well-paying jobs immediately.
A final and sometimes overlooked benefit or higher
education is that it assures the viability of democracies. A democratic form of
goverment requires the participation of citizens. Citizens in a democracy must
be able to absorb information, evaluate it, and form opinions
independently—skills cultivated nowhere as effectively as in college. College
students are required to explore subjects in depth; they learn how to apply
their knowledge to real-world situations. Furthermore, college campuses are
place where debating issues in college, they tend to remain civically engaged
all through their lives—a key to the health of a democratic society.
In sum, a college-for-all policy, because it is and it
offers the greatest number of people access to the benefits of higher education
and a pathway to a comfortable life, promotes individual happiness. In
addition, a college-for-all policy is iin the self-interest of any country that
wants to be economicallt competitive and fully democratic.
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar