Overview
It is an imaginary, but feasible, system of education suitable for underdeveloped societies. It encourages various sections of society, viz. the government, the corporate sector, the civil society or household sector, etc. These sectors are the eventual users of the end product of education in the form of educated and skilled individuals. Therefore, they are expected and encouraged to participate, contribute, and monitor the setting up and maintenance of such a system. The system would be largely self sustaining, and a Win-Win situation for all the participants.
Let us discuss the role and contribution of these participants in the setting up, maintenance, and monitoring of this education system known as Sustainable Mass Education; and the probable return that they might get from it in the long run.
• Government
The Union and the provincial governments of any modern state have a gigantic educational infrastructure under its ownership and control, e.g. schools, colleges , universities, etc. These institutions are used only either during morning or evening or in the afternoon. So they are available for two more shifts. If the government can make these resources/infrastructure available to the willing private sector who have the operational and managerial capacity, and experience to run educational institutions, they would be able to save a lot of sunk cost. In return the government may ask them to provide free education to those students who qualify certain criteria to receive free education, e.g. the students belonging to below poverty level (BPL) etc.
Let us take an example of a school. The monthly rent of the school-infrastructure, i.e. the building etc. Monthly rent of it maybe assumed to be Rs.20,000. Therefore, the annual rent would be Rs.240,000. If the annual fee of a student in private schools is assumed to be Rs.1000 per annum, around 240 students may be given free education by the privately run schools. If the number of below poverty-leve-lstudents is not sufficient, even the people belonging to above poverty level may be given free education. Thus, the idle resources of an underdeveloped country would be optimally utilised. These countries always suffer from the scarcity of infrastructure and resources. Moreover, the private sector would also not have to wait for the gestation period of building the infrastructure. They get the readymade infrastructure, and they may start breaking-even, and earning profit in the short run.
In the same way, if there is a wonderful educational set-up under private ownership and control in certain locations where public educational infrastructure is negligible, the government can hire this setup and provide the management with the monthly rent of, say Rs20,000, which should be completely exempt from any kind of taxes. The government can run a school, college, etc. during the vacant shift. Thus, the government would save the huge sunk cost, and would be able to avoid the long gestation period. Thus, both the parties would gain under this situation.
In several underdeveloped third world countries the private sector management is considered to be more efficient and profitable, vis-à-vis the public sector management. Therefore, the students studying in the proposed set-up would also receive better quality education.
These countries also suffer from the dearth of employment opportunities. Many educated and certified teachers are still unemployed due to lack of appropriate employment opportunities in the public educational institution. They would also get a chance to get a desirable employment. It would also reduce the burden of unemployment on the economy. It would increase the purchasing power of these people. As such, the demand for goods and services. It would lead to the multiplier effect and boost the economy.
The management of this setup ought to have an apolitical non-executive member in order to protect the public interest, and monitor its functioning. Their job should only be of a watchdog, i.e. they need to inform the appropriate government authority, if the management deviates from the core objective of this setup. A willing retired educator, e.g. a school-headmaster or a college-principal may be the most suitable candidate for such an assignment.
Scholarships for higher education, unemployment allowance, etc. should be linked to productivity instead of being just a charity. The unemployed certified teachers and trainee-teachers, i.e. students of courses like Bachelor of Education etc. should be encouraged to teach in the evening or in the morning the students of the community. The students may include the illiterate adults, industrial labourer, menial labourer, etc. If they take at least a few number of classes, then only they should be eligible for receiving scholarship. These trainee-teachers normally have to go for practice teaching in different schools where there are already sufficient member of teachers. These trainee-teachers take classes, while the existing members of staff spend time without doing anythin. Is it not a waste of public money? Therefore, the government should arrange a few classes for the target students, and these trainee-teachers should be encouraged to teach them instead of going to the already functional schools.
• Corporations
I mean the private corporate sector.
In certain countries the corporate sector is supposed to bear the corporate social responsibility (CSR). It means that they need to spend a certain portion of their profit in the welfare activities. They adopt or maintain parks, playground, orphanage, hospitals, etc. They also spend money on consumer education, consumer protection, consumer welfare, etc.
They may be encouraged to donate profusely to the education sector.
Moreover, they may collaborate with some educational institutions of repute to run a corporate training program. It means the corporate sector would give employment to the college or university students for 2 or 3 days a week, and on the non-working days the students would go to college or universities to attend academic classes. In this way, the students would be able to shoulders their educational expenses. Moreover, after they graduate, they would be skilled and experienced. They would be more employable. The sponsoring corporate entity may absorb them after their graduation or they may be free to join any other company. In anyway, the corporate sector would face an increased supply of educated, experienced, and skilled labour. Thus, the cost of labour would decrease, and the profitability of these entities would definitely increase.
The talented and passionate employees of the private sector organisations may choose to share their experiences and ideas with school, college or university students. They may take as many classes as possible on weekends or holidays. It would enhance the exposure of the students to the industrial environment; and thus they may attract talented students to join their organization in future. Thus they would act as the brand ambassador of their organizations. It would increase their organizations' brand image. If the government deems fit, it may give them an equitable tax benefit for their services. It would act as a personal motivation for them to continue to provide their beneficial services to the society.
Similarly, the existing and retired teachers of the private or public schools, colleges, and universities may also be encouraged to take classes whenever they can. They should get a deduction from their total taxable income of an equitable amount for taking these classes. Thus, tgey would be able to save a little more tax; and the society would also be benefited with their knowledge.
• Civil Society
It is the household sector as compared to the government sector or the corporate sector. They are the citizens of the society.
There is a Chinese proverb that donate a fish if you wish to feed someone just once: teach him to catch it to feed him forever.
Various sections, groups or institutions of the society spend profusely during festivals, carnivals, etc. I have no intention to question or hurt the faith of anyone. I also have faith in one religion. As far as my knowledge is concerned, I am aware that the essence of every religion on this planet is service to mankind and charity. Therefore, if these sections, groups or institutions donate around 90% of the proposed expenditure for the development and maintenance of educational infrastructure in the underdeveloped countries, it would be a great service to mankind. The money may be used to build schools, colleges, universities, libraries, reading halls, not-for-profit hostels for outstation students, etc. A fund may also be setup to provide financial assistance to meritorious and needy students.
They may spend the rest 10% of their financial resources in the festivities, and proudly display the amount of the donation for the great social cause. In this way, they would help the society to become more educated. It would wean the society from various evils of illiteracy and unemployment or underemployment. Thus, the society would become more civilised, more polished, and more vibrant.
If above measures are sincerely taken, the system would be sustainable in the long run for educating the masses. It is because, it does not only take, but also returns.
(If anyone feels that I have somehow hurt their sentiment, I beg them with folded hands to treat me as an ignorant being; and therefore, forgive me; for to forgive is divine.)
It is an imaginary, but feasible, system of education suitable for underdeveloped societies. It encourages various sections of society, viz. the government, the corporate sector, the civil society or household sector, etc. These sectors are the eventual users of the end product of education in the form of educated and skilled individuals. Therefore, they are expected and encouraged to participate, contribute, and monitor the setting up and maintenance of such a system. The system would be largely self sustaining, and a Win-Win situation for all the participants.
Let us discuss the role and contribution of these participants in the setting up, maintenance, and monitoring of this education system known as Sustainable Mass Education; and the probable return that they might get from it in the long run.
• Government
The Union and the provincial governments of any modern state have a gigantic educational infrastructure under its ownership and control, e.g. schools, colleges , universities, etc. These institutions are used only either during morning or evening or in the afternoon. So they are available for two more shifts. If the government can make these resources/infrastructure available to the willing private sector who have the operational and managerial capacity, and experience to run educational institutions, they would be able to save a lot of sunk cost. In return the government may ask them to provide free education to those students who qualify certain criteria to receive free education, e.g. the students belonging to below poverty level (BPL) etc.
Let us take an example of a school. The monthly rent of the school-infrastructure, i.e. the building etc. Monthly rent of it maybe assumed to be Rs.20,000. Therefore, the annual rent would be Rs.240,000. If the annual fee of a student in private schools is assumed to be Rs.1000 per annum, around 240 students may be given free education by the privately run schools. If the number of below poverty-leve-lstudents is not sufficient, even the people belonging to above poverty level may be given free education. Thus, the idle resources of an underdeveloped country would be optimally utilised. These countries always suffer from the scarcity of infrastructure and resources. Moreover, the private sector would also not have to wait for the gestation period of building the infrastructure. They get the readymade infrastructure, and they may start breaking-even, and earning profit in the short run.
In the same way, if there is a wonderful educational set-up under private ownership and control in certain locations where public educational infrastructure is negligible, the government can hire this setup and provide the management with the monthly rent of, say Rs20,000, which should be completely exempt from any kind of taxes. The government can run a school, college, etc. during the vacant shift. Thus, the government would save the huge sunk cost, and would be able to avoid the long gestation period. Thus, both the parties would gain under this situation.
In several underdeveloped third world countries the private sector management is considered to be more efficient and profitable, vis-à-vis the public sector management. Therefore, the students studying in the proposed set-up would also receive better quality education.
These countries also suffer from the dearth of employment opportunities. Many educated and certified teachers are still unemployed due to lack of appropriate employment opportunities in the public educational institution. They would also get a chance to get a desirable employment. It would also reduce the burden of unemployment on the economy. It would increase the purchasing power of these people. As such, the demand for goods and services. It would lead to the multiplier effect and boost the economy.
The management of this setup ought to have an apolitical non-executive member in order to protect the public interest, and monitor its functioning. Their job should only be of a watchdog, i.e. they need to inform the appropriate government authority, if the management deviates from the core objective of this setup. A willing retired educator, e.g. a school-headmaster or a college-principal may be the most suitable candidate for such an assignment.
Scholarships for higher education, unemployment allowance, etc. should be linked to productivity instead of being just a charity. The unemployed certified teachers and trainee-teachers, i.e. students of courses like Bachelor of Education etc. should be encouraged to teach in the evening or in the morning the students of the community. The students may include the illiterate adults, industrial labourer, menial labourer, etc. If they take at least a few number of classes, then only they should be eligible for receiving scholarship. These trainee-teachers normally have to go for practice teaching in different schools where there are already sufficient member of teachers. These trainee-teachers take classes, while the existing members of staff spend time without doing anythin. Is it not a waste of public money? Therefore, the government should arrange a few classes for the target students, and these trainee-teachers should be encouraged to teach them instead of going to the already functional schools.
• Corporations
I mean the private corporate sector.
In certain countries the corporate sector is supposed to bear the corporate social responsibility (CSR). It means that they need to spend a certain portion of their profit in the welfare activities. They adopt or maintain parks, playground, orphanage, hospitals, etc. They also spend money on consumer education, consumer protection, consumer welfare, etc.
They may be encouraged to donate profusely to the education sector.
Moreover, they may collaborate with some educational institutions of repute to run a corporate training program. It means the corporate sector would give employment to the college or university students for 2 or 3 days a week, and on the non-working days the students would go to college or universities to attend academic classes. In this way, the students would be able to shoulders their educational expenses. Moreover, after they graduate, they would be skilled and experienced. They would be more employable. The sponsoring corporate entity may absorb them after their graduation or they may be free to join any other company. In anyway, the corporate sector would face an increased supply of educated, experienced, and skilled labour. Thus, the cost of labour would decrease, and the profitability of these entities would definitely increase.
The talented and passionate employees of the private sector organisations may choose to share their experiences and ideas with school, college or university students. They may take as many classes as possible on weekends or holidays. It would enhance the exposure of the students to the industrial environment; and thus they may attract talented students to join their organization in future. Thus they would act as the brand ambassador of their organizations. It would increase their organizations' brand image. If the government deems fit, it may give them an equitable tax benefit for their services. It would act as a personal motivation for them to continue to provide their beneficial services to the society.
Similarly, the existing and retired teachers of the private or public schools, colleges, and universities may also be encouraged to take classes whenever they can. They should get a deduction from their total taxable income of an equitable amount for taking these classes. Thus, tgey would be able to save a little more tax; and the society would also be benefited with their knowledge.
• Civil Society
It is the household sector as compared to the government sector or the corporate sector. They are the citizens of the society.
There is a Chinese proverb that donate a fish if you wish to feed someone just once: teach him to catch it to feed him forever.
Various sections, groups or institutions of the society spend profusely during festivals, carnivals, etc. I have no intention to question or hurt the faith of anyone. I also have faith in one religion. As far as my knowledge is concerned, I am aware that the essence of every religion on this planet is service to mankind and charity. Therefore, if these sections, groups or institutions donate around 90% of the proposed expenditure for the development and maintenance of educational infrastructure in the underdeveloped countries, it would be a great service to mankind. The money may be used to build schools, colleges, universities, libraries, reading halls, not-for-profit hostels for outstation students, etc. A fund may also be setup to provide financial assistance to meritorious and needy students.
They may spend the rest 10% of their financial resources in the festivities, and proudly display the amount of the donation for the great social cause. In this way, they would help the society to become more educated. It would wean the society from various evils of illiteracy and unemployment or underemployment. Thus, the society would become more civilised, more polished, and more vibrant.
If above measures are sincerely taken, the system would be sustainable in the long run for educating the masses. It is because, it does not only take, but also returns.
(If anyone feels that I have somehow hurt their sentiment, I beg them with folded hands to treat me as an ignorant being; and therefore, forgive me; for to forgive is divine.)
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