History of Education
TAP 102: EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT
âIf you plan for a year, plant a seed. If for ten years, plant a tree. If for a hundred years, teach the people. When you sow a seed once, you will reap a single harvest.When you teach the people, you will reap a hundred harvests". 7th Century BC Chinese philosopher Guan Zhong.
Modern theory of economic growth stresses the principal role of human capital, especially educa- tion and health. However, the relationship is not limited to income growth rates. The relationship between education and economic development has long been recognized in the development litera- ture. On the one hand, education is seen as a product of the development process that is worthy of pursuit by itself (note that education is the MDG # 2). On the other hand, education is considered a crucial input into the development process. It is considered an input to economic growth, health outcomes, institutional development, and possibly trade, among others. Although education is con- sidered important in the development literature, there have been few empirical studies to measure its importance in the development process in African countries. The few empirical studies on the relationship between education and development have focused almost exclusively on the effects of education on income growth to the exclusion of other aspects of development. The second issue is that it is not clear which level of education is appropriate for development in the context of low income countries and whether all development outcomes are equally a_ected by all levels of education. While the World Bank and other international development organizations argue for a focus on primary education, some researchers suggest that it is higher education that is relevant for long term development. For African countries, this debate has hardly began.
Development
Definition.
Development is a multidimensional process involving changes in structures, institutions, and
âIf you plan for a year, plant a seed. If for ten years, plant a tree. If for a hundred years, teach the people. When you sow a seed once, you will reap a single harvest.When you teach the people, you will reap a hundred harvests". 7th Century BC Chinese philosopher Guan Zhong.
Modern theory of economic growth stresses the principal role of human capital, especially educa- tion and health. However, the relationship is not limited to income growth rates. The relationship between education and economic development has long been recognized in the development litera- ture. On the one hand, education is seen as a product of the development process that is worthy of pursuit by itself (note that education is the MDG # 2). On the other hand, education is considered a crucial input into the development process. It is considered an input to economic growth, health outcomes, institutional development, and possibly trade, among others. Although education is con- sidered important in the development literature, there have been few empirical studies to measure its importance in the development process in African countries. The few empirical studies on the relationship between education and development have focused almost exclusively on the effects of education on income growth to the exclusion of other aspects of development. The second issue is that it is not clear which level of education is appropriate for development in the context of low income countries and whether all development outcomes are equally a_ected by all levels of education. While the World Bank and other international development organizations argue for a focus on primary education, some researchers suggest that it is higher education that is relevant for long term development. For African countries, this debate has hardly began.
Development
Definition.
Development is a multidimensional process involving changes in structures, institutions, and