Through the U.S. prides itself on behing a leader in the
world community, a recent report shows that it lags far behind other industrialized
countries in meeting the needs of its youngest and most vulnerable citizens.
The U.S. has a higher infant mortality rate, a higher proportion of low birth
weight babies, a smaller proportion of babies immunized against childhood
diseases and a much higher rate adolescent pregnancies. These findings,
described as a quiet crisis requiring immediate and far-reaching action,
appeared in a report prepared by a task force of educators, doctors,
politicians and business people. According to the report, a fourth of the
nation’s 12 infants and toddlers live in poverty. As many as half confront risk
factors that could harm their ability to develop intellectually, physically and
socially. Child immunizations are too low, more children are born into poverty,
more are in substandard care while their parents work and more are being raised
by single parents When taken together, these and other risk factor can lead to
educational and health problems that are much harder and more costly to
reverse.
The crisis beings in the womb with unplanned parenthood.
Women with unplanned pregnancies are less likely to seek pre-natal care. In the
U.S. 80% of teenage pregnancies and 56% of all pregnancies are unplanned. The
problems continue after birth where unplanned pregnancies and unstable
partnerships often go hand in hand. Since 1950, the number of single parent
families had nearly tripled. More than 25 percent of all births today are to unmarried
mothers. As the number of single parent families grows and more women enter the
work force, infants and toddlers are increasingly in the care of people other
than their parents.
Most disturbingly, recent statistics show that American
parents are increasingly neglecting or abusing their children. In only four
years from 1987-1991, the number of children in foster care increased by over
50 percent. Babies under the age of one are the fastest growing category of
children entering foster care. The crisis affects children under the age of
three most severely the report says. Yet, it is this period-from infancy
through preschool years- that sets the stage for a child’s future.
Educational planning should aim at meeting the educational needs of the entire population of all age groups. While the traditional structure of education as a three layer hierarchy from the primary stage to the university represents the core, we should not overlook the periphery which is equally important. Under modern conditions, workers need to rewind, or renew their professor. The retired and the aged have their needs as well. Educational planning, in their words, should take care of the needs of everyone.
Our structures of education have been built up on the assumption that there is a terminal point to education. This basic defect has become all the more harmful today. A UNESCO report, titled “Learning to be” prepared by Edgar Faure and others in 1973 asserts that the education of children must prepare the future adult for various forms of self-learning. A viable education system of the future should consist of modules with different kinds of functions serving a diversity of constituents. And performance, not the period of study, should be the basis for credentials. The writing is already on the wall.
In view of the fact that the significance of a commitment of lifelong learning and lifetime education is being discussed only in recent years even in educationally advanced countries, the possibility of the idea becoming an integral part of educational thinking seems to be a far cry. For, to move in that direction means much more than some simple rearrangement of the present organization of education. But a good beginning can be made by developing Open University programs for older learners of different categories and introducing extension services in the conventional colleges and schools. Also, these institutions should learn to cooperate with numerous community organizations such as libraries, museums, municipal recreational programs, health services etc.
Q: What should be the major characteristic of the future educational system?
