Importance of Education Expansion to Reduce Inequality

Nowadays, education is a fundamental element for a healthy and comfortable lifestyle of people all around the world. According to the research of William Teale, he comes to a conclusion that “Home background plays an important role in an orientation of young child to their education and literacy.” (Teale 193) Beside the natural ability of students, there are many factors contribute to a student’s academic success. One of the most important factors is the involvement of parent which will have an impact on their child’s academic achievements. The family education background can affect a student’s academic success. According to a research, students can suffer educationally if they come from lower educated families. (Stephan Maughan & Demand Media, 2015). Higher educated parents will have positive impact on their child’s academic success and lower educated will have negative impact on their child. Furthermore, the education background of parents will result in their economic and social status which in turn affect their child’s. Investment in early childhood education, especially targeted toward disadvantaged children and their families helps prevent negative economic and social outcomes from the inequality in the development of human capabilities.

According to the theory of education and income distribution, “a relative expansion of education reduces inequality” (Knight and Sabot, 1983). According to the human capital approach, it is suggested that expanding education to the lower income groups increases their productivity and help to improve income distribution, as well as increase the supply of skilled labor and remain high marginal product of labor (Ahluwalia, 1974b). There are evidences showing that primary and secondary education help to reduce income gaps in the society. The increase in literacy rates is beneficial for the lowest income groups while not the wealthiest. (Psacharopoulos and Tilak, 1991; Ahluwalia 1976). By ensuring the constant ratio between the expenditure per primary school student and cohort size, education quality can be prevented from deteriorating and the income distribution can be improved. Fundamentally, improving the quality of primary education would be beneficial for the majority of population and reduce inequality. Furthermore, increasing secondary enrollment rates and expenditures help improve income distribution.

There are many ways parents can involve in their children’s academic process. First, the parent’s initiative of being a role model for their child would pass from this generation to other generations which will become a positive tradition for their family.  This causes a child to suffer fewer behavioral problems that may interrupt their learning process. The practices of parents to communicate with kids and being their role models will impact the childhood of their children. Second, when it comes to their theoretical abilities, well-educated parents raise their children in such a way to enhance self-perceptions. Third, well-educated parents can speak by using more complex language which will allow their children to develop cognitive and language skills at a young age. Fourth, reading or telling a story to your kids at a young age will develop their vocabulary and enhance their grammatical skills. Fifth, activities like playing games with kids will help them enrich their learning capability in the future. In summary, parents who are well-educated will have positive impact on their children’s learning behaviors.

Many socioeconomic indicators point out that education level of parents is highly associated with their child’s academic success. The data from Statistic Canada shows that lower educated parents who also have a low income will have negative impact on their children’s academic success. (Carly Seifert, Demand Media). Low income parents have no choice but spending longer working hours than higher income parents. In turn, the low-income parents will have to spend less time on concerning their child’s learning process. For example, low-income parents will not have time to be involved in their child’s doing assignments and homework, which in turn will limit the child’s cognitive skills. 34 studies show that children from lower-income families have less social and cognitive skills. (Kitty Steward &Kerris Cooper, 2013) Studies also point out that due to the lack of concern by the parents over their children, students will be more likely to engage in drugs and violence. Low-income families usually face a lot of behavioral issues within the family. Aggression and conflicts usually occur within lower education and lower income families. When a child is continuously penalized for their behavior, there’s a chance that they will develop a negative attitude about their academic which will affect their motivation to succeed in school. Professor of psychology at Bowling Green State University, Eric Dubow believes that “behavioral problems will affect a child’s ability to learn.” (Christina Pazzanese, 2014) Not only affect one’s attitude, continuous punishment from parents also reduces their child’s neurogenesis, which are the growth of brain cells “which will certainly reduce work ethics inside and outside of school”. (Eric Jensen, 2014) Students are not only affected by the background of their parents, but also be influenced by the economic status of the family. 

 If parents are well-educated, they can improve their economic status which give them the condition to raise up well their offspring. Furthermore, high-income parents who have successfully achieved higher education will face with less stress within the family because there is more likely that while spending less time working, they are making more money. They can also perform a good parenting because they will have enough time to communicate with their children and ensure a healthy environment for their children to develop in both their physical and intelligence. Their child’s motivation and cognitive skills can be increased while performing well in school due to their great parenting skills. (Eric Jensen, 2014) Great economic status will allow parents support their children to be involved outside of classroom activities. For example, parents will be able to afford day care where the child can learn in a safe outdoor environment with their peers. Another option is to send their children to Montessori, where the main focus is cooperative play and key development. Kids can develop their skills to perform better throughout their academic career if parents can afford to send their children to other beneficial programs. Another factor contribute to the development of children is the neighborhood where they grow up in which will have a huge impact on their education. The chances that children are exposed to the negative lifestyle such as drugs and violence will reduce if parents decide to live in a well-mannered, and rich area. Children will have a good attitude in and out of their academic process and will have great ambitions to achieve academic success if they live in a good neighborhood. A positive lifestyle at the early stage of child’s life will improve their education significantly and enhance their behavioral skills. (Jen Gratz, 2006)

 In conclusion, expansion in education plays important role in reducing inequality in the society. Furthermore, focusing on early childhood education, especially towards lower income families help reduce the income disparity in the society. To create a better generation not only require the involvement of the whole society but also individual parents who can help their children have a better future.

References

• Carly Seifert, Demand Media. “"Does the Education Level of a Parent Affect a Child's Achievement in School?” 2015, <http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/education-level-parent-affect-childs-achievement-school-6869.html>
• Christina Pazzanese. “Parental income now a strong predictor of student success” Feb 20 2014, <http://phys.org/news/2014-02-parental-income-strong-predictor-student.html>
• Eric Jensen. “How poverty affects behaviour and academic performance” 2014, < http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/109074/chapters/How-Poverty-Affects-Behavior-and-Academic-Performance.aspx>
• Jen Gratz. “The Impact of Parents’ Background on their Children’s Education” November 14, 2006, < http://www.macalester.edu/educationreform/publicintellectualessay/gratz.pdf>
• Kerris Cooper and Kitty Steward. “Does Money Affect Children’s Outcomes?” October 21 2013, < http://www.jrf.org.uk/publications/does-money-affect-childrens-outcomes>
• Teale, William H and Elizabeth Sulzby. “Background and Young Children’s Literacy Development.” Emerent Literacy: Writing and Reading. New Jersey:Ablex Publishing Corporation, 1986.