Education and Unemployment Essay

1. In your own opinions, suggest how you can manipulate the supply of educational opportunities as a policy variable. 2. Suggest policy considerations for the government in respect to educational expansions. 3. State the implications for international donor agencies. INTRODUCTION: Edgar Edwards and Michael Todaro argue that an investment in education past the literacy stage is an investment in idle resources. They have some good and bad arguments and below, I am going to critique their arguments critiquing their points with the help of facts, statistics and logical reason. Their main argument is that an investment in education is an investment in idle resources, since the number of unemployed has been rising as the number of people who pursue post-literacy education. ARGUMENT: The two writers have both good and not so good points in their argument against post-literacy education. Firstly, by saying that â€Å"the average level of education among the unemployed and underemployed appears to be rising, suggesting that the growing investment in educational systems is increasing an investment in idle resources†, it’s actually true. The average number of people who have pursued education higher than the primary school level, in this case, the literacy level, has been rising over the past few years. The table below shows the trends, as compiled by Kenya National Bureau of Statistics and UNESCO. | 1999| 2000| 2001| 2002| 2003| 2004| 2005| 2006| 2007| Primary School| 6,078,024| 6,078,024| 5,941,610| 6,062,742| 7,159,523| 7,394,763| 7,591,528| 7,632,113| 8,229,266| Secondary School| 724,758| 762,414| 753,525| 781,601| 882,513| 926,149| 934,149| 1,030,080| 1,180,267| TOTAL| 6,788,858| 6,840,438| 6,695,1335| 6,844,343| 8,042,036| 8,320,912| 8,525,677| 8,662,193| 9,409,533|. | 2003| 2004| 2005| 2006| 2007| 2008| 2009| Enrolment in University| 82,100| 91,500| 92,316| 112,229| 118,239| 122,847| 177,735| From the table, we can see that as from 2002 when the government introduced free primary education, the number of children enrolled in school sky rocketed, and so did the number of people who got the chance to attend secondary school. Edwards and Todaro also argue that â€Å"rapid expansion of formal education beyond literacy levels without constructive efforts to create meaningful employment opportunities is likely to generate political as well as educational unrest†. This is so because the number of people graduating from our universities is higher than the number of jobs being created in any specific year. Politics plays a big role in the educational sector, since the MP’s are the decision makers and moreso because the corrupt few reduce the funds available for development, or more funds are directed to developed areas rather than to the marginalised so as to help them develop. According to the book â€Å"Education and development in Africa†, it’s stated that so as to improve African countries, it’s not only the provision of education that matters, but also the quality of it. This is a determinant in the levels of unemployment, since those from well-off schools are regarded in higher esteem, as compared to those from schools that are not known for academic excellence, even though both candidates have the same credentials. This results in the candidate from a renowned school getting a job, while the other candidate misses out, creating unemployment. Unemployment is†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ while underemployment is†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..