Research Paper Example on Funding Education

Introduction 

In this twenty-first century, education plays an important role in our daily life. This is due to the fact that education allows a person to transition from an unskilled individual to a highly productive human who can contribute to society. Al-Shuaib (2014) stated that education is the key to future success and having numerous opportunities in our lives. People benefit much from education in several ways. It also assists students in making career decisions or pursuing higher education by graduating from university. Education in a particular field helps people think, feel, and behave in ways that contribute to their success and improve not only their personal satisfaction but also the satisfaction of their community. Furthermore, education fosters the development of human personality, thinking, and social skills. It also prepares people for real-life situations. It elevates people's stature in their own society and elsewhere they live.

Consequently, education has several meanings that are “closely attached to explicitly educational institutions, be they schools, colleges, or universities, all places intended for formal learning. These meanings might be seen as situated on a continuum” (Petrie & Moss, 2019, p.7).  At one extreme is education in its most limited sense, which "equates education with schooling and some kinds of formal learning focused fully or mostly on cognitive capacities and, frequently, segmented disciplines." ENS [education in its narrowest sense] is more in line with how education is commonly understood and argued in the public today' (Fielding and Moss, 2011, as cited in Petrie & Moss, 2019 ). This is an education based on transmission, predetermined standards, testing, and examinations, with schools at risk of becoming "exam factories" (Coffield and Williamson, 2011as cited in Petrie & Moss, 2019 ). It is also an education that focuses on the individual and competitiveness, foreshadowing a future controlled by an increasingly competitive and unforgiving capitalist economy. It is, therefore, empirical for education to be properly funded, be it in times of crisis or not. This paper will focus on funding education in the Caribbean and other parts of the world for continuity and greater access in times of crisis.

Funding Education 

The importance of education is undeniable, therefore, the funding of education is of utmost importance, especially during this pandemic. However, the issue of properly funding education has been a long-standing one. While it is without any doubt that the Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted and intensified the need for funding education. Schleicher (2020) argues that “this crisis has exposed the many inadequacies and inequities in our education systems” when it comes to financing education especially from kindergarten to the secondary school level. All public education systems are mostly funded by a country's government, within the Caribbean and other parts of the world. According to Collectif (2017), “the majority of school funding originates at the central government level, other actors also increasingly contribute to raising funds for school services”.   

Therefore, the development of a country through the use of education can only be accomplished if adequate funding is poured into the education system (Ibrahim, 2018). The United Nations Human Rights Council defined access to and participation in education to be a fundamental human right for all global citizens (Odukoya, 2009, p.2). The global agenda for education was established on this basis. These agendas include, among other things, Education for All and the inclusion of elementary education in the MDGs. However, it has been projected that over 258 million children and youth are not attending school. There are 59 million primary school-age children, 62 million lower secondary-age children, and 138 million upper secondary-age children in total (UNESCO UIS, 2018). Additionally, most developing countries including some Caribbean countries face difficulties with properly funding their education system. According to a new United Nations(n.d) report, one of the most difficult difficulties for the world's 47 least developed countries (LDCs), including some in the Caribbean, in achieving the UN's sustainable development goals is a lack of money. However,  prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, most first world countries spent forty- three (43) times more on funding for the education system at the primary school level, than the average third world countries.

Funding Education in Times of Crisis 

For the past two years, the entire world has been gripped by this Covid-19 pandemic, which has forced us to live in an unprecedented time. Regardless of our nationality, race, or social background we have all been impacted by this pandemic in one way are another. However, the most vulnerable were hit the hardest, and the education system was no exception. Covid-19 has caused the education systems at all levels to close their face doors and move to the online platform. The transition to online schooling was difficult for all the parties involved but students from low-income homes face more challenges than those from a better financial background. Schleicher (2020) stated that education is no different. Students from wealthy homes are encouraged by their parents to make their way beyond closed school doors to the alternative learning platforms while students from poor backgrounds were frequently shut out when their schools are closed. Therefore most students have had to rely more on their own resources to continue learning remotely via the internet, television, or radio. As teachers, we were also required to adapt to new pedagogical concepts and ways of instruction that most of us had not been educated on. Although, the governments and the ministry of educations of our country and the rest of the world worked hard to provide learning continuity during this crisis. 

Consequently, finding funds to finance education during this time of crisis has been challenging for many countries. UNESCO (2020) stated that “As of 25 March 2020, 184 countries have shut down schools nationwide, affecting more than 1.5 billion learners”.  Due to the closure of schools at all levels of the education system governments had to implement new policies in order to address the education crisis caused by this Covid-19 pandemic. Schleicher (2020) stated that most countries education systems have been increasingly relying on international policy experiences, data, and studies to help them build policy solutions for their own country. However, the amount of funds that a country might have to put into their education system will varies depending on several factor that maybe intensified dew to this pandemic (Al-Samarrai et al., 2020, p. 09). The World Banks (2020) argues the the remittances of  low and lower-middle income countries are predicted to fall by 20% in 2020, amounting to around US$142 billion. One area that may be impacted is government taxes which can significantly impact or limit future levels of public spending, especially on the education systems. ‘This is probably what will have the greatest effect on the education sector in financial terms,’ according to (Ledoux and Segniagbeto ., as cited in UNESCO, 2020).