Time to use IT for achieving equality in education
By: Asefedu, Editor
Tags: Sustainable Development, Technology, Sdgs, Arc

Time to use IT for achieving equality in education

Since the old days, education has provided momentum for development on two levels; the societal level and the individual level. While nurturing outstanding individuals so that they can contribute to society, education has also played a main part in rearing a social ladder that enables those from underprivileged backgrounds to climb up. However, due to a growing economic gap, the faith in education’s role of providing class mobility is increasingly being considered a mere “mythology” these days.

Globally, it is being proven by multiple statistics that the economic disparity between countries or regions ultimately leads to the gap in educational achievement. For instance, as of 2014, over 70 per cent of the global out-of-school population in primary and secondary education were from sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia.[ii]

What about the domestic situation within states? The only difference with the educational inequality on a global scale is that the income gap of families instead of countries brings on difference in education. In fact, the notion that the privileged are prone to get better and higher level of education is being solidified as de facto idee recue in every country. In all countries with data, children from the richest 20 per cent of households achieved greater proficiency in reading at the end of their primary and lower secondary education than children from the poorest 20 per cent of households, and in most countries with data, urban children scored higher in reading than rural children.[iii]

Where did it go wrong? It differs by the wealth of each country. For developing countries, the shortage of skilled teachers and school facilities are to blame. The situation in sub-Saharan Africa directly shows this; sub-Saharan Africa, which, as above mentioned, is suffering from extremely high rate of out-of- school youths, has relatively low percentages of trained teachers in pre-primary, primary and secondary education (44 per cent, 74 per cent and 55 per cent respectively), while the majority of schools in the region do not have access to electricity or potable water.[iv] For developed countries, disadvantaged family backgrounds should be held liable. Even with skilled teachers and excellent facilities, children still need an opportunity to exercise what they have learned at school so that they can fully assimilate. In this aspect, parental backgrounds can have a huge impact on children’s accomplishment (see Pierre Bourdieu & Jean-Claude Passeron, Les héritiers: les étudiants et la culture (1964)). What is fortunate is that there is a common solution that can solve both problems at the same time; internet. Thus, I would like to take this opportunity to introduce the solution which South Korea has adopted. In South Korea, there is a special television and radio network only for the educational purpose called “EBS” (acronym for Korea Educational Broadcasting System). EBS strives to supplement school education and promote lifelong education for anyone who yearns to learn.

Fig. 1 EBS Logo

But what makes EBS distinguished from other countries’ educational television networks is its effective utilisation of internet; EBS provides internet lectures on all levels of education, from primary to high school. EBS provides not only one-way lectures, but also a platform for interactive learning. If students leave any questions on a Q&A bulletin board, lecturers answer them as soon as possible. Also, each and every affiliate service of EBS is specialised for its target group. For example, in case of EBS Primary, not only students but their parents can also consult with teachers.

Moreover, as EBS provides differentiated education, every student from low to high achievement can be the beneficiaries. But above all, EBSi, the service for high school students, is the most popular.

Figure 2 Ebooks provided by EBS

EBSi covers every single subject that students can learn in high school curriculum, including but not limited to Korean language, Korean history, mathematics, English, nine social sciences subjects, four sciences subjects, and nine second foreign language courses. Students have a wide range of selection as EBSi hires many skilled teachers from high schools or for-profit private academies. Indeed, a lot of students are taking advantage of EBSi. Especially for those who live in isolated regions, or for those who cannot afford private lectures, EBSi can be their saviours.

Figure 3 One of the English lectures provided by EBSi played on iPad

Some might say that the EBSi-model lacks universal applicability because it requires high speed internet. True, EBSi has been successful thanks to the wide-spread internet network of South Korea with the fastest internet speed in the world as of 2015[v] and the highest rate of internet use per inhabitant as of 2015.[vi] However, what should be taken into account is that EBSi launched its service no less than 15 years ago in 2004, when less than 70 per cent of Korean households possessed internet accessible electronic devices.[vii] To put it bluntly, the current situation in the poorest parts of the globe is not much different from the internet situation of South Korea in 2004. According to the data from 65 developing countries, the average percentage of schools with access to computers and internet for teaching purposes is above 60 per cent in both primary and secondary education.[viii] Of course, there is a huge difference between having a computer at home and at school, but still, I assume that it will be much easier and more efficient to install internet networks than training teachers and building new facilities.

Still, even if every household around the world has a computer, what is the point if lectures are provided at a high cost? In case of South Korea, the budget for EBS is comprised of money from various sources, but most of them are from the government.[ix] In fact, the easiest way to finance the necessary budget is to draw taxes; for example, there is a unique tax named “education tax” in South Korea. It was first introduced in 1958 in order to raise funds required for education, and the reason why it has not roused taxpayers’ antipathy until now is because it takes the form of indirect tax.[x] It is hard for people to realise that they are paying “education tax.” I think this can set a good precedent.

However, some countries can still find it hard to meet the demands of students as they have to hire teachers for various subjects. This is the part where higher education plays a role. In South Korea, all the students affiliated to College of Education shall have four credits or more of practice teaching in order to graduate.[xi] Four credits are equivalent to approximately four weeks of real teaching experience. For four weeks, these students, as preservice teachers, have opportunities to actually teach real students on the front lines. Then what if we let these students of College of Education film their lectures for mandated time and recognise their credits? If conventional Open Course Ware (OCW) classes are provided by professors, this can be referred to as students- made OCWs.

Of course, I cannot say that my solution is perfect. In fact, South Korea also suffers from educational inequality despite all these efforts. But I venture to say that without the help of information technology, the situation could have been much worse. Thus, it is my belief that with the help of internet, mankind can take a step forward in its long-running strenuous effort to achieve educational equality, both on international and interfamilial level.

“Knowledge is power. Information is liberating.”

Kofi Annan, the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations, said, “Knowledge is power. Information is liberating.” Education is the premise of progress, in every society, in every family.[xii] In the midst of the wave of neoliberalism, deteriorating educational equality might seem inevitable, but the 21st century is also the age of information technology. It is time to make the most out of modern civilisation to achieve equality in education.