In more twisted news today the entire GOP had a mass heart attack today when they learned that their beloved IMF was responsible for socialism. Yes, that's right. PUBLIC EDUCATION, even for the poor.
Now, back to you @daryl_wright
Children are entitled to a free, quality basic education. Recognizing
this entitlement, world leaders made the achievement of universal primary
education by the year 2015 one of the Millennium Development Goals. In
2004, this goal appears to be out of reach for many poor countries. School
attendance, especially for girls, is far from universal, and many children
drop out of school before completing their primary education. Many children
who do attend school receive an inadequate education because of poorly
trained, underpaid teachers, overcrowded classrooms, and a lack of basic
teaching tools such
as textbooks, blackboards, and pens and paper.
The problem in many developing countries is that governments lack either
the financial resources or the political will to meet their citizens'
educational needs. In response, poor parents in some low income countries
have organized and paid for their children's education themselves. It
is true that school fees and other user payments are a heavy burden for
some parents to bear. But, given the alternative—children receiving
no education at all—such payments can represent a temporary, if
less than ideal, solution to the problem.
Economic Issue No. 33 examines this critical issue. Michael
Treadway prepared the text based on "User Payments for Basic Education
in Low-Income Countries" (IMF Working Paper 02/182, November 2002), by
Arye L. Hillman and Eva Jenkner, which is available free of charge at www.imf.org/pubs.
The working paper provides statistics on schooling trends, the theory
underlying the equity-efficiency problem, case studies, and a full bibliography. Public
Finance and Public Policy: Responsibilities and Limitations of Government (Cambridge,
U.K., and New York: Cambridge University Press, September 2003), a textbook
by Professor Hillman, provides a broader examination of education and
other public policy choices.
In an ideal world, primary education would be universal and publicly
financed, and all children would be able to attend school regardless
of their parents' ability or willingness to pay. The reason is simple:
when any child fails to acquire the basic skills needed to function as
a productive, responsible member of society, society as a whole—not
to mention the individual child—loses. The cost of educating children
is far outweighed by the cost of not educating them. Adults who
lack basic skills have greater difficulty finding well-paying jobs and
escaping poverty. Education for girls has particularly striking social
benefits: incomes are higher and maternal and infant mortality rates
are lower for educated women, who also have more personal freedom in
making choices.
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