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I got thinking about education systems around the world, the way they are run and who gets to use them after something a friend said a little while ago and I thought: Does the human race have a right to learn? Or is education a privilage?
As a generalisation, LEDC's (less economically developed countries) have poorer quality education (if any at all!) than MEDC's (more economically developed countries). More than 1/2 of the worlds younger dependant population (under 15) have access to just a few basic years of education if anything at all, and less than 10% of children in LEDC's are secondary-school educated. Almost everyone in these LEDC's would consider education to be a privilage.
Compare that to MEDC's. Compare that to New Zealand. 99% of NZ children are high-school educated, and 100% of people have access to free secondary school education should they wish to take the oppertunity. In New Zealand, we consider our free education, to a secondary school level, an absolute right and anyone who tried to contradict that right would be shouted down without reserve.
So what is our education? A privilage or a right? It is my opinion that every human on this planet has the right to some decent degree of education, at least until junior secondary school and to a higher level if possible. However, education is also a privilage. Having the right to education is a privilage, being educated is a privilage. My reasons for thinking this, at first, did not go very deep; I simply adopted the POV of the rest of my country, my governent, and accepted that as true belief. However, at this point it was not quite knowledge - although it was true for me, and I believed it, it was not as justified as I believe is necessary.
My justification later came from my belief in human rights, human equality and equal oppertunity among the human race. Education for me personally is a right, but a privilage because it is a right. This is my knowledge. However, I also accept that this knowledge might change for other people, depending on their point of view and their situation and this entire topic and knowledge issue is something i would sincerly like to explore further.
