It’s the education, stupid!

For a good system, education is crucial. Having the ability to have and develop new thoughts is a key premise.

Everyone must have the equal possibility to get a good education. How do we achieve that?

I wrote already a newsletter, why education is important for democracy. Partly I rely on the thesis I developed then, and I will focus on the school system. Not preschool and not university.

Schools build equality

Why talk about education? Is there even a problem?

There is very good education available, but not for everyone. That’s the problem. It is pure luck if you are born in a country with a proper educational system. And even if you are, it depends if your parents can afford the best education.

A bad, unequal education system segregates the peer groups already at a young age. This is something we can observe in most Western civilizations.

Public available education is underfunded for several reasons. Partly because of a growing older population, which doesn’t have the will to fund education, because they don’t see any advantage for them personally. On the other hand, are the populist far right parties not interested in well-educated people, because they could recognize that their politics are bad.

That’s my based opinion.

The biggest lack in funding is in schools with children, who need the most help. These schools need the most money, but get less, because they are not supported by rich parents.

In these schools, the majority of pupils are from households with migration background and lower education, which often equals poor. Everyone who can afford it moves to another district or sends their children to a school elsewhere.

Even more rich people send their children into private schools or boarding schools in Switzerland.

In one city, the quality of education can differ so much from school to school. This segregation causes a divided society.

Of course, it is possible for children in a poor neighborhood to be successful and become rich, but it is very rare. The path is mostly manifested.

And this is one city. Maybe there are social and work policies which can compensate for the segregation a bit. But for people in poor countries, there typically isn’t any public safety net. Children may even have no possibility to go to school, because they have to work to help their family survive.

If you have the luck of living in a rich country and can get to a public school for free, there are still problems.

The curriculum may be out of date, there are not enough teachers, the school building is falling apart, or there is no or not enough technical equipment. Or the teachers don’t know how to use it.

You see, the issues are manifold. How can we solve them.

Money, money, money

In the short term, the answer is simple. More money.

As simple as this answer is, as hard it is to implement. There are always groups who lobby against that.

The facts that a better education equals better economy, more safety and more money aren’t satisfying for these people. There must be a benefit for them personally, or they won’t buy it.

The answer is racism and xenophobia.

Picture them that a little bit of money, much less than building a wall or an expensive border control, keeps the foreigners out.

Fewer immigrants, less money needed to integrate non-native speaking children into the educational system.

Yes, that harms the economic system and culture, but they don’t care. And in our existing system, all the people want are island solutions, otherwise you have to question the whole system, they profit off.

My other suggestions for a better, more equal school system are even harder to realize in our systems.

In my opinion, there shouldn’t be any private schools and I also think you don’t get to choose in which school your children go to.

These are important measures to more equality and less segregation.

Of course, this means in a step before all schools must be equally good. And because everything interferes with everything, how and where people live must be considered.

At first sight this seems to be less freedom, but on long sight it gives more freedom to everybody. A good education gives everyone the possibility to follow their dreams. More good educated people means a better democratic system, more safety, a better economic system.

Choice is not always freedom.

School is social

That’s why it needs to be a necessity for every child at any certain age to go to school. Even if it is possible with the proper technology (see the next point) to homeschool, children need to be in school regularly.

School is not only a place for education but also for socializing and finding friends. Things in which many schools have to become better.

Technology is also a key part of a better educational system. By using it wisely, you can give children anywhere access to the best education. Also, we can possibly save resources.

Yes, every child needs a device, but maybe we require fewer teachers for an at least equal quality.

Schools could look differently, and we also need more of them, so no kid has to drive for hours to his school. This is also part of overthinking how and where we live.

A good school system

That’s what I would do in the existing system. But in our good system, things would look different.

As I already mentioned, education is only one part of it and is influenced by other parts of the system.

Where and how people live, how we build cities, the financial system, everything is interconnected. I will write about every topic. Right now, we focus on education, specially about the school system. Maybe some things will be blurry because of this.

In the good system, parents will not have to worry about where their kids go to school or where they start their education.

At the age of about three years, children will go to school/kindergarten. There’s no separation between school and Kindergarten. Children make the transition smoothly.

There are enough teachers. For every child is best taken care of. Their strengths are enforced, the weaknesses are minimized.

The nearest school is only a five-minute walk away. There are children from different socio-economic, and cultural groups. Even if some have another mother tongue, everyone speaks the same language.

There’s no fix schedule. Children are more free to learn in their own pace. They can come to school between 6 and 10 and stay as long as needed. The older ones work mostly self organized. If they need help, there’s always support. They build working groups with others, they have social time and sport together. Art is a big part in school.

The education system serves the individuals and the society.

The children learn how to get information themselves, to think critical, and to be a part of community.

And all this is free.

All over the world. It’s not luck which decides if you are successful or not, it’s in your own hands.

It’s difficult but crucial

It’s a difficult task to change the education system because of the many shareholders, but it is the most important step for a good system. Because well-educated people are more willing to change things and are progressive and forward-thinking people, generally spoken.

A good educated society can transform. Since there are so many parts that need an overhaul, it’s essential that the educational system is one to start with. We need to change several things at a time, but schools are priority one.

Let me know what you think about this. What did I overlook? Where am I wrong? Write a comment, but always remember to keep the dignity.

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Ian DeBay

My name is Ian DeBay.

I am the founder of iandebay.com. I am a content creator, blogger, podcast, YouTuber. This is my blog where I talk about system change, sustainability and other fun stuff.