Education and Social Policy
A Point of View

Benno Sander
Director of Education and Social Development
Organization of American States

Address on social policy and the role of education in the context of globalization,
Washington, DC, Organization of American States (OAS), June 2000.

With the advent of the new millennium, the issues of globalization, knowledge society, and sustainable human development top the international political and academic agenda.  Juxtaposed with these concepts are acute social problems such as poverty, discrimination, inequality, and unemployment. It is therefore worthwhile to examine these problems in their context in Latin America and the Caribbean and discuss possible strategies for addressing them. The following reflections emanate from these concerns.

Increasingly unequal distribution of the fruits of the current phase of globalization stands out among the myriad social problems that have characterized the transition to the twenty-first century. Inequity is evident between rich and poor countries, as well as within countries, regardless of whether they are rich or poor. In both cases the economic, social, and cultural gap separating communities and people is widening. The situation is particularly critical in Latin America where indicators of income concentration and social inequality are higher than in any other region in the world.

The first challenge to overcoming these problems is the ability to craft relevant and sustainable public policies with input by various government agencies and the private sector. The concept of a public policy that revolves around common social objectives, therefore, requires forging interinstitutional alliances and broadening opportunities for participation by civil society organizations. This is the only way to lay the foundations for a society built on a new ethic of human coexistence guided by the principles of freedom and equity. In this context, poverty reduction becomes a political and ethical commitment to be assumed by society as a whole. In the framework of this commitment, a relevant and sustainable social policy must assign priority to sectors heretofore excluded and discriminated against in our communities.

Education and work are the two linchpins of a relevant, sustainable social policy committed to achieving freedom and equity in the advancement of society. Education is directly linked to the civic and political development of citizens, promotion of a sustainable future, and human development rooted in individual freedom and social equity. Education, therefore, must be accorded the highest priority in any social policy; the highest priority in the allocation of public spending; and the highest priority on the agendas of civil society organizations, particularly the family, the church, and the myriad of social movements in our communities. We must focus on extending primary school coverage to the preschool and middle school levels and, at the same time, work to improve educational quality at all levels. Besides ensuring the acquisition of core academic content, it is essential to promote the development of skills and abilities associated with learning how to learn. This is the catchphrase for lifelong education, which has become indispensable in today´s world of increasingly rapid and unpredictable change.

The second half of the twentieth century  was a time of important pedagogical advances.   Research on education in Latin America and the Caribbean indicates school coverage and quality improved substantially at all levels and in all areas of education.  Nonetheless, serious cumulative educational deficiencies persist despite years of reform and progress. According to literature in the field, teaching and learning systems and organizational and administrative models often have failed to keep pace with modern scientific developments and technological innovations. Statistics further show that in many cases the financial resources allocated for public education are insufficient to address the educational needs and problems of the population. In other instances, available resources are distributed inappropriately or inefficiently managed.  In the worst-case scenarios, educational resources are simultaneously scarce, poorly distributed, and managed inefficiently. Political will is lacking and there are breakdowns in targeting and management. Lastly, research has shown that although teachers may teach, students frequently fail to learn, because schools do not create an environment conducive to effective learning. The school must replace the traditional teaching-centered model with an educational paradigm that stresses learning over teaching, doing over listening, research over memorization, and construction over transmission.
 
Abundant empirical evidence suggests that teachers – and the teaching methods they adopt – are the keys to explaining levels of academic performance. Raising the qualifications of the teaching profession must be a priority if we wish to address today’s educational problems. Latin America faces an enormous challenge in this regard.  For example, 40% of its teachers lack the academic background required to teach. Available data on the qualifications of university faculty reveal that only one in five professors holds a doctoral degree. In both cases, the lack of professional qualifications among teaching staff is accompanied by low salaries and few professional incentives compared to those offered in other fields. My hypothesis is that there is a direct correlation between the lack of motivation and qualification evident among teachers and the dearth of professional incentives.

The first strategy for addressing such shortcomings in the teaching profession is to improve both the initial and continuing education of educators. The second is to improve their working conditions. These strategies are complementary.  We need better schools in order to offer a better education and cultural development. If we want better schools, we need better educators; and, if we want better educators, we must provide better working conditions and professional incentives. Improving teacher qualifications and working conditions is one of the many educational and social challenges faced by governments, the private sector and society as a whole. Underscoring these challenges in today’s world are the speed and intensity of economic and technological transformations taking place nationally and internationally. In the context of globalization, a new political and intellectual effervescence in the educational sphere can be observed throughout the hemisphere.

But education is only the first central feature of a relevant and sustainable social policy.  It is followed by job creation. While the social effects of education are observed only in the long term, job creation has an immediate impact: employment provides the material conditions necessary for the survival of the worker and his or her family in the here and now. In Latin America and the Caribbean, the employment problem is of paramount importance in the short term. In recent years, moreover, the problem has become increasingly acute due to a relative decrease in growth rates in Latin American economies and the attendant rise in unemployment rates in urban and rural areas.

Therefore, job creation must become a priority of the economic policymaking process in our countries and of the social dialogue between the government, business community, and workers. Clearly there are no easy answers to this problem. In the search for possible solutions, it is essential to establish a macroeconomic environment conducive to sustainable development by creating incentives for productive investment and by supporting companies that create jobs, particularly medium, small, and micro enterprises.  To complement job creation initiatives, special attention must be paid to vocational training and youth development. This, in turn, requires close collaboration between youth leadership training centers and the productive sector, and between both of these and the school system.

The issue of labor flexibility is also prominent on the international agenda and in social dialogue about labor policy in the Americas. Even as collective bargaining increasingly tends toward greater flexibility in the contracting of goods and services, there is growing public awareness of the need for more uniformity and security in social service systems.  The objective is to maintain the quality of work, provide for appropriate training and continuing education and, most importantly, to protect the human rights of workers in terms of social benefits, education, health services, justice, and public safety.

An analysis of the relationship between the world of education and the working world reveals that an ongoing problem in the educational system is the perception that schools have failed to respond adequately to the ever-changing situation of the labor market. The existing gap between the knowledge acquired in schools and the skills needed to function in the working world and society urgently demands comprehensive solutions that exceed the scope of traditional teaching programs. This fact, coupled with the consequences of economic globalization and accelerated technological changes, has important implications for public policy in the areas of education, employment, and sustainable social development.

To achieve a satisfactory transition between the world of education and the working world, the school system must provide an environment and opportunities that prepare youth to become active members of society. In other words, the school must adopt a pedagogical approach that fosters a solid academic foundation supplemented by a general preparation for the working world. Once again, this pedagogical approach must emphasize learning over teaching, research over memorization, and construction over transmission.

Recent decisions in the international arena suggest that education and work should be regarded as the master keys to a social policy committed to the promotion of human freedom and defense of the common interests of people and their communities. The fact is that education and work, essential components of a genuine citizen-centered society, are included in the gamut of economic, social and cultural rights universally adopted by our countries through the United Nations and the Organization of American States.

In light of these ideas, I am hopeful about proposals to create a citizen school, be it public or private. I am hopeful about thinkers who have conceived the idea of a pedagogy of citizenship, premised on the efforts of teachers, students, parents, and local community representatives working together to promote their common educational and social interests. I am hopeful about educational experiences that emphasize learning over teaching, creation over memorization, living together over merely living and, above all, learning how to learn as a means of cementing citizen participation for a lifetime.

In the same vein, I am hopeful about the development of new approaches to employment and occupation, since we are living in a time of evolving new models of social organization and coexistence. I am hopeful about the thinkers of a citizen-centered employment paradigm based on the analysis of the results of social dialogue and collective bargaining. As we undertake this task, and keeping in mind past experiences and current circumstances, we must provide a more extensive and secure system to protect workers’ rights. I am hopeful about the development of more flexible working practices, accompanied by guaranteed social benefits, enabling us to respond to our personal aspirations and to promote the common interests of our local communities and society as a whole.

Education, work and citizenship largely define our path through life, a life whose essence is characterized by evolution, change, and transformation. “Life is a gerund, not a participle,” as Ortega y Gasset teaches us. This approach suggests conjugating the verbs to educate, to work, and to practice citizenship as gerunds. In this way, we will be educating,  working, and acting together in real time, to face the economic, social, and cultural challenges of our world and our communities.

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