Twelve years of our lives we are mandated by the United States Government to learn and be taught the foundations of life, where you may ask, in school. As individuals have we taken the proper steps to make our education properly productive and successful? Have we fully used the twelve free years in which our government allows us to get an appropriate education? Students in China are unfortunately unable to have the monetary and available success to gain an education in the extreme conditions of China. Yet with strong discipline and huge passion, students and faculty work there way up to give and receive a complete extensive education package.
“In traditional China, perhaps more than in any other old civilization, education was considered the primary, if not the sole, means by which the character of its citizens was molded… It formed the very foundation on which rested the entire political, social, economic, and cultural life of the Chinese people.”— Chang-Tu Hu Read more…
Many believe that free education is a relatively modern idea, instituted at the end of the 19th Century when secondary education was made compulsory. However, this is a misconception. In the middle ages grammar schools provided education for anyone who wanted it. They were funded by rich nobles who donated an extremely large sum of money for the school to be founded and continue to provide education to children for years. Although anyone who wanted to go was able to, this was not always practical. Only boys went to school and girls stayed at the home to be educated in cooking, washing etc by their mothers. As it was not compulsory, if a family was too poor to allow their boy to go to school and needed him to help them survive by working, he had to stay at home. This was the case for about 40% of families in England. Despite this, grammar schools reached only a tiny percentage of the population. It was widely believed among the gentry and upper classes (who funded and therefore controlled the schools) that education should not be extended to the poor since it would upset the social order and increase their expectations beyond acceptable levels.
During the reign of Elizabeth I the number of grammar schools expanded considerably. Protestantism emphasised the importance of education as a means to encourage ordinary people to read the Bible. The new religious enthusiasm of the country meant that people with the necessary means were encouraged to pay for the education of the proletariat. Read more…
