State, Education, and the Market
In: The Pakistan development review: PDR, Band 38, Heft 4II, S. 955-978
The tail of the tail-end of the 2nd millennium has taught the
humankind two valuable lessons: democracy and the market, although
imperfect, have succeeded where other systems have failed. What is clear
is that the most successful systems are aligned to humankind's
predispositions rather than being inimical to them. Insofar as it aligns
itself with the predisposition to greed, consistently regulated
capitalism terms out to be the most efficient economic system hitherto
observed in human society. Likewise, democracy works by aligning many
people's desire for power with a governance system which on balance is
helpful to the general population, unlike various forms of
totalitarianism. But recent movements for both capitalism and democracy
in many developing countries largely do not subscribe to humankind's
predispositions, rather they appear to be a part of the headlong global
trend towards these paradigms. The reason being that the most important
ingredient, common to both recipes, is lacking in many developing
countries: that is the popular pressure and mobilisation which is
sufficiently informed of its duties and rights. This ingredient is most
important as it forces out the authoritarian rule whether, totalitarian
or 'democratic', and makes democratic governance drive the market to the
maximum benefit of society. The central thesis of this work is that this
most important ingredient is the result of an effective and efficient
system of public institutions for free and compulsory universal primary
schooling which, if the resource constraint could be overcome, ought to
be supplemented by free and compulsory secondary schooling.