3.1 Curriculum content and economic growth
3.2 Vocational education
3.3 Examination reform
A very interesting study by Benavot (1992) seeks to determine whether, and to what extent, national variations in curricular content and structure significantly affect economic development. The research was based on the formally prescribed primary curriculum in over 60 nations, including 43 less-developed countries. According to Benavot,
Cross-national studies show that mass educational expansion has a significant positive effect on economic growth, mainly at the primary level, but also at the secondary level. Qualitative features of national school systems such as the provision of textbooks, per-pupil expenditure, and the extent of teacher training also have modest economic effects, especially in the developing world. (p 1 50)
The question is whether variations in national curricular policies, independent of student achievement levels, have significant, aggregate-level impacts on macroeconomic change.
Despite shaky empirical support, it is received wisdom that national variations in the composition of official and implemented curricula, by their influence on student achievement levels, have important long-term effects on the quality and productivity of the labour force and, consequently, on a nation's competitive position in the world economy. (Benavot, 1992, p 153)
Benavot points out that
nations around the world, especially in the Third World, have allocated substantial - and, in most cases, increasing - amounts of instructional time to mathematics and science, the two subject areas thought to have the greatest relevance to economic and technological development. (p 157)
Benavot found firstly that if less developed countries only are considered, the overall hours of instruction had a positive but non-significant relationship with economic growth. However, among nations with high primary enrollment rates, the relationship was positive and significant.
Secondly, Benavot considered the possible effects of instruction in each of eight subject areas. The findings were (for less developed countries) that science education has a significant positive relationship with economic growth. Prevocational (or practical) education has a negative relationship, which is significant only for poorer less developed countries.
There is no evidence that instructional hours allocated to either elementary mathematics or language significantly contribute to long term economic growth. In fact the direction of the regression coefficient associated with mathematics education is actually negative. However,
those Third World countries allocating more hours to aesthetic education experienced, other things being equal, stronger growth rates; those that allocated more time to physical education experienced slower growth rates. (pp 167-168)
Benavot's main conclusion, therefore, was that
Countries requiring more hours of elementary science education, other things being equal, experienced more rapid increases in their standards of living during the 1960-85 period. It was not established if the emphasis on science education at the primary level is the key causal factor, or if the explicit (rather than implicit) content of the subject area is the key mechanism linking the curriculum to the economy. (p 173)
Benavot explains that the measure (instructional hours in elementary science) may be a proxy for some related attribute of nations.
The economic effect of science education may have more to do with "hidden" cultural rules, orientations and worldviews being transmitted than the specific scientific content being taught. (p 173)
Other conclusions from this research may be just as important in their policy implications.
Instructional time for maths and language education, at least at the primary level, appears unrelated to long-term economic growth. Equally interesting.... is the potential importance of aesthetic education (i.e. art, music, dance, drawing) as it relates to the economic growth of certain less developed nations. (p 173)
Of course it will be argued that economic growth is not the only, or even a main, aim of curriculum planning. Other aspects of educational quality, for example effectiveness and relevance, are important (see Hawes & Stephens, 1990). It needs to be stressed also that only the primary curriculum was considered in the research. The findings may be thought to be counter-intuitive, and it is to be reiterated that correlation does not imply caussality.
The particular dilemma of vocational education (at all levels) is considered in some detail by Psacharopoulos (1987, p201):
On the one hand, there is on the face of it a valid, and irresistibly logical, argument that the school system in developing countries should be vocationalized in order to increase its relevance to the needs of a modernizing economy. On the other hand, nearly every valuation of the performance of vocational education to meet such needs, whether in developing or industrialized countries, has been negative.
Basing his arguments on cost-benefit analysis, Psacharopoulos makes two major points. Firstly, the provision of skills does not have to be school-based, and even if it is school-based, it does not have to take place in the mainstream educational system. Secondly, students are often forced to follow a vocational track although they would prefer an academic one. The vocational school fails because of the inherent contradiction between student preferences and the type of schooling offered.
A strong case for out-of-formal school or employment-based training is made by Psacharopoulos. In essence, the advantages are improved student motivation, training more relevant to specific needs, the burden of financing falling more on the shoulders of the beneficiaries, and lower opportunity costs because the trainee usually works part-time while studying.
One example of research in which vocational schooling was found to be more cost-effective than general academic education comes from Israel (Neuman & Ziderman, 1989). However, there is still support for Psacharopoulos' conclusions since Neuman & Ziderman also found vocational schooling to be less cost-effective than alternative non-formal training modes, notably the traditional apprenticeship and factory-based vocational schools.
More evidence on diversified secondary education is given by Psacharopoulos & Loxley (1985), based on research in Colombia and Tanzania. They found a number of positive results of diversification, including higher cognitive achievement and better labour market performance of students following diversified curricula. However, curriculum diversification is expensive and difficult to implement.
This study has failed to provide evidence that the measurable monetary benefits of diversification are greater than those of conventional education.
They suggest that
the lower the overall level of a country's development, the weaker the case for introducing a diversified curriculum. The more developed the country, the more it may be able to afford diversification. (ibid)
Haddad et al (1990) also distinguish different needs in different countries. For most countries they argue that, although there is economic justification for investment in vocational education, such investment should be selective, and focus much more on in-firm and firm-connected or industry-connected programs. However in the case of low-income countries (with weak enterprises and stagnant demand for skills) a different training strategy is required:
Pre-employment training is more important, since enterprises themselves have little training capacity, and this training should be more generic, focusing on general academic preparation..... and on self-employment and entrepreneurship. (Haddad et al, 1990, p49)Although this sounds logical, it may not be easy to develop the skills and opportunities needed for self-employment to become a reality for large numbers of school leavers.
Turning to assessment, it is clear that examinations and other forms of assessment can have a significant impact on the quality of education. According to Heyneman (1987), "selection examinations play an important role in a nation's economic development". He argues that countries should use examinations to improve classroom pedagogy, and that
Despite differences in size and financial resources, school systems in developing countries, without exception, require a professional capacity in the field of standardized testing and examinations. (p 257)
Kellaghan & Greaney (1992) studied examination systems in 14 Anglophone and Francophone African countries, and conclude that
Considerable reliance has been placed on public examinations in African education as a means of ensuring that teachers and students cover a common curriculum, and accordingly as a particularly effective instrument for raising academic standards.
However, they also point out that examinations may give rise to problems if validity and/or reliability are low, if there is inadequate feedback, and if there are negative backwash effects. Again,
the high repetition rate attributable to 'failure' may represent a serious waste of scarce educational resources. (ibid)
The symptoms of the Diploma Disease (Dore, 1976; Oxenham, 1984), which include qualification escalation and educated unemployment as well as negative backwash, are well-known. Nevertheless, Heyneman & Ransom (1990, p 1 77) state that
Examinations can be a powerful, low-cost means of influencing the quality of what teachers teach and what students learn in school..... Examination agencies have an important role to play in increasing the effectiveness of schools.
They state three requirements for making examination backwash effects positive (a) improve the content of examinations (b) set up a good feedback mechanism to analyse and interpret student errors (c) make sure the examination body is financed and managed in such a way that it can do the first two well. Somerset (1988) discusses ways in which examinations can be used as an instrument to improve pedagogy. There are other assessment-related strategies in addition to examination reform which can be used to improve quality; these include revised selection policies and the use of continuous assessment systems (see Pennycuick, 1990 & 1991), although these must be used with caution. Another possibility is in-service training to improve the competence of inspectors and teachers in principles and techniques of student assessment. Lulsegged (1988) describes a successful example of this strategy in Swaziland.
As a result of their research, Kellaghan & Greaney (1992) offer the following recommendations:
1. Examinations should reflect the full curriculum, not merely a limited aspect of it.2. Higher-order cognitive skills should be assessed to ensure they are taught.
3. Skills to be tested should not be limited to academic areas but should also be relevant to out-of-school tasks.
4. A variety of examination formats should be used, including written, oral, aural, and practical.
5. In evaluating published examination results and national rankings, account should be taken of factors other than teaching effort.
6. The number of public examinations should be reduced to help diminish repetition and dropout rates and the inevitable sense of failure experienced by students.
7. The amount of time teachers spend on testing and preparing for public examinations should be lessened to provide more time for teaching.
8. Detailed, timely feedback should be provided to schools on levels of pupil performance and areas of difficulty in public examinations.
9. Predictive validity studies of public examinations should be conducted.
10. The professional competence of examination authorities needs to be developed, especially in test construction.
11. Each examination board should have a research capacity.
12. Examination authorities should work closely with curriculum organizations and with educational administrators.
13. Regional professional networks should be developed to initiate exchange programs and share common interests and concerns.
14. A post-graduate degree course should be established in an African country for examination authority personnel.
Again, it may be easier to reach general agreement about these recommendations than to achieve implementation of them.
