| | |  Editorials | Opinions 
Education Decline - Part 3
 Guillermo Ramón Adames Suari - PVNN
March 09, 2010
 |  | Local Governments in Mexico are more concerned with elections and arrangements between political parties and not to lose power, than the development of the country itself. |  | | |
My second article on education decline was published in BanderasNews on December 08, 2009. (See: Education Decline and the Economy: The Future of the Car Industry) Some people have been kind to express a concern with education decline in is various forms and modalities. This article will not be any more encouraging. Even worse, it will not share any hopes.
Previous articles dealt mostly with education in Asia which is really "today's" example of performance: WHAT is being required today from Asian students' altogether? Take China: Consider an honors' student who has had the chance to be accepted in a prestigious bilingual Chinese university (do not forget that China has a population beyond 3 billion and cannot enroll all its honors students). Well, he or she is expected to work an average from 60 to 70 hours a week. This is at the undergraduate level. If he or she does not work at that pace… there are various "millions" of honors students ready to replace him and more than willing to do so. Holidays become a luxury: One or two weeks per year is considered outstanding. Students are expected to learn besides the basic taught material, endurance, resistance and produce outstanding work. Students must pass tests and quizzes almost every week. This has hardly anything to do with examinations proper: It is a new way of training with which they are pushed to become fast and accurate in their responses in the minimum amount of time. In other words they learn efficiency in a way that we don't know in this part of the world.
Two new dimensions have also been added to studying in China: 1) Students are required (as of high school) to demonstrate an independent and creative thinking. 2) Performing is based in pure competition amongst students: Each of them has to outperform their peers (known before only among Ph.D. students as the "rat race" it has reached high school level now). WHY? There are not many posts available at the end of college training for these entire honor (I repeat HONOR) students. Final selection of professionals will be among the very best (please note: not among the best, but among the very best of honors' students).
What will happen with those Chinese that have not been able to get a job in Asia/China? Just think: Honors' students in China and India are about 3 times the total amount of students in the US and Mexico altogether: Counting all students from kindergarten to Ph.D. programs. This means that for any engineer or scientist (currently employed in the US and Mexico) there are 3 to 5 Asian honors' engineers or scientists that could replace each of them. They are just as qualified if not more. But do not forget that this only counts the Asian population. What of the brain drain from Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Russia and Africa? This will raise the bar to some 8 to 10 top top scientists to replace each and every engineer with a job in the US and Mexico today. Add up the current computer power and software available for engineers and scientists (technology which at least doubles every year) and the amount of effective work could be doubled by each engineer. This means that a year of today, for each scientist or engineer on post in the US and Mexico, he or she could be replaced by 15 top top top world scientists. This intellectual elite will show the path and the pace. And they will keep it that way in order not to lose their privileges. Amongst those privileges, their leading jobs based simply on performance and results which is what every capitalistic enterprise looks for.
Where does that leave Mexico? An even worse scenario should be considered: - There are two aspects. First: Mexico is extremely open to foreign investment. This means that foreign investors will be able to appoint whichever technician (or staff altogether) they consider suitable for the operation of business in Mexico. Second: With all the "top scientists left" described in the previous paragraphs, there does not seem to be much space available to offer jobs to less qualified students. If Mexican engineers and scientists are lucky, they might be considered for an assistant's job. Top Mexican scientists have already emigrated elsewhere in the planet.
What happened in Mexico? In the 60's, if a student came out of a Mexican University with a good grade average, he could apply to be accepted into an American or European university. (Note the "he" part: Mexican girls would have a lot trouble leaving "their family" those days). The student would go and complete a training abroad. Two things could happen, First: He could be offered a job in the US (or Europe) and "develop" professionally. Mexico had paid for his training and the US or Europe would profit out of it. Second: He would come back to Mexico and eventually do something for the country. From the 70's onwards there were a number of people to try that path but it got completely saturated. Besides, American Universities "are not what they were" technologically wise. Research is no longer carried out as it used to be in the 60's/70's. Today the US manufactures very little. Hundreds of factories have been literally dismantled and moved to other countries with cheaper labor: research is done there. Most technical aspects are developed in Asia, more so in India than in China.
Far too many people hold degrees of prestigious universities. Far too many for the available posts in industry today. Add the concept of recruiting from globalization and students from "common" universities will be considered to be at the bottom of the list.
What can be done? The advantage that Mexico has among others is the helpfulness of their people and Mexicans can furnish excellent service. We probably should explore these lines. Despite what the government claims, I am afraid that it is a bit late to build a technological platform. There is no real government's will ($) to develop technology, basically as in the beginning this technological component will not produce very much and it will cost a lot. Most government's universities have ridiculous budgets. Local Governments in Mexico are more concerned with elections and arrangements between political parties and not to lose power, than the development of the country itself. It is not that I take a defeating attitude. It is that I do not see how to start building any type of platform, whichever, when you do not have funds whatsoever. Or: does the reader have an alternative suggestion?
Guillermo Ramón Adames y Suari is a former electoral officer of the United Nations Organization. Contact him at gui.voting(at)gmail.com |
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