Where Do You Prefer to Study? A reflective text about the education

There was a time when everyone wanted to go to the United States seeking for a better “quality of life” understood as: the opportunity to get job and being good paid, to access an educational system of one of the countries considered a world power, to be in a country where the health care system probably would be better…. “because they have money, they have the power”, in other words, people wanted to be part of that “American Dream”. According to James Truslow Adams (The Epic of America, 1931), that dream stated: "life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement, regardless of social class or circumstances of birth”. On the other hand, the United States itself proclaimed as well that "all men are created equal" and that they are "endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights" including "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” (United States Declaration of Independence, 1776). In other words, the American Dream was a promise of prosperity and success. Those ideas caught the people’s mind and they left their own country.

Unfortunately, after seeing the documentary “Waiting for Superman” (Davis Guggenheim, 2010) and witnessed, through the news, the situation that exists in United States, I must say that is not far from the reality of Colombia. Here, in Colombia the main problem is the low level of coverage, efficiency and quality in education. Public schools do not have the resources to provide a good education, access is limited, and teachers are not paid on time so that they cease their activities in teaching. In addition, low income children cannot study because their parents have no money, so, they must work on traffic lights. Is not it the same in the United States? There, children are "Separate but equal", main stream culture can access easier to public schools, the others are out, if you do not paid tuition there is no flexibility at all, you are out, statistics shows that they do not have a level of competence as expected; and both they and we hope the government gives priority to educational systems, among other things, and invest more money in it.

It will be necessary to think about the Colombian case, if the process of decentralization in education produces like in the United States: public rich schools and public poor schools; and how the activation of the rights through the lawsuits of tutela can be a solution to this dilemma. Anyway, time is running out and every time I see an education thought in the government interests, is towards privatization: education for the wealthy, as seen in others part of the world, not only in United States but in Chile.

The question is: what country to go now? Some time ago, I have seen that Spain is now the place to go, a friend of mine is there and she says that the same lived here, she is living there… in a strange land. My resolution is, instead of seeking refuge and opportunities elsewhere it is necessary help to build a better curriculum for own country, you do not have to be neither a politician nor a powerful person: nonviolent political action (revolutionary movement).

ACCESS TO PUBLIC SCHOOLS

For many years the United States’ educational system has been criticized due to its failures in public education. Where, many of the citizens are affected. WAITING FOR SUPERMAN by Davis Guggenheim (2009) is a documentary that shows the public school situation and the learning and teaching problems in this country; one of them perhaps the most important, is the access to education . This leads to believe that this problem is not far from us. We can see it around the world. For that reason, this text seeks to enable a critical reflection about it. I can argue that the government’s role is to watch over education for all people; in other they can have access to public schools.

Economic and political conditions always are one of major reasons to attend to public schools. Poor people do not have enough resources to pay for private education. So, the access to education cannot be seeing as a lottery play, in which only few are favored. For example, the children’s case in the film, who were not selected. This leads to ask “what will happen with this people? What people should do about it? This is an evidence that shows how the right to equality is violated and they do not do anything to change this situation.

As student, citizen and teacher, I can’t keep out of everything. I have the responsibility of changing that for better. First of all, I think that it is very important to take account that education is a formative process that gives the knowledge of the world developing skills and values. It also makes capable of interpreting. In the same way, the government has to promote politics solutions because education is a fundamental human right.

And, it is also important that all people defend this right, making march, promoting political changes, demanding more public schools and opportunities to get a job with a good salary. If government give them these possibilities the access to education will be better.

In conclusion, this is a harsh reality which is fraught with serious difficulties like “IGNORANCE” if people do not have chance to study, they will have any knowledge. There are many people who are deprived of education. Nowadays, it is difficult for them to have access to it, because of poverty, or for some people who wants to achieve their personal purpose. All people have the right to free education, regardless of their social class, ethnicity, background, etc.