It goes without saying, even by those who do not have any admiration for the American culture or heritage, that United States is a powerful country not only militarily but even technologically, scientifically and economically. United States is home to world's most renowned universities and scientific institutions. The patents obtained by Americans far outnumber the ones obtained by any other nationality. The number of the American Nobel laureates is the largest compared to any other nationality. Internationally recognized research centers, say MIT, Johns Hopkins, Harvard Business School and Mayo clinic, are those scattered in Boston, California and Maryland which every researcher in the world is willing to join. The students' options in both the public and the higher education are diversely fabulous. One's possibilities of pursuing his or her education are, simply, endless. Through numerous universities, schools, colleges and institutes, students are given the chance to join one of these graduate or undergraduate schools that suit their interests. The general educational atmosphere in United States is intensely competitive. It just allows only the gifted students to get a scholarship in order to pursue their higher studies free of charge. Others not-so-gifted students work part-time so as to make two ends meet. In order to support themselves, they need to work tirelessly in a company at a specific time of the day and pursue their academic studies at another time. Once granted a scholarship, the student has no choice but to excel in his or her studies. Otherwise, he or she may be excluded from the high competitive job opportunities that require, beside personal and leadership skills, highly academic qualifications from notable universities. Unlike other educational systems in the world, the American educational system is locally determined. The federal government does not have any control over, for example, how teachers are recruited, what textbooks to be taught and how well the school day is run. Even local authorities do not have that upper hand on the educational system. Each of the 50 states has its own Education Department that is responsible for outlining general guidelines. According to these guidelines, schools are set free to define educational goals in line with these guidelines and in conformity with the aspirations of the school community. Such a diverse and dynamic system is, in my opinion, expected to produce sound results. It allows schools to compete so as to attain higher levels of achievements which, thereafter, would be noticed by public. Once noticed, great funds would pour into the school and would be a great motivation for the school staff. However, there is the question of equality. If two average American students get mediocre marks in their high school exams, and if one of them is from an affluent family, and the other from an impoverished one, then the rich student is guaranteed access to a university. I raised the question of equality to a group of teachers who vigorously defend such inequality by saying that if all university doors are wide open for all students, “nothing intelligent would come out from our schools and universities.” There are several “inherent” problems concerning education in the United States. The standard level of American school students, compared to that of their Korean or Japanese peers, is declining. In an article published two years again, Patrick Welsh, of the USA Today, lamented the students' declining “self-discipline” and the lack of effort exerted by Americans in pursuing their studies. He rightly pointed out that neither funding nor school buildings are solely blamed for such deterioration. Despite the scandalous revelations weeks ago concerning the list of fake certificates obtained by numerous overseas students, United States is still an attractive place for many foreign students who are stunned by the versatile and dynamic nature of American universities and research centers. Their tenacity to get admitted there is always justified: the best universities, the best labs and the best teaching staff, just to name a few. The lessons that we can draw from the American model of education are numerous. Our educational system, both public and higher, is highly centralized. It is largely funded from the government annual budget. So if you want to spend money on an ambitious development project, you need to go through numerous stifling bureaucratic channels. If, on the other hand, a school headmaster or a college dean decides to hire or fire a particular person, he or she cannot do that because employment is hierarchically determined. This has been a hint at one of the most advanced and attractive education systems in the world. Regardless of the fact that it has got many defects, the high quality of education in American schools and universities is expected to remain unchallenged, at least in the foreseeable future. Mail to: [email protected], [email protected] __
