Education and Inequality: Manifest and Latent Functions

Surname 1
Assignment # 8
Name
Institution

Surname 2
According to Constanta and Luciana (5), education can be defined as a process of
acquiring knowledge, skills or habits. This can either be done through teaching or training.
Education is an important tool especially for students aspiring to get employed after their
academic period. Education has both manifest and latent functions. Manifest functions are the
ones which are intended and recognized. They include providing teaching to the students and
giving them academic or experience skills to get a job in the future. Education also acts as a tool
for improving on the social culture. This is whereby most students find it easy to socialize with
the society hence improving on their relationship status quo.
On the other hand, latent functions of education are the unintended and unrecognized
outcomes to procedures a student participates in during their education (Loretta 71). These
include getting a lifetime partner. Many people get their spouses in colleges and universities.
This is not one of the functions of schools but most people find themselves in these situations.
For the schools to ensure students get knowledge and skills necessary for their employment, they
provide them with the correct academic materials and employ qualified staffs from different field
of study.
Unequal quality of education is one of the most common problems experienced in
various universities and colleges (Loretta 72). Some of the major causes of these inequalities
include unequal school resources, uneven academic opportunities and different teachers in terms
of quality. With these aspects, schools are likely to reproduce a class of different people in
society hence creating social problems. Testing is a process of measuring how well the students
are using the learning materials and if they are meeting the stated goals and objectives. Testing
can bring inequality in schools if the tests are not set in a standard manner and are not
predetermined.