Social and Cultural Context of Education

Running head: SOCIAL AND CULTURAL CONTEXT OF EDUCATION
SOCIAL AND CULTURAL CONTEXT OF EDUCATION
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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SOCIAL AND CULTURAL CONTEXT OF EDUCATION
Introduction
Social change is the alteration in the society and among its people and the cultures
followed by them over time. Social change occurs when the existing scenario becomes
unsuccessful in meeting the needs and demands of the people of the society and the
individuals craves for a change to develop themselves. Education is immensely influenced by
social change and many areas of the society contribute to this change. Education remains a
major issue in many areas due to societal and cultural beliefs (Ololubei, Uriahii & Agboriii,
2013). The beliefs and traditions followed by the society can lead to education being a far-
fetched notion for many people. Additionally, economic problems in families have led to the
children to search for jobs instead of pursuing further education to bring income into the
family. Gender has also been an issue in many sections of the society where female children
are not allowed to educate themselves and their area is only limited till the management of
the house (Cole, 2017). This report will elucidate on the social change challenges that are
faced in the field of education and how gender, socio-economic status and cultural diversity
are key social factor that influence education to a great extent.
Impact of gender on Education
Gender inequality has always been an issue in the society especially in the field of
education. There are many areas which still restricts the education of female students and
they are forced to drop out of schools at a very early age (Grow & Van Bavel, 2015).
Families prefer to educate their boys rather than the girls. Many girls are married off at a very
young age as they think of them as a liability to their family. The failure to educate girls can
create a huge impact on their families and also on the society (Jayachandran, 2015). There are
many studies that derive that increase in the number of educated females can have a positive
impact on the economic growth of the country. Educating girls in more important in middle

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SOCIAL AND CULTURAL CONTEXT OF EDUCATION
income countries and places which do not invest in female education have a slower economic
growth and low income. Educated women can earn more for their family by working in
formal working areas rather than doing home-based work which will generate a meagre
amount of money. Educated females can help in reducing infant mortality, and also help in
promoting the education of their children (Kleven, Landais, & Søgaard, 2018). Thus,
education females leads to a higher social status, gives them more freedom and having a
better place in their house and their lives (DiPrete & Buchmann, 2013). Hence, it is of utmost
importance that countries work hard towards promoting the education for girls to avoid the
negative impact on social and economic development.
There are various programs and initiatives that have been addressed the issue of
gender biasness in education and have worked to resolve the issue. The World Bank have
made many efforts in promoting gender equality and education for girls. They have adopted
many programs which strives forward to educating girls and empower them. Their projects
and programs have received many results. From the Secondary Education Quality and Access
Enhancement Project in Bangladesh about 1.24 million girls have been benefitted. In the
Kaduna state in Nigeria, the rate for completing junior secondary schools raised from the 7
percent in 2007 to being 34 percent in 2011 based on the State Education Sector Project.
Other programs like the Secondary Education Improvement Project and the Punjab Education
Sector Projects helped in girl’s education for Ghana and Pakistan respectively (World Bank,
2018). There have been many more initiatives that have been taken by The World Bank
which have derived good results. The World Bank Group is also a member of the United
Nations and partners in the success of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, in
which the Goal 5 states that gender equality should be predominant and all women and girls
should be empowered. It says that there are still existing discriminations against the education
of girls in spite of many actions been taken for the equal education for girls. This goal is set

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to provide equal access to all women in the areas of education, healthcare, employment and
to represent in the decision of political and economic scenarios (United Nations Sustainable
Development, 2018).
The key implications of this issue could be that due to the initiatives that have been
taken by many organizations to enable equal rights to all women and girls in terms of
education. There have been many changes based on those initiatives in the percentage of girls
that have receiving education earlier. It further shows that there might be more increase in the
number of such females and there could be very large number of educated females in future
times with a minimal number of uneducated ones. The issue could look to a bright future
where every single people in the country would be educated, independent and employed.
It can be recommended from the above study that primary and secondary education
for females be made mandatory in all nations and strict laws should be kept in place to ensure
that every household is sending their girl child to school. In remote areas, schools should be
set up for both genders and female teachers be appointed in case parents do not find it
comfortable for their children to be taught by a male teacher. Additionally, the quality of
education should also be good so that the students could get good knowledge and finally be
independent about their own decisions. The girls should be taught so that they could be
financially and mentally independent.
Impact of socio-economic status on education
Socio-economic status is an individual’s social position to which both the social and
economic aspect contributes (Bornstein & Bradley, 2014). The socio-economic status is
derived from the achievements of an individual in the areas of education, occupation and
income. There have been various researches which exhibit the relation between socio-
economic status and education. It has been seen that children who come from low socio-