Impact of Education and Training on Economic Growth.

Why Education Is Key to National Development

Understanding Taxes for Small Business Owners

Current Technology Trends in Africa

All parents desire that their child have a good education. Each of the citizens has to see their country's success. These two wants are not distinct. They are very intertwined. Education system is one of the most powerful factors determining the economic destiny of a nation. Investing in the education of citizens is the secret to faster growth, greater innovation and a faster escape from poverty. Others who fail to invest in education slip behind, stunted in productivity and potential.

The impact of learning on earning.

Relationship between education and economic advancement begins with individuals. Someone who can read, write and do simple mathematics is more productive than a person who cannot. That person is able to take instructions, maintain records and solve simple problems. The higher the level of education, the higher the productivity. An employee holding a secondary education qualification would be able to run machinery, organise stock and lead others. University graduates are capable of creating products, analysing markets and leading organizations.

For every year a person spends in school, they make more money. Research in several African nations conducted consistently over time revealed a ten-percent increase in wages with every additional year of schooling. An additional year in school might be the difference between poverty and stability for a minimum wage worker. For the economy overall, these individual gains come to add up to a considerable level of growth.

Economy Skills Beyond Basic Literacy

Once the basic literacy was enough. Most occupations can be done by a worker who can read directions and can write simple reports. This is no longer the case. That's not enough for today's economy. People require computer skills to work with computers and computer programs. They must have the critical thinking skills to assess and process information and to solve problems. They must have communication abilities to communicate with team members and customers. They should be flexible in acquiring new tools while technology evolves.

A nation that has the skills to train its workforce will have an edge. Confidence in the workforce is the reason that businesses invest where they can. High-skill industries, such as technology, finance and manufacturing, are attracted to high-skilled labor. The countries that have less competent education systems remain with agriculture, extraction, and low end services, which have lower wages and provide less growth.

Education and Innovation

The only way of achieving economic development is to take advantage of the available technologies, but also develop new ones. Long-term growth is fuelled by innovation. Innovation is dependent on education!

Advanced education systems produce researchers, engineers and scientists. If we have people who have mastered complex subjects then we can have new medical treatments, design more efficient solar panels, create better software, etc. which cannot be developed within a country. Even incremental innovations such as making a manufacturing process better or setting up a new business model need educated work force to know how things work and how they could work better.

The number of patents filed, research publications and the number of companies created are all related to the level of education. In countries where universities and technical institutes are strong, there are more innovations. Then those developments trickled down to the economy, enhancing productivity in all sectors.

The role of teachers and quality.

All education is not equal. It takes six years for a child to learn a lot in a crowded classroom that lacks an adequately trained teacher and textbooks. That little kid is schooled but not educated. Benefits to the economy are related to what is learned, not years in attendance.

Quality of teachers is the most significant variable in student learning. A good teacher can assist the student in learning the tough concepts and help him gain confidence and love for learning. A poorly trained teacher can defraud a child of years of his or her life. Improved teacher training, continued support and encouragement of effective teaching leads to dramatic improvements in learning outcomes in countries.

Classroom resources are also important. Learning is enabled by the use of textbooks, laboratory equipment, computers and libraries. So are the adequate facilities. Poor conditions in classrooms, such as leaking roofs, lack of desks, or excessive dryness or high temperatures, can not allow students to focus. Schools as physical places are beneficiaries to investment.

Education and Health

Economic benefits are not the only benefit of education. Healthier choices are made by educated individuals. They are more likely to vaccinate their children, seek medical care when they are ill, and engage in behaviours to prevent illness. They experience fewer incidences of HIV, Malaria and other preventable diseases. They have an improved nutritional status for their children and an increased chance of surviving infancy.

A healthy population is more productive. Ill workers and those who must look after the sick don't go to work and don't work well if they are with the sick. Better health resulting from improvements in education also helps to enhance the economy by reducing losses due to disease. This is a two-way street; healthy children learn better and so on, creating a virtuous cycle.

Women's Education and Economic Growth

Educating girls and women has a special effect on the economy. The more educated women are, the later their marriage, the fewer children they will have and the more she spends on the children's health and education. They are more likely to engage in non-domestic employment and to have incomes that they are likely to spend on their families. From the lens of spending, this is a way of supporting local business, and being able to end cycles of poverty.

Research conducted in developing countries revealed that for every year an extra year of girls' schooling is correlated with almost a 10% decrease in child mortality rates. It also boosts economic growth. Women's earnings directly add to the gross domestic product. When they manage their own resources, they invest them in a way which contributes to long-term development.

Gender equality in education is associated with faster poverty reduction and inclusive growth in countries which have closed gender gaps in education. Those who keep on under-investing in girls are missing a huge opportunity.

The Challenge of Funding

Good education is expensive! Teachers need to be paid! Now, buildings have to be built and maintained. Materials will need to be bought. Technologies need to be made available. The investment needed for a poorer country, where a large percentage of children are in school, is large.

However, the cost of NOT investing is a much greater price. The countries under-funding their education are doomed to slow growth, high levels of poverty and limited opportunity. Investment In Education is a well-proven benefit. Every $1 invested in a quality education yields more than a $1 return in economic productivity.

There are three ways for the government to increase funding for education: taxation, reallocation, and borrowing. While there is an opportunity for the assistance of international donors, funding from these sources can never be the main burden. There are countries that have raised expenditure on education substantially and experienced high performances in learning outcomes and economic growth.There are countries that have done so with high spending and have registered higher performances in learning outcomes and economic growth.