Topic TEN: Social Class and Education

by - January 12, 2022

 


Social class can be defined as the divisions in society based on economic and social status. The social class has existed since the ancient times which is the reality slaps for society especially on education. The existence of social class give more privileges to upper class than the lower as mentioned in previous topic on Conflict Theory (by Karl Marx). However, in countries such as Malaysia, the students from lower class has opportunity in education to change their family's fate by performing excellently in examinations, getting the scholarships, pursue tertiary education, and finally, getting an offer for permanent job. 

Nevertheless, there are some conditions which the students are given opportunities to study in early education but stop in the middle of way such as learned helplessness, vicious circle, and low self-esteem. These types of students often drop out from school early to help their parents earning some money. In this case, their main focus was to have a better financial instead of better education, but let's think a while on the importance of education. If the students not in a hurry to earn a living and get support from parents and teachers in education, of course they will finish their education in the right way. Thus, the roles of parents, teachers. schools and government to some extent help the students to change their mindset or stigma of education.

Even though, some parents could not provide better facilities and environment for their child at home, the best thing that they can do for their children is support and monitor their child's learning progress. With the assistance of homeroom teacher, parents could guide their children and give them moral supports in their learning process. Moreover, the government of Malaysia has provide many initiatives for education such as SPBT (Textbook Loan Scheme), where the students could use learning materials for free, and BPPM (Student Travel and Transportation Assistance) for students who lives in rural areas - which is hard to get an access for transportation. 

In conclusion, the fate of certain social class lies in their own hands. It is up to the students (with learned helplessness, vicious circle and low self-esteem) to decide for their own future. The best thing everyone in his surrounding (parents, teachers, society, and government) can do is to provide moral supports, attentions, incentives and initiatives for them in education. It is him who need to change his mindset to become successful. 

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