UNIT 4

EDUCATION POPULATION,
WORK AND EMPLOYMENT

Introduction
Demographic analysis may be defined as the study of human
groups. One way of approaching this subject is to try to explain
demographic facts and to seek the causes behind them. This could be
called theoretical demographic analysis. Another way is to limit oneself
to a purely descriptive approach, leading in the end to a statistical
description of populations. In reality, however, the distinction is not
as clear as this; population forecasts, for instance, cannot be made
without a minimum of demographic analysis.
Whichever approach is adopted, demographers have two possible
fields of study distinct from each other, both in objectives and in
method.

Interest may centre on the current situation of the population.

This is commonly known as static demographic analysis, and what is
studied in this case is the state of populations, in other words, their
structure or composition.
On the other hand, interest may centre on the trend of the
population, which is the dynamic aspect of population analysis. The
population trend also called movement of the population will
depend
on a number of factors, particularly on such demographic events as
births, marriages and deaths.
We shall respect this traditional distinction by examining in Part I
the structure of a population and its effects on educational problems,
and in Part II, population trends or movements and their impact on
educational planning over the longer term.

What is Demography?

Demography is the science of populations.

Demographers seek to understand
population dynamics by investigating three
main demographic processes: birth,
migration, and aging (including death). All
three of these processes contribute to
changes in populations, including how
people inhabit the earth, form nations and
societies, and develop culture.

Education and population

Education has been shown has an
influence on the mortality level.
Indeed,more educated people have a
greater chance of survival and, hence,
longer life expectancy. They are more
aware of the rules of hygiene and less
fatalistic in the face of disease.

 A correlation also exists between education

and marriage.
Educated people marry later in life than
those with little or no schooling.
The link here is slightly more complex,
however, and varies according to gender.
Among men and women with an equal level
of education, for example, men have a
higher probability to get married earlier
than women.

DEMOGRAPHY AND
EDUCATION: A TWOWAY RELATIONSHIP

. The role of education in population

dynamics
Levels of education seem to have an
impact on migration patterns. It is the
more educated people who tend to
migrate to cities or abroad. That said,
there is no clear-cut causal
relationship. Schooling only goes part
of the way to explaining rural to urban
migration, the main reasons being job
opportunities and income differences.

 The relationship between education

and fertility has, perhaps, been
studied more than any other by
researchers around the world. It, too,
is complex in nature, and hinges on
the influence of intermediate factors
such as marital patterns.

 Education not only raises the age at

marriage but it also changes the
value systems, leading individuals to
desire small families. In societies
where most fertility occurs within
marital unions, for example, an
educated woman who marries later
in life will also start having babies
later. As a result she will have fewer
children than a woman with little or

 Determined to find a job, striving for

independence and with more diversified centres
of interest, qualified women are more acutely
aware of the conflict between bringing up
children and having time to themselves. Another
baby means an increasing opportunity cost.
Educated women will therefore reign in their
desire to have large numbers of children. Women
who have been educated will want the same for
their children, and prefer to have fewer children
so as to guarantee them a better education.

 Educated women also have a higher

social status and tend, more often
than not, to be urban residents.
Finally, they know more about
contraception. All of these factors
affecting fertility are, in fact,
relatively inextricably intertwined.

 The role of population dynamics in

education

 Demography is especially important in the realm of

education planning, with population statistics serving
as the basis upon which to develop education plans.
Indeed: The structure or age composition of the
population determines the size of the school-age
population, i.e. the potential demand for education,
which is clearly the starting point for any education
policy. For the greater the number of children, the
greater the need to create classroom space and recruit
teachers. The proportion of school-age children in
most developing countries is very high, bringing
enormous pressure to bear on traditional education
systems.

 Density and geographic distributionwhich

hinge both on fertility rates that can vary
depending on the region and on migratory
flowsaffect education costs, choice of
school types, and their size and location
(school mapping). Knowing the distribution of
the working population by economic sector
and by levels of qualification helps assess the
labour needs and, hence, determine the goals
of technical, vocational and higher education.

 Finally, the pace and dynamics of population

growth, mainly determined by birth rates, is
crucialto education planning. Indeed, the number
of future births will affect the number of pupils or
students to be accommodated at every level of
the education system each year and, hence, on
the rate of construction of new educational
infrastructure. A fall in the number of pupils due
to falling birth rates or to migration is just as
important to planners. Such patterns can lead to a
policy shift in regard to school closure or
redeployment.

 Demographic changes are not, of course, the only

factor affecting education. The success or failure to
achieve educational and other goals depends on a
diverse range of other economic, social, political and
cultural factors. For instance, the 1990s were marked
by significant changespolitical upheavals in Central
and Eastern Europe, successive economic crises in East
Asia, the HIV/AIDS epidemic and all manner of conflicts
in sub-Saharan Africawhich have had an impact on
education systems (UNESCO, 2000). Nonetheless, the
demographic component remains a variable that must
be taken into account in every education policy
equation.

 Depending on the context (high or

low fertility), population growth has
either furthered individual countries
progress towards UPE or, on the
contrary, hindered the ability of
others to finance education and to
provide the infrastructure needed to
ensure quality primary education.

More Teachers
The higher the population of school age people
in a society, the more teachers are needed to
teach these students. This can place a strain on
an already overtaxed system. Many teachers
are moving to different professions for the
monetary increase, while those who stay are
overburdened with the ever increasing number
of students. These problems can increase when
dealing with students who have to stay after
school and come in early due to parental work
obligations.

Overcrowding Schools
All buildings are built with a specific number
of occupants in mind. In schools that
experience an increase of population, this
number can be exceeded. This can cause
serious overcrowding which can cause
negative feelings among the students. This
means the district needs to build more and
bigger schools. This costs money that most
school districts do not have, resulting in having
to take out loans and the community having to
assist in the building of a new school.

Change in Attitudes
Most schools attempt to foster positive
attitudes about education and learning. This
attitude can shift if the high population of the
school becomes distracted by other more
negative attitudes and ideas. These negative
attitudes can include drug usage, gang
mentalities and a lack of education idealism.
This is especially true for those schools that
were previously prone to such distractions. A
lack of control can appear in schools with too
many students and not enough teachers.

Funding Issues
Schools need funds from the community to exist.
Those communities that have experienced a
population growth without an economic growth may
find resistance in the funding of the school. This can
lead to a lack of funding and insufficient funds to
provide enrichment activities to the students. This
can result in the school becoming boring for students
and a lack of sports or other activities. Schools may
also find a lack of supplies to cover the students in
need. Schools in communities that experience a
population growth as well as an economic growth do
not need to worry about this as much.

Continued Education
Negative attitudes about schooling can
carry on through a student's life, resulting
in a lower chance for that student to attend
college or other extended education. This
lowers the earning potential of the student,
resulting in a possible poverty situation.
Correcting the issues of population growth
in the educational system is necessary to
prevent dropouts and to encourage
continued learning.

Linkages between
education training and
employment

Introduction
It is widely accepted that there is a close connection
between manpower development and economic
growth (Hallak, 1990). Education provides skilled
workers who are able to work productively at their
chosen fields. However, a central problem of all
modernizing countries is to accelerate the process
of human capital formation through education and
training (Harbison, 1971). These countries are
confronted simultaneously with two persistent
manpower problems: shortages and surpluses of
labour. As Hough (1987) notes, it seems obvious
that countries should plan ahead for their manpower

 Manpower planning and educational planning

received major impetus in the late 1950s and
early 1960s (Hollister, 1983). Two major factors
contributed to the sudden increase in interest.
First, studies of economic growth of industrialized
countries suggested that the proper use of human
resources was a necessary component of
economic development. Second, there were acute
shortages of labour as a result of World War II
(Hollister, 1983; Bell, 1989). As the labor supply
improved, however, interest in manpower
planning declined.

 Some critics claimed that manpower planning was

incapable of making any useful contribution to the
development and utilization of human resources. In
particular, the long-term forecasting component of
manpower planning and its relevance to educational
planning were singled out for strong criticism (International
Labour Organization, 1978). The most serious accusation
was that previous manpower forecasting had proved to be
totally wrong in most cases, especially the over-estimation
of high-level skill requirements (ILO, 1978). However, now
that organizations are once again faced with skill shortages
due to demographic shifts and rapid technological
changes, manpower planning appears to be coming back
into fashion (Bell, 1989).

 The underlying rationale for

manpower planning is said to be the
avoidance of labour surpluses and
shortages (Psacharopoulos &
Hinchliffe, 1983). Amj ad (1985)
outlines two objectives of manpower
planning at the macro level below.

Objectives of Manpower
Planning
1. to make an assessment of the
skilled human resource needs of the
economy during a specific time
period (e.g., a five year plan) and to
see to what extent the production of
skills during this period will match
the estimated demand so as to
suggest measures which will reduce
the supply-demand imbalances.

Objectives of Manpower
Planning
2. to provide an analytical framework
for undertaking human resource
planning which will help identify the
skill requirements of the economy,
particularly over the long run, and
serve as a guideline or educational
planning and the making of
appropriate investments in education,
training and manpower
development.

Purpose of Manpower
Planning
At the micro level, the purpose of
manpower planning is to assure that
a company will have qualified people,
at the appropriate time and place,
performing functions necessary for
its continued success (Fryer, 1967).

Purpose of Manpower
Planning
Six important reasons for manpower planning
were reported by more than half of the 470
companies randomly surveyed in the United
States. These are:
1. human resource development,
2. avoidance of shortages of qualified personnel,
3. acquisition of information for decision-making,
4. affirmative action,
5. budgeting, and
6. career planning (Greer, Jackson, & Fiorito, 1989).

 LINKAGES BETWEEN MANPOWER AND

EDUCATIONAL PLANNING
One of the major purposes of
manpower planning is to provide
guidelines for educational planners in
setting their enrollment targets so
that manpower development will be
in line with the labour market
requirements (Pitayanon, 1987).

 The theory holds that education is an investment

which reaps bounteous returns for both the
individual and society (Pike, 1981). The gains
resulting from the expansion of education stem
from the ability of the economy to achieve
increased production levels; educational
development is justified in terms of supplying skill
requirements for the fixed production targets.
Without these skills, the planned levels of
economic output cannot be reached. Hence,
education targets are linked directly to specific
economic goals (Sadlak, 1986).

 The theoretical linkage of manpower

planning with educational planning,
especially at the tertiary level, is rooted
principally in the human capital theory of
the 1960s linking education to economic
development (Sadlak, 1986). Raza
(1985) suggested that the argument for
educational planning in a country may
be based on several grounds.

 First, education plays a crucial role in

national development by providing the
manpower requirements for the economy.
Therefore, it is necessary to plan
education so that any mismatch between
the output of the educational system and
the needs of the job market are
minimized and manpower with varying
skills is made available to the economy.

 Second, investments in education

form a sizeable part of public
expenditure; thus, it is necessary to
ensure that investments in education
as in other sectors have some
correspondence with returns from
that investment.

 Third, education opportunities need

to be planned so as to maximize
social welfare.

Role of Education in Rural Development:

A Key Factor for Developing Countries.
Relevent, locally-controlled educational programs play
key roles in rural development in developing nations.
Education has a desirable controlling influence over
development of the rural individual, family,
community, and society, leading to reduced poverty,
income equity, and controlled unemployment. The
failure of trickle-down development and recognition of
the importance of rural areas and rural people to the
economic emancipation of developing countries has
given education a key role in rural systems of supply,
production, marketing, personnel maintenance,
education, health care, and governance.

Functions of education
These include
imparting social change,
improving individual social position and
standard of living,
activating participation in rural and cultural
development,
increasing critical abilities of rural people to
diagnose their needs,
assert their rights, and take greater control
of decisions affecting their lives,

Functions of education
providing trained manpower in rural
areas,
linking rural and urban sectors,
providing employment and income
opportunities,
increasing labor force productivity,
and
developing leadership

 Education contributing to rural

development must be locally
controlled, practical, applied,
problem-posing, and focused on
functional specialization.

 education has a desirable controlling

influence over the development of an
individual, a family, a community,
and a society as a whole in a rural
environment. This chain of
development could lead to reduce
poverty, gain income equity, and
control unemployment at sectorial
and regional levels.

Education as a component in rural development

A typical rural system is characterized as having
seven functional components, related to each
other through a linkage of infrastructures, and all
set into a social, political, economic, religious,
cultural, and physical environment (Nytes &
Musegades, 1985).
The
functional
components
are
supply,
production, marketing, personnel maintenance,
education, health care, and governance (Miller &
Merritt, 1985).
A change in any of these components affects all
the other components and ail aspects of the rural
system.
However, I strongly support that education
component plays a unique role as facilitator of

Role of education
Education has long been recognized as a
potential means for rural development.
In many developing countries, education
has been seen as a panacea for national
development (Hegtvedt-Wilson, 1984).
The education system is considered as a
key factor in the rapid sectorial, regional,
and national development in many
developing countries.

 . Education should be focused

on long term goals as well as short
term tactics in developing of an
individual, a community and a nation
as a whole. In every society, different
forms of education produce different
culture.

 A well supported, easily accessible

educational system is an efficient
means to make people economically
conscious, and therefore, make them
to actively participate in their
economic prosperity and cultural
advancement.

 Education is both the product of society as

well as an important tool for bringing
about changes in the rural community.
There is a dialectical relationship between
education and society. Rural development
and educational development are
inseparable
Education encourages involvement of
individuals from the cradle to the grave in
imparting knowledge.

Education as a principal
development strategy:
Many development economists
apparently believe that education is
a primary means of promoting
economic development in rural
areas.

Education makes people

conscious:
Rural areas are today faced with a host of social,
ecor omic
and political problems. These problems have
significantly out paced the rate of growth in
industry, trade,
agriculture and education. Despite greater
government efforts in the development of rural
areas, the gap
has wideited between the urban and the nnal areas.
This imbalance is a factor in the political stability of
many developing countries.

Drawbacks
Education oriented to urban rather
than rural needs may do more harm
than good by accelerating rural to
urban migration, generating youth
unemployment, and leaving students
ill-equipped to succeed in a rural
environment.

Education helps increase functional

ability of rural people
Over the years, education has come to be
viewed not only in terms of filling basic
intellectual gaps, but as a way of
strengthening peoples' critical abilities which
enhance their capacity to diagnose their own
needs, assert their own right, and have grater
control over the decisions that affect their
lives. The ability to think and act arouse
greater political consciousness in people and
in turn, leads them to center their actions on
behalf of their communities.

Education provides trained

manpower from rural areas
Rural development requires educated manpower with a
rural background.
But, undoubtedly, almost all the rural areas or regions in
developing countries are desperately short of highly
trained manpower with - rural background. It is also
important to have enough manpower for specific
occupations in rural development activities.
The obvious reasons for limited supply of trained
manpower is the shortage of quality schools in rural areas.
Generally a higher level of rural cultural understanding
along with a larger supply of skilled manpower may very
well stimulate rural economic development.
It is a fact that only rural schools can provide in larger
number the needed skilled manpower with rural cultural
understanding.

Education provides employment and

income opportunities
Education must be a vital element in
providing employment and income
opportunities for rural residents.
A rural development goal is to improve the
well being or standard of living of rural
people by increasing income earning
opportunities in rural areas.
The role of education in rural development
is prominent by its impact on employment
and income.

Education increases productivity of

rural labor force
In accordance with technological and
organizational progress, the quality of rural
labor force must also be improved so that new
skills can be combined profitably in production
activities.
Indeed, the greater skills knowledge has
become an important factor in raising
productivity per unit capital and labor input in
both rural and urban areas.
Educational areas increase the availability and
use of human resources.

Education develops
leadership
Education in the widest sense is in fact both an
investment and a form of consumption which
increases an individual's capacity for production
while at the same time develops his/her
personality and satisfies his/her need to know
and understand.
The rural world will need competent and dynamic
leaders if it is to win the battle against hunger
and poverty and succeed in rural development.
Education helps to develop and identify leaders
in a rural community (Martin, 1984).

Summary
Rural development, as a process, depends on a large number
of variables of which education is one. Education should be
placed first and foremost in the services of democracy, which
demands not only that the citizen be protected against
arbitrary decisions but also that he/she take part in decisions
which affect the future
of his/her society. More often than not rural development
cannot take place until institutions and peoples attitudes
have changed. Education is a very important factor to bring
about this change in rural environment. As mentioned
earlier, there is a dialectical relationship between a society
and education, that is, education is both the product of
society and, in certain circumstances, a factor which brings
about economic development.