Published 2/3/2012
http://dailyevergreen.com/read/opinion-education-policies-outlined-in-SOTU-are-good
http://dailyevergreen.com/read/opinion-education-policies-outlined-in-SOTU-are-good
The State of the Union address delivered to the nation by President Barack Obama on Jan. 24 was
a very impressive one. It seemed like the president had sensed the mood
prevailing within the U.S. and the speech was an all-out effort to woo
the middle class and the 99 percent. His promise of keeping Wall Street
accountable, pulling out troops from Afghanistan and tax reforms must
have touched a chord with millions of Americans.
But when Obama talked about “an America built to last,” he visualized education as the crucial building block of the economy. I do not know if those millions of Americans glued to their TV sets that evening appreciated it, but it definitely touched a chord with me, an Indian student in the U.S., because I see education as a gateway to prosperity.
According to a study conducted by Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston published by CNN in 2009, 6.2 million students dropped out of high school in 2007. According to the report, “Over a working lifetime from ages 18 to 64, high school dropouts are estimated to earn $400,000 less than those that graduated from high school.” Obama himself projected a figure of 1.3 million high school drop outs whose collective loss of annual earnings was $7.6 billion.
With the economic woes still haunting the 99 percent, investment and dedication toward educating the next generation have not quite picked up. I guess this was reason enough to get Obama to act. He has taken the right step to urge the states not to allow the students to drop out unless they graduate or turn 18.
The economic downturn also forced schools countrywide to fire thousands of teachers. Obama also wants to aid schools to reinstate those teachers because he understands that schools are merely buildings without an adequate number of well-qualified teachers who can nurture the students.
In addition, Obama also recognizes the value of higher education and is aware of the high cost of going to college.
“Higher education cannot be a luxury; it is an economic imperative that every family in America should be able to afford,” Obama said.
He sees Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) as the fields of study that hold the key to prosperity, and in his own words, “Don't let other countries win the race for the future. Support the same kind of research and innovation that led to the computer chip and the Internet; to new American jobs and new American industries.”
His views are an echo of Cisco Systems’ CEO John Chambers interview published in the Financial Times back in 2007, wherein he said, “We’ve got to realize, as a country here in the U.S., we’ve got to do a better job on our education system, we’ve got to graduate a lot of engineers.”
Chambers also said, “If the U.S., for example, is graduating 60,000 engineers a year, India’s graduated 350,000 and China’s graduated 600,000 and you’re trying to get the top 10 percent of the talent in the industry, you can do the math as quickly as I can and I think that’s unfortunate for both Europe and the U.S.”
I personally believe that excellence in STEM subjects has been a driving thrust for quick economic development, especially in Asia. Even historically, it was the popular study of science for centuries that lead to the Industrial Revolution in Europe, which in turn ushered in prosperity within a few decades. And on a lighter note, a fatter paycheck, which is what tempted me to take up engineering as a career.
Thereby, to ensure an increase in enrollment in institutions of higher education, Obama plans to double the number of work study awards during the next five years. In addition, he plans to renew the America Opportunity Tax Credit that is projected to result in annual savings of $10,000 for a whopping 9 million families. It is also good news for us, the university students, that Obama has strongly urged the states and the universities to put a full stop to the ever increasing and “sky-rocketing” tuition fees.
What Obama spoke that night was not merely words. He painted the road map to a better, fairer, more sensitive and hopefully easy on the pocket education system. If he transforms his words into actions, the U.S. will put together an enviable education system that will serve as the model for the rest of the Earth to follow.
But when Obama talked about “an America built to last,” he visualized education as the crucial building block of the economy. I do not know if those millions of Americans glued to their TV sets that evening appreciated it, but it definitely touched a chord with me, an Indian student in the U.S., because I see education as a gateway to prosperity.
According to a study conducted by Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston published by CNN in 2009, 6.2 million students dropped out of high school in 2007. According to the report, “Over a working lifetime from ages 18 to 64, high school dropouts are estimated to earn $400,000 less than those that graduated from high school.” Obama himself projected a figure of 1.3 million high school drop outs whose collective loss of annual earnings was $7.6 billion.
With the economic woes still haunting the 99 percent, investment and dedication toward educating the next generation have not quite picked up. I guess this was reason enough to get Obama to act. He has taken the right step to urge the states not to allow the students to drop out unless they graduate or turn 18.
The economic downturn also forced schools countrywide to fire thousands of teachers. Obama also wants to aid schools to reinstate those teachers because he understands that schools are merely buildings without an adequate number of well-qualified teachers who can nurture the students.
In addition, Obama also recognizes the value of higher education and is aware of the high cost of going to college.
“Higher education cannot be a luxury; it is an economic imperative that every family in America should be able to afford,” Obama said.
He sees Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) as the fields of study that hold the key to prosperity, and in his own words, “Don't let other countries win the race for the future. Support the same kind of research and innovation that led to the computer chip and the Internet; to new American jobs and new American industries.”
His views are an echo of Cisco Systems’ CEO John Chambers interview published in the Financial Times back in 2007, wherein he said, “We’ve got to realize, as a country here in the U.S., we’ve got to do a better job on our education system, we’ve got to graduate a lot of engineers.”
Chambers also said, “If the U.S., for example, is graduating 60,000 engineers a year, India’s graduated 350,000 and China’s graduated 600,000 and you’re trying to get the top 10 percent of the talent in the industry, you can do the math as quickly as I can and I think that’s unfortunate for both Europe and the U.S.”
I personally believe that excellence in STEM subjects has been a driving thrust for quick economic development, especially in Asia. Even historically, it was the popular study of science for centuries that lead to the Industrial Revolution in Europe, which in turn ushered in prosperity within a few decades. And on a lighter note, a fatter paycheck, which is what tempted me to take up engineering as a career.
Thereby, to ensure an increase in enrollment in institutions of higher education, Obama plans to double the number of work study awards during the next five years. In addition, he plans to renew the America Opportunity Tax Credit that is projected to result in annual savings of $10,000 for a whopping 9 million families. It is also good news for us, the university students, that Obama has strongly urged the states and the universities to put a full stop to the ever increasing and “sky-rocketing” tuition fees.
What Obama spoke that night was not merely words. He painted the road map to a better, fairer, more sensitive and hopefully easy on the pocket education system. If he transforms his words into actions, the U.S. will put together an enviable education system that will serve as the model for the rest of the Earth to follow.
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