Global History of Primary Education
The earliest examples of a schooling system dates back to the development of human civilization. Education and schools were early cultures reply to the difficulties of surviving and thriving as a culture. It began by adults teaching the young their own skills in an apprenticeship style. They became dependent on passing on knowledge to future generations leading to the first schools. One of the first countries to develop a school-like atmosphere was Islam. Part of the Islam culture was to spread knowledge where they combined religion and learning. The Seljuks who also introduced the Madrassa system, a public province controlled by the caliph, built the first school. But it was the Ottomans who built a school with a mosque, hospital, madrassa, dining areas, and accommodations for the public in the tenth century. ¹
Religious men like priests and monks who strive to teach morals to the younger generations developed Europe’s school system. Many of the schools in Europe originated as Catholic based. In the 17th century Scotland even tried to promote literacy to the entire population in the Act of the Parliament of Scotland that produced tax dollars to fund the endeavor. Though, the Age of Enlightenment forgot much of the religious ties experienced in schooling as human development was pushed.
The school systems in Asia all started in different ways. China began through the teaching of Chinese classic texts instead of religion like in Japan. The Chinese pushed literacy realizing the importance of educated officials, and built an imperial examination system during the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 BC). This gave birth to schools which kept teaching the early classics of Confucius and other philosophers for the next 2,000 years, until the Qing Dynasty in 1911 where the entire schooling system was replaced by Western ways. Japan’s schooling took place in Buddhist temples and was geared to teach the young the skills needed to become priests. “Tera-koya” meeting places eventually developed as a place for further study where students learned how to read and write. ²
India has one of the oldest public and free school systems on earth. They taught values that benefited the human development in a Gurukul system. Teachers in their homes or monasteries usually led the schools. They learned a diverse range of subjects from religion to astrology. By the 18th century records show that schools branched out so much that there was one for every temple and village. All types of students attended regardless of their financial state. In the 20th century however, British government intervened with their schooling system imposing Western schooling traditions. ²
Although a lot of the first schools did push for literacy there have been times throughout it where places in developing countries like African nations still struggle with teaching those basic skills. The good news is more and more developing countries are providing schools to their youth. Compared to 1960 where the percentage of population without any schooling was 36%, in 2000, it decreased to 25%. It shows that more and more schools are popping up around the world. This statistic also has a direct effect on the literacy percentages where in developing countries compared to 1970, the literacy rates of the population increased by half in 2000.
Priests and teachers in monasteries or homes taught the earliest primary schools usually, but as time went on and more schools were built to fit the global demand of learning, the quality teacher shortage problem increased. Right now, the projected worldwide teacher shortage will reach 18 million by 2016. The countries that are hit the hardest by teacher shortages are the developing countries like Sub-Saharan Africa and Arab States. The global trend throughout history shows that quality teacher shortages went hand in hand with countries that needed the most teachers.
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¹http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elementary_school
²http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/schools
³http://www.harolddoan.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=915