Sociology Now, Census Update

the 1990s. However, there is still a high dropout rate—75 percent of

Indian students drop out after eighth grade, and 78 percent of girls and

48 percent of boys fail to graduate from high school (Economist, 2005).

In the 1980s, China also planned for universal education for grades

1 through 9 by 2000. As a result, there was an immense expansion of the

educational system. Enrollment is high—at least through grade nine—and

the literacy rate among young adults (age 12 to 40) is now 96 percent.

There has also been a massive university expansion, especially at the doc-

toral level: Between 1999 and 2003, nearly 12 times as many doctorates

were awarded as in 1982 through 1989 (Economist,2005).

However, enrollment in China is still low, and there is still a large gen-

der gap: Many more boys than girls are being educated. The curriculum

depends to a large extent on rote learning and memorization rather than

reasoning and problem solving. And authoritarian political control

inhibits new scientific research if the government doesn’t like it.

Intelligence(s) and Literacy

One of the primary goals of education is to “make people smarter,” or at least to

develop their innate intelligence. But is there a single human capacity called intelli-

gence? If so, can it really be modified by education and training, or is it a permanent,

unchangeable part of the human brain or spirit?

Though these questions remain unanswered, the tests we have devised to meas-

ure the intelligence quotient (IQ) are highly correlated with success in school. Of course,

they were designedto predict success in school. Some scholars contend that they are

measuring the social, economic, and ethnic differences that correlate with success rather

562 CHAPTER 17EDUCATION

40%–less than 50%

50% and more

10%–less than 30%

Less than 10%

No data

FIGURE 17.2Projected Illiteracy Rates, 2015

Be sure to finish reading this book. It may

be your last:

• 80 percent of U.S. families did not buy or
  read a book in the last year.


• 70 percent of Americans have not been in
  a bookstore for the past five years.


• 42 percent of college graduates never
  read another book after graduation.
  (www.parapublishing.com)

Didyouknow

?

Source:From UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Reprinted with permission.