A Discourse on Equity in Education

"Equity in Education"

My aim here is to address the issue of equity and equality in education. I shall do so my focussing my discussion around these three questions.

1. What do we mean by ‘equity in education’?
2. Are we aiming to achieve “a situation in which everyone is treated equally”?
3. Why is it a good thing to ‘treat everyone equally?”

Tapping into these issues means delving into one of the core values of humanity. I feel that we need to dig deeper into its epistemology.

I’m not sure about Hinduism, but in Buddhism, humans are perceived to have different abilities to learn. They are compared to four kinds of lotus.

1.     The lotus above the water – these humans are excellent learners

2.     The water edge’s lotus --- These humans are good, with some suggestions they shall understand the lesson.

3.     The lotus in the water --- It is not easy to train them, but with time and effort, they, too can be made successful humans

4.     The mud-buried lotus --- it is almost impossible to train these humans.


However, in Buddhist cosmology, humans are born with their Karma (deeds). They are governed by their actions or Karma. The Karma has been with every single person for along long time (including previous lives). It will stay with them into the future beings, almost forever. The only chance of being free from Karma is to break the Samsara cycle, that is to attain the state of Nibbana.

Lee Kuan Yew also said many times that humans are not equal, but he gave his people the same opportunity to compete.

We can narrow down our discussions by looking at what sociology has to offer. In sociology, four types of equality have been identified:

1.     Ontological equality (the equality associated with Christianity)
2.     Equality of opportunity to achieve desirable goals (Motivated by the French Revolution)
3.     Equality of condition, in which the conditions of life are made equal by legislation (ideology of
        Left-wing political parties, like Labour in the UK)
4.     Equality of outcome or result (Amartya Sen’s call for the removal of the causes of inequality)

“The Penguin Dictionary of Sociology” (4th ed.) p. 120-122

Why it is a good thing to be equitable? Equity/ equality has its root in theology and philosophy. And we should not skip or overlook the century-long debate on what is good (Latin – Bonum)?

When Pope John Paul II criticized the doctrine of laissez-faire capitalism in focusing too much on the happiness of the majority. The Pope invoked a well-known Christian theologian St. Augustine’s three components of good (Bonum):

1.     Bonum Honestum “the just good’

2.     Bonum Utile – the useful good-

3.     Bonum Dilectabile -- the "pleasurable good”


In short, what is good is useful, pleasurable, and just”

Capitalism and market-free economy rooted in the French Revolution’s ideology of providing people the same opportunity to compete in the market, with the goal of making the majority of people happy or satisfied overlooks ‘the just good’ or Bonum Honestum”
“Pope John Paul II: Memory and Identity”

If education is a good thing, it should be useful for human civilization, it should bring us pleasure, and it should crate a just society.

What is 'useful' is not easy to determine. Is ICT a useful thing? I have read somewhere a remark by a Japanese scientist upon visiting Hiroshima Memorial Park. He warned us that we should not accept the existing technology , including ICT and the like, at face value, without considering its future consequences. he said: “We should not forget that the technology in use is the technology in question.”

 We know that it is not easy to achieve the three criteria of ‘good’. As we have been discussing, the notion of ‘just’, ‘fairness’ or ‘equity, has long been embedded in the history and culture of many civilizations.

Janpha Thadphoothon