Paul Krugman “The Uneducated American” http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/09/opinion/09krugman.html
ポール・クルーグマン*1氏、米国教育の危機を語る。
先ずその淵源は、最近30年間の新自由主義を背景とした教育への公的支出の低下にある。そして、最近の金融危機*2。
さらに、クルーグマン氏の指摘によれば、州政府や市政府の財政逼迫のため、教師数も減らされている。９月に米国では273,000の職が失われたが、そのうち公教育に関わる職は29,000。過去５か月では143,000に上る。
Until now, the results of educational neglect have been gradual — a slow-motion erosion of America’s relative position. But things are about to get much worse, as the economic crisis — its effects exacerbated by the penny-wise, pound-foolish behavior that passes for “fiscal responsibility” in Washington — deals a severe blow to education across the board.About that erosion: there has been a flurry of reporting recently about threats to the dominance of America’s elite universities. What hasn’t been reported to the same extent, at least as far as I’ve seen, is our relative decline in more mundane measures. America, which used to take the lead in educating its young, has been gradually falling behind other advanced countries.
Most people, I suspect, still have in their minds an image of America as the great land of college education, unique in the extent to which higher learning is offered to the population at large. That image used to correspond to reality. But these days young Americans are considerably less likely than young people in many other countries to graduate from college. In fact, we have a college graduation rate that’s slightly below the average across all advanced economies.
Even without the effects of the current crisis, there would be every reason to expect us to fall further in these rankings, if only because we make it so hard for those with limited financial means to stay in school. In America, with its weak social safety net and limited student aid, students are far more likely than their counterparts in, say, France to hold part-time jobs while still attending classes. Not surprisingly, given the financial pressures, young Americans are also less likely to stay in school and more likely to become full-time workers instead.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/datablog/2009/oct/08/top-100-universities-world
Times Higher Educationによる世界の大学ベスト100。英国ではオックスフォードのランクが落ちたことが話題になっているようだが*3、それでも米英による上位独占はまだ揺るがないようだ。日本の大学では東京大学が22位（昨年19位）。日本の大学でほかに50位以内に入ったのは、京都大学（25位）と大阪大学（43位）。中国では、香港大学、香港中文大学、香港理工大学が50位以内に入っているものの、内地では昨年56位だった清華大学が49位に入ったものの、昨年50位の北京大学が今年は52位。
*1:See http://d.hatena.ne.jp/sumita-m/20081007/1223316170
*2:See eg. http://d.hatena.ne.jp/sumita-m/20081007/1223316170
*3:Polly Curtis “Oxford slips in international university ranking as Asian rivals 'snap at heels'” http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/oct/08/university-league-tables-oxford
