‘Relevance’ Revisited: School Science Educational External Efficiency and the Production of Appropriate Human Capital in Agrarian Developing Countries

Abstract

THIS paper applies the human capital and educational external efficiency paradigms to science education in agrarian developing nations. It is argued that historical dysfunctions of schooling present external inefficiencies that may be traced to the lack of rural development as a primary cause. Science education is discussed within this framework. It is proposed that the nexus with rural development delineates the relevance of formal educational structures, and of curricula, in agrarian developing societies. Technology-based science education as part of an intersectoral rural transformation strategy is proposed as an overdue nexus between science educational ‘relevance’ and external efficiency for these societies.

Reforming Primary Science through Literacy: The Pacific Science Reading Series

“…To what extent these considerations are generalizable or apply to lower primary science is, however, debatable. The contribution that indigenous science can make to science education is an extremely contentious issue, but indigenous technology can act as a valuable conceptual bridge between indigenous life and the universal scientific concepts (Vlaardingerbroek, 1997). The inclusion of facets of indigenous culture moreover enhances the feeling of local ownership of educational materials, which is so important to the success of an innovation (Taylor & Vlaardingerbroek, 2000).…”