Human capital theory takes the view that the quality and quantity of education available to citizens in the country will improve the production capacity. This paper discusses the need for high quality education to produce highly skillful workers. I hope that it is helpful.
Facing Human Capital Challenges of the 21st Century
Major policy levers - Expansion of opportunities for higher education and training,
especially in targeted fields
The Minister of Education also stated that the Ministry will oversee a major reform effort involving expertise from around the world to assist in setting a long-term strategy for improving the UAE’s education system (UAE Ministry of Education). The Ministry of Education has developed a set of strategic objectives that include a focus on “modernization” of the curriculum, provision of a more comprehensive instructional and leadership training system, upgrade of school facilities, and greater parental involvement in the education system
Human capital theory is a middle range theory explaining some aspects of the social mobility and the premises for social stratitfication in modern society. As the stratification today is due to achieved social positions rather than to hereditary captal, it is obvious that the access to education is the main factor for improving the inequalities observed in the society. On the other hand, the social capital concept impacts in a very important way on the prevention from dehumanization. Education is a basic feature of professionalization therefore social capital approach is recommendable.
The twofold twofold objective of higher education, i.e., training and signalling, was underlined by Arrow (1973), Spence (1973) and Stiglitz (1975). Several works analysed the costs of higher education the way to combat their crowding-out effect on poor families (e.g., Caucutt & Kumar, 2003, Akyol & Athreya, 2005, Gilboa & Justman, 2009). Another strand of literature has analysed the tightness of admission (Gilboa & Justman, 2005; Brezis & Hellier, 2013) .
Akyol, A. and K. Athreya. 2005. Risky higher education and subsidies. Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control. 29 (6), 979-1023.
Arrow, K. 1973. Higher Education as a Filter. Journal of Public Economics, 2, 193–216.
Brezis, E.S. and J. Hellier. 2013.Social mobility at the top: Why are elites self-reproducing?. ECINEQ working Paper series, 2013-312.
Caucutt, E. and K. Kumar. 2003. Higher Education Subsidies and Heterogeneity: A Dynamic Analysis. Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, 27, 1459-1502.
Gilboa, Y. and M. Justman. 2005. Academic admission standards: Implications for output, distribution and mobility. Journal of the European Economic Association, 3(5), 1105–1133.
Gilboa, Y. and M. Justman. 2009. University tuition subsidies and student loans: a quantitative analysis, Israel Economic Review 7(1), 1–37.
Spence, A. M. 1973. Job Market Signaling. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 87, 355–374.
Stiglitz, J. E. 1975. The Theory of ‘Screening,’ Education, and the Distribution of Income. American Economic Review, 65, 283–300.