Education and Marxism

The now infamous words of our Prime Minister during his 1997 rally cry highlight the emphasis placed on education in our society. Concerns with the system such as contrasting achievement between different social classes and ethnic groups (in addition to examination board incompetence) are always raised, again implying that education is seen as being of fundamental significance to citizens. This essay will look in detail at the analysis by Marx of education in capitalist societies, and …

…paid job. Second and third generation immigrants in the UK often appear to rapidly move upwards, for example their parents and grandparents entering UK in the 1950s and 60s with few economic assets, whilst many now enjoy an affluent and comfortable lifestyle due to educational achievement (or even without qualifications, having aspiration such as entrepeneurship). Overall however, the Marxist analysis provides a good fundamental sociological framework into how the education system operates in capitalist societies.