Obstacles Faced by General Education

General education is a must for everyone today. In the world developing so rapidly, the concept of liberal education has a lot of obstacles to face up with and get associated with. Some of the obstacles are economic in nature; still the philosophical ones may be more significant and concern able.

The first obstacle is of course the issue of costs and benefits. High quality liberal education is not so inexpensive. It does require more varied faculty resources, interactive rather than passive teaching techniques, seminars in place of lectures, and perhaps a longer period spent in school than usual. Also the payoff to a high-quality liberal education is not immediate, and it has a large non pecuniary component that is difficult to measure.

Funding is so course clearly problematic, but the more extensive general education programs are not meant for all (or even the majority) of students. They should be aimed at the brightest and most highly motivated in any cohort, with a broader cross-section of students are being offered less intensive forms of general education. The Task Force attaches great importance to this, as it is far less expensive and time-consuming than offering such an education to all.

Aiming higher education programs at the brightest and most motivated students should not be objectionable or characterized as elitism in the old sense. First, advantage should accrue to an individual because of intellectual capacities and efforts, and not because of social class or wealth.

Second, the Task Force advocates special programs for disadvantaged groups at all stages of education, so that these citizens are increasingly able to take advantage of the best educational opportunities. Third, we recognize the value of some general education in nearly all forms of higher education, with specific programs designed and modified for different types of student and school.