Act now on education

Doug Blackmur calls for “critical examination” of work in the international economics of education literature. I fully agree.

If Blackmur is interested in a more substantive analysis than can be provided in a newspaper letter, he may want to read my 250-page economics PhD thesis on the subject of randomised trials and public policy — with reference to the economics of education literature on class size — which is freely available online.

As indicated in previous letters, my view of the status quo is that much of the local literature and policy is uncritical and misguided: it operates under the mantra of evidence-based policy, but on closer examination fails under its own terms. In which regard, I am still awaiting Resep’s nomination of a paper that “shows that a general increase in fiscal resources … is unlikely to improve the quality of education significantly” (Resep leading SA nowhere, May 9).

It is critical that we take forward this debate so that education and fiscal policy are not subject to further errors. That the education minister’s budget vote speech suggests a rediscovery of the importance of resources, including a teacher assistant project in rural areas, is a start but barely scratches the surface of the problem.

Seán Muller Via e-mail