Positive externalities of public education (Essay Sample)

Positive externalities of public education
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(04/05/2012)
Public education is the education that is provided by the government as opposed to private sectors. It is usually subsidized so that the citizens of a country can be in a position to afford quality education. In the United States the K-12 education is offered. It starts from Kindergarten for kids of ages 4-6 years old to grade twelve for those at the age of 16-19. Therefore the letter K-12 is the shortening of Kindergarten through the twelfth grade. It comprises of both the primary education and the secondary education. This form of education is also used in Australia and Canada (Samuel & Herbert, 2011).
Externalities are the benefits or costs to outside parties caused by the actions of an individual. Positive externalities are therefore, the spillover benefits to outsiders. The Public education is associated with some negative and positive externalities. In my discussion I will concentrate on the positive externalities which are associated with the K-12 education. I will focus on the positive externalities because; in order for a state to grow in many of its aspects we need to have educated people who will take on most of the development sectors (Samuel & Herbert, 2011).
First, public education is affordable to many citizens. This reduces illiteracy within a country and hence decreases in the level of crime. When violence is deficient within a society, the people have peace of mind and the productivity increases. This is a positive eternality to the members of the society since their activities are not interrupted. Theft cases will be minimal since educated persons have the skills to generate income through either self-employment or being employed in the countries productive sectors (Webb etal. 2010).
The educated persons are the ones who are actively engaged in the affairs of the community. For instance, they help in educating the community on democracy and by doing so they help in improving the democratic process within a country. They even volunteer to do activities which are beneficial to the community. This then yields a positive externality since that community will enjoy the services rendered to them by the people who have passed through public education (Webb etal. 2010).
Improvement in technology is a fruit of education. Public education which is affordable enables people to advance in technology. The improvement in technology in turn gives rise to increase in economic growth of a country. This can then be termed as a positive externality to individuals in the society for having their members undergoing through public education. The decision making process is also enhanced and the markets then function efficiently. In this case you will find that the marginal social benefit is greater than the marginal private benefit hence externality (Webb etal. 2010).
Finally I would like to support the existence of public K-12 system of education. This is because from my argument above it is clear that the benefits derived from public education are many. It is also clear that the social marginal befits which are derived are greater than the private marginal benefit as opposed to the private K-12 system where private investors will try to raise the cost of education so as to get high profits from the same. If the education was left to private sector then the poor would not be able to get education and the economy the co...