The Provision of Universal Education

“Much of the debate about globalisation focuses on political and economic issues: global governance and the impact of the new economy. A Jewish perspective would argue that, vital though these are, the provision of universal education is more important still. In the foreseeable future, much will depend on the degree to which people are positioned to take advantage of new opportunities, and this in turn will depend on the extent and depth of investment in education. In fact, so rapidly are technologies changing that the idea that education is confined to childhood will have to be revised in favour of lifelong learning, itself a classic value of the Judaic tradition. Jewry is one of the paradigm cases of a group that predicated the idea of a society of equal human dignity not on the distribution of wealth or power, but on access to education; and it worked.”

The Dignity of Difference, p. 120