7.5.3 Education

 

 

Worldwide, there is a need for education to shift the balance of power.  The inequality in the world has long been recognised, and recently there has been a large movement to protest against the large levels of wealth.  The financial crisis in the West is a sign that the current system is unsustainable, and has arguably reached its natural conclusion.  The protest movements starting with Occupy Wall Street in 2011 spread throughout the world to most of the major cities and was a clear sign to the authorities that there is resistance to the current world powers.

It is clear that there is need for education with in the West, as people become more aware of the disparities in the world they will make life choices to work towards a sustainable future.  Education in developing countries will spread knowledge and help to alleviate poverty.  It is the role of engineers, with their duty towards society to be aware of the social problems and use their knowledge and expertise to educate as well as implement systems and make use of technology to better the lives of socially disadvantaged both in richer and poorer countries.