For Successful Development of a Country, Should Its Government Focus Its Budget More on the Education of Very Young Children Rather Than on Universities?

Question:

For successful development of a country, should its government focus its budget more on the education of very young children rather than on universities? (11/7, 2009)

Education is virtually an eternal topic for intense debate because it is an important source of elite for a country. However, whether the government should spend more money on college education or on elementary education is seldom an issue. It is nearly a consensus that a large percentage of the government budget has to go the universities due to the following reasons.

Most importantly, basic education costs less than the higher education. The school children are too young to read a lot of books, do technical tests, or join high-class activities, but the college students, with superiority in age and maturity both mentally and physically, do actually need to digest different kinds of professional materials, use advanced laboratory facilities to perform certain experiments, or require music rooms for the rehearsal of concert. So in terms of books, necessary study tools and other special platforms, universities call for more funding to cultivate greatness in the students than do the primary schools.

Second, it is more worthwhile to invest in the talented adults from college because they are more ready to serve the country. The government is always in dire need of human resources for the development of technology, politics, economy and many other aspects. Nonetheless, it takes a fairly long time to raise little Albert finally into great Einstein. But fortunately university students are already grown-ups, so it takes considerably less time to educate them into eligible personnel for the government than to primary school students. Needless to say, the undergraduates or the graduates are going to join the practical construction of the country much more quickly.

Finally, most college students are soon parents of the next generation, so they are closely related to the education in the...