Distributing Educational Opportunities : Strengths and Weaknesses of Different Approaches

Abstract: When there is scarcity of educational position, we need a just system of distribution that decides who's to be admitted to said position. In this text I argue that the common system of using grades and test results as merit to distribute educational opportunities is unjust. The reason being that we simply cannot assign grades that are neither fully reliable or valid. I describe a generalized education system that we have today distributing educational opportunities. The system is characterized by having a compulsory basic education that distributes its educational opportunities strictly egalitarian. Later introducing grades and standardized tests to progress into higher education creating a meritocratic distribution. Furthermore I introduce Nozickian libertarianism and a version of Rawls distributional principles including affirmative action policies. All of which have their merits and drawbacks, which is why I lastly put forth my own proposed approach. The proposal consists of the fundamental right that every person with the adequate knowledge and skills to succeed in referred education is entitled to it. The building blocks for this education system and its distribution of educational opportunities is compulsory basic education, specialized admission tests and lottery accompanied by a queue system.