Abstract
This chapter focuses on strategies for achieving equity-based education. The concept of equity-based education has been examined. Factors that influence equity in education which include funding, access to high-level curriculum, teacher quality and discipline have been discussed. The discussion revealed that funding is a distinct indicator of equity in education, hence, establishing sustainable partnerships between the government and other potential funders is advisable. The chapter also revealed numerous equity strategies such as free and compulsory primary and secondary education for children, providing access to excluded groups of learners, improving the quality of teaching, adopting various forms of assessment strategies, increasing resource allocation, creating equitable learning environments, and creating an equity framework. The chapter suggests solutions and recommendations, and provides future research directions. Finally, conclusion is drawn from the arguments posed by literature observations.
TopBackground
The field of education is making a shift from thinking about academic achievement based on academic deficits to one that holistically meets students where they are in terms of academic, social and emotional learning, and developmentally. (Sturgis, & Jones, 2017). According to UNESCO (2018) education has long been recognised as a basic human right and a critically-important requisite for the productivity and well-being of individuals and for the economic and social development of entire societies. Sturgis and Jones (2017) add that the role of public education is the bedrock of democracy. In this regard, the importance of equal access to education has been emphasised repeatedly in international conventions. It is further stated that access to education and learning outcomes should not be affected by circumstances outside of the control of individuals, such as gender, birthplace, ethnicity, religion, language, income, wealth or disability (UNESCO, 2018). However, the failure to provide an equitable public education that enables equal access to opportunity unravels the American dream. There is, therefore, need to focus on competency-based structures for education which are unique powerful models for fostering equity (Sturgis, & Jones, 2017).