Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
HEP Occasional Papers No. 15
EDUCATION, TECHNOLOGICAL DEPENDENCE
AND PLANNING
Jorge -Efrén Dom irez-Ramírez
Unesco : International Institute for Educational Planning
Education, technological dependence and planning
This paper was presented as a terminal study-by the author as part of the H E P 196 7-68 Internship Programme, M r . Domínguez Ramírez is currently with the National University of Mexico.
H E P Occasional Papers
The studies in this series include papers contributed by the Institute's staff, visiting fellows, interns and consultants. Some of the studies have originally been prepared as part of the training programme of the Institute; others have previously appeared as working papers for the Institute's seminars and symposia«, All of them, in the Institute's view, are of sufficient interest to merit being re-issued and distributed on a wider scale.
By their very nature these papers are less formal and have not been given the full editorial processing customary for H E P 'official publications'.
The opinions expressed in these papers are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Institute. The use, adaptation or reproduction, in whole or in part, of these papers is limited to institutions and persons specifically authorized by H E P ,
Printed in France by the International Institute for Educational Planning 7 rue Eugène-Delacroix, 75 Paris-16e April 1969
page (i)
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER I. THE PROBLEM
1. General Background
Some striking facts 2.
(a) The case of Latin America
(b) The case of Argentina
(c) The case of Mexico
Page
1
2
2
8
8
11
16
CHAPTER II.
CHAPTER III.
CONCLUSIONS
BIBLIOGRAPHY
MANPOWER, EDUCATION AND PLANNING
SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Some Preliminary Considerations
Relationships between Science3 Technology and Education
Technology transfer and adaptation. Some general remarks and definitions
The Technological Dependence
Paths Towards Technological Dependence?
20
23
23
25
29
31
43 54
57
page 1
INTRODUCTION
The present paper is intended to discuss some of the most relevant
relationships between science* technology and education with.a.special,
reference to what we have defined as technological dependence.
Por doing so we have divided our work in three Chapters. The first
one is devoted to expose in general terms what the essential features of
the problem are. The main assumptions are here that the linking connexions
we have mentioned above have not been explicitly studied and that consequently,
important distortions within the educational systems of many developing
countries are to be observed.
Some striking facts relative to the case of Latin America in general
and to Argentina and Mexico in particular intend to support our hypothesis.
Within this context,, Chapter II tries to specify the liaison between
Manpower, Education and Planning.
Finally, Chapter III is devoted to the analysis and brief discussion
of some tentative definitions concerning technology and several derived
expressions. Emphasis is laid on technological dependence and technology
transfer and an effort to link these phenomena properly with education has
been made.
At the end of Chapter III we present what we have considered to be
the "essential paths towards technological independence.
Given the very nature of our subject we should like to stress the
fact that this is a speculative paper. The following remarks are therefore,
more in the nature of a series' of statements for discussion than a persuasively
styled'argument in defense of a firmly held position.
page 2
CHAPTER I
THE PROBLEM
1. The General Background
Up to recent times a sharp distinction between formal and non-formal
education has been made. At the same time scientific and technical
development have shown that such a distinction is in fact more apparent
than real.
This is a rather well known subject of discussion. Consequently
it would appear to be a little superfluous to be mentioned again in this
paper. Anyhowj without attempting to establish rigid features of both
types of education we may see that a main assumption is underlying within
this artificial division of education, i.e.., formal and non-formal education
have to a certain degree, different objectives so that, the former should
give to individuals a general knowledge and culture, an overall understanding
of the universe] the magnitude, depth and quality of this general under
standing being a matter, most of all, of the years of education completed.
More concretely speaking, we might perhaps say, that, formal education
tends to enable individuals to reach university and - more broadly speaking -
institutions of higher education.
Non-formal education seems to have a more restricted and specific
field, Philip H„ Coombs (l) points out that non-formal education is intended
to achieve the following basic goals :
(a) to assure individuals' occupational mobility,.-.-
(b) to maintain economically active education properly trained
accordingly with newly required technological levels in order
to increase productivity and
(c) to enable a country's population to use at best their free time.
Fromal education has been currently identified with general education,
while non-formal teaching with technical education.
(1) Coombs, Philip H., HEP, The World Educational Crisis - A Systems
Analysis, p. 145
page 3
In accordance with Coombs' assertions it becomes evident that non-
formal education is revealed to be of the utmost importance for developing
countries especially as far as points (a) and (b) are concerned.
Many of these countries however have ignored the strategic importance
of this type of education and have neglected its development. On the contrary,
their main effort has only stressed the expansion of formal education. The
results of such a policy have not always been encouraging as we shall see
later on when making reference to the case of Latin America. Liberal pro
fessions and to a certain degree (but only to a certain degree) some types
of engineers and scientists have been the most characteristic and most
numerous 'products' of these educational systems.
On the contrary very little attention has been paid to the fact that
it should be a question of the highest importance that the educational
system of a country - a comprehensive, modem and efficient educational
system (l) - prepares, produces and improves its directly productive labour
force, i.e. : semi-skilled and skilled workers as well as the middle and
higher level technicians and the.administrative.personnel.
In this context it has been proved that in. Latin 'America., for instance9
our universities and higher education institutions produce a relative sur
plus of professionals who, in the long run, become, in real life, only
middle-level technicians, skilled workers or more or less - qualified admi
nistrative employees. This is due either to the labour market forces or to
their deficient quality as high-level professionals.(2)
From an economic standpoint this means that we are preparing middle
level manpower at university cost. ( 3) This fact, on the other hand, may be
translated into a human resource wastage and a considerable frustration.
(1) Such a system will be described in the following chapters.
(2) See : Davis Rüssel G. , "Comparison of the Output of Middle and Professional
Level:'Programme, s...:л .Current... Patterns of Utilization" in Scientific, Engineering and Technical Education in Mexico, p. 27.
(З) See : Lourié Sylvain, "Education for Today or Yesterday" in Problems and'Strategies of Educational" Planning." Lessons from Latin America,
pages 3^-35.
page 4
History of education and comparative analysis show that in the majority
of the actually developing countries (l) educational systems as they have
been conceived correspond in fact to 150-years old European and North-
American models.
Besides, .at the present time, it is rather difficult to establish
a direct relationship or close connexion between the level of education •
attained by an individual under such systems and his professional category,
his real occupation. Three causes might explain why this is so ; (2)
1. demand for technical personnel has suddenly appeared in certain
economic branches,
2. supply exceeds demand in some others, and
3. as a consequence of 1. and 2. improvisation has been necessary.
Demand for education has been submitted to a spectacular social
pressure during the last decades. It has become a human and social right
which societies 'demand, each time more vigourously. This fact produces
important practical consequences concerning the work at schools and, most
of all, for the very content of education itself. Quantitative changes in
enrolments produce inevitably qualitative changes in education. Schools
which enrol a large proportion of the population will be quite different
from those which were limited to small selected groups.
From being a rare, scarce and expensive consumption commodity, -
education has become a powerful - perhaps the most powerful - instrument
of economic and social development, Popular classes, whose aims, motivations
and purposes are directed to obtaining higher standards of life, are
trying to attain their goals by means of education..
Under these pressures, the borderlines between formal and non-formal
education tend to become less and less rigid. Education is converting quite
rapidly into a single and coherent unit, it is just becoming that : EDUCATION»
(1) Vid. :' Harbison F. and Myers N., Education, Manpower and Economic Growth,
Mc-Graw Hill Book, New York, 1964.
(2) Urquidi, Victor L., "problems of Forecasting Manpower Requirements in
Latin America1' in Problems of Human Resources Planning in Latin America
and in the M.R.P, Countries, p. 80
page 5
•The so-called 'general' education on the one hand and technical
education (or broadly speaking 'non-formal''education) on the other, are
thus becoming nothing more than closely related aspects of the same -
educational process which as a whole, is being submitted to the same cul
tural and social forces. The main trends of this movement may be summarized
as follows s (l)
(a) continuous extension of the period of general and compulsory
schooling,
(b) growing postponement of definitive differentiation and selection
(c) co-ordination and amalgamation of junior secondary types of
schooling into a comprehensive type of education,
(d) better co-ordination of formal and. non-formal processes of
training and
(e) systematic development of informal training. (2)
The mutation which is taking place within the educational field is
only a part of the impressive revolution in Science, Science, Knowledge,
Technology and Education are perhaps nothing more than different links of
the same chain. It is evident"that science is responsible for advancing
knowledge; technology and education render possible its concrete applications
to production tasks and social development.
A critical bottleneck is however appearing within this linking process:
science..is in fact advancing more quickly than education. In other words :
the mass of knowledge has increased more quickly than the means to diffuse
it. (3)
(1) OECD, The Education, Training and Functions of Technicians, p. 1
(2) The term "formal" is used in this case to define training activities
within' the educational system while the term "informal" or "non-formal"
refers to training within industry and other post-school part-time or
full-time training provided by governmental or private agencies not
directly controlled by the educational authorities.
(3) Kristensen, Thorkil in "Foreword" to Economic Development and Investments
in Education, OECD, Paris 1965.
page б
Another important consideration in this concern is the obsolescence of existing knowledge. There is little exaggeration in saying that a scientist or a doctor who graduated 20 years ago and has learnt nothing since;, has not a degree but a paper of little value.
Research in education is trying then,to clarify the relationships between science, knowledge, technology and education. Anyhow, since education is mainly a question of economic and social development, economists were in fact the pioneers in searching these connexions. But when realizing this task economists have found some disagreeable surprises t scientific and technological revolution have rendered of limited use the old and traditional instruments of economic analysis. The famous, complex and hardly definable 'technical-change-factor', 'third factor' or 'residual factor' has disrupted many theories and its weight within the whole constellation of economic- variables has increased/
Archibald (l) points out very brilliantly that up to some years ago, economists have, failed to recognize the extent to which continuing technological change has destroyed the foundations of their discipline and have continued to apply marginal analysis where it is clearly invalid.
A striking example of these statements is given when he discusses the problem of determining the proper allocation of wealth in a society where each individual relies on much of•the total fabric of the society and the economy to produce at all. !:To whom does the product of a wholly automated production line belong by right ?" is one of the most provocative questions he poses.
It seems evident that totally new techniques of measurement will be needed when doing serious economic analysis, when science, technology or education intervenes in one way or another. Pure scientists, technologists, social scientists and politicians, all working together, will be responsible for discovering and developing such, techniques.
(l) Theobald, Archibald, ''Technology, in Focus. The Emerging Nations. Long Term Prospects and Problems" p. 2j5
page 7
The former is by no means a purely academic discussion, it is. just an
effort to be consequent.with reality. Developed and developing countries
cannot ignore that economic growth comes from change and, that innovation is
the instrument by means of which change is implemented in.an organized
activity within society. .And 'that this process is directly concerned by
education since scientists "and engineers working in organized Research and
Development projects are the main source of new technology and change in
our modern economy.
Now,- although all that has been discussed seems easy to verify., the
fact is that it is only recently that politicians, economists and edu
cationists have realized the interaction of education with the scientific
and socio-economic factors., ;.Por;_ instance3 little research has/been carried
out in developing countries for examining the connexions between education
and technological-dependence and consequently for studying several ways to
diminish this dependence. It is clear that the majority of -the countries of
the Third World are not producers of technology - in that sense we shall
define it later on - but importers„ors in the best cases3 adapters of it.
These statements are specially valid for the recently .independent . countries ;
After their independence many countries of the Third World were
completely lacking-in a technology adapted to their specific social con
ditions s not having a: foreign one located and utilized within sectors of
the economy whose importance did not correspond properly to the strategy
of an autonomous economic development.
The process of adaptation of residuals of this technology to the
real needs of the economic system has been a long and difficult "one/but,
most of all s a very expensive one, Within the general context of scarcity
of economic and. duly qualified human resources, struggle for subsistence
has obliged underdeveloped., countries to continue the importation of foreign
technology with which the so-called. !poles of development' of these coun
tries are being fed.
This is rather a serious problem sincc^ as a matter of fact, the
absence of a science policy and a technology policy in such countries
seems to be a major obstacle in properly solving the problems derived from
the situation we have sketched.
page �
It will be noted later on that a .science policy should be a comprehensive one, this is to say t a policy aiming.to solve the problems of adaptation and creation of technology at all levels. 2. Some striking facts
(a)The case of Latin America:(Г) Educational problems in Latin America as well as all over the Third World are very serious indeed- but are specially acute as far as secondary and higher education are concerned.
An unrealistic type of secondary education and an outmoded higher education are impeding a quicker economic and social development.
In i960 1 — 64 per cent of all pupils enrolled in secondary education were at 'general secondary schools which -prepare pupils for higher education
'- 27 per cent attended technical schools - 9 Per cent (a great majority of them,, girls)•teacher-training schools. .
Over .50 per cent of the pupils enrolled in technical schools studied commercial..'courses 1 about 40 per cent industrial techniques and women's crafts and only 4 per cent agriculture !
It is also worthy to note that, with the exception of pupils at industrial technical schools (only 9 Per cent of the total enrolment in this level) all secondary-school leavers enter the tertiary sector, i.e. ; liberal professions, commerce and .administration.
In the same year (i960) the enrolment ratios were as follows : Primary education (7 - 12 years) 78«5 per cent Secondary education (lj5 - 19 years) 15»5 per cent Higher Education (20 - 24 years) 3.1 per cent Given the existing drop-out rates it happens, that for every
1 000 pupils enrolled in the first year of primary school t
(l) Vid. 1 Lourié, Sylvain, op. cit., pages 28-41
page 9
95 reach the last grade of primary school ' -.._"._.•. 15 reach the last grade of secondary school •-.. 4 reach the fifth university year 1 reaches the. sixth university year
-• :.:.•. ...As.- .far..: as -higher- education, is concerned it is worth noting its closed monolithic structure. As a matter of fact-, higher education is the only follow-up to secondary education and the entrance examination is the gate through which every applicant must pass. Given the entrance requirements and the even stronger pressures of social demand, universities are open only for those who can devote the time - and the:means - necessary to prepare them for competitive examinations-»-'
The lack of intermediate courses (say of 2 or 3 years of -higher education) "does not allow the production of highly qualified technicians. Besides-, the lack of full-time professors and consequently of research is a very- sever-e .problem. .It becomes clear., that...there .is a wide gap between.;...:.. Latin American Universities' ' outputr and the requirements, of ..the economy --
1. a 5 per cent drop-out ratio between the 1st, and the 2nd. year 2. 60 per cent of students attending traditional courses (medicine,
lav;, humanities, education, fine arts, etc.) 3. a scarce 40 per cent of students in modern disciplines (engineering,
social sciences, natural sciences and agriculture) These three main basic features of higher education give a general
idea of the inadequate conditions of higher education in Latin America. Such a situation has its' negative effect on the economics of
education 1
(a) As far as costs per pupil are concerned - the cost of a secondary education' pupil is on average 6Л times the cost of a primary education pupil,
- for higher education it is 27 times (b) As far as the cost per graduated•pupi1 ov student is concerned
and by-taking--into-consideration the present rate of educational wastage, the relevant relationships are...: - In primary education, .125 times the cost of six-year education
page 10
- In secondary level, 3*975 times the cost of six-year education
- In higher education, 2,15 times the cost of five-year education
Lourié (l) has translated these impressive facts into a striking couple
of equations in order to express the cost of a complete education (until the
5th year of university education) in terms of the cost of a primary education
pupil-year,. This is done firstly .without taking into consideration wastage
and; secondly by taking it into account. (See set of ratios (a) mentioned
above ) :•
if С = cost of a primary•education pupil-year 1. - assuming there is no wastage within the educational system :
б С + 6 (6.4 С ) + 5 (27 С ) = 179.4 С р р р — - * — — р — 2. - wastage alters the equation as follows :
4 125 x б С + 3 975 x 38.4 С + 2.15 х 135 С = 4б7 64 С In other "words, on average, 'to produce' a university graduate costs •
a monetary equivalent to 468 times the cost incurred in haying one pupil_ for one year in the primary school !
Now, regarding the allocation of total budgets devoted.to public education we find the next figures expressed as fractions of the unit : (2)
В = 0 538 (53.8 per cent) primary '
В ' , = 0 305 (30. 5 per cent) secondary , ^ ^ • -
В . ... . = 0 157 (15.7 per cent) university ' '
TOTAL BUDGET = 1 000 (100.0 per cent) Then the proportion of the budget actually devoted to finance a full
education can be calculated as follows (see figures given in the set of ratios (b) mentioned above) :
B- graduates = -° %3° g e = 0 1 05 p 4 ±.¿0
(1) Vid. Lourié, Sylvain, op. cit., pages 28-41
(2) Quoted by Lourié and taken from O.A.S.,. Education in Latin America :
Statistical Survey I963, Washington D.C.
page 11
В graduates = ° B e = O O768 s 3 975 В graduates = ,¿f e = O O73O u 2 15
since : • В + В + В = 0 2803 id est : 28.03 per cent p s u • ___^1 _ =¿__£
(denominators indicate wastage ratios)
In other words, 72 per cent (roughly speaking) of the budget of
public education in Latin American countries is devoted to support studies
that are never completed S Of course it does not mean an absolute loss since
even an incomplete education has- a certain value .but there is no doubt that
an absolutely new way of allocating resources for education is being claimed
as well as a profound reform of curricula and the redefinition of the main
educational policy objectives.
(b) The case of Argentina ' Argentina is of course included in the
general characteristics and troubles mentioned above for Latin America,
but its particular situation .differs to a certain degree from the whole in
the sense that,, generally-speaking, its-case is less grave than that of
other countries of the region. Argentina has strongly reacted against the
serious situation we have, described. It has started studying very serious
ly educational phenomena in connexion with development (l) and, by under
taking important measures-, is -attempting to- build a -new -strategy to-tackle
all kind of problems in this concern.
An interesting element of this new policy - although still not
satisfactory - is the establishment of more than one choice for a primary
school; leaver. We shall deal later on with this subject.
Some relevant figures will suffice to give an idea of Argentina's
case. -In connexion with the distribution of total enrolments the situation
is as follows t (2)
(1) Vid. OECD, Education, Human Resources and Development in Argentina-
OECD, Paris 1967
(2) Derived from": OECD, op. cit., TABLE II.2, p. 38
m
Ф о r¡ Ф
•H
О со
Ф tí ¡>>
tí tí -P
cd H
tí tí °H
H сб
tí tí
-p
и
-Ф
•H
-P Ш
•H
(U
tí
ü
tí -p bO
Ф
<
>
m
bO
tí
Ф (D
tí •H hO
tí
• H i
;
¡VD i
'">
!
cri
S
Ti tí
al
-P
o
cd
«
W
w
0
O tí
Ф
•H
Ü
со
0) tí tí -p
o
CD
-p
•H
x¡
o tí
<
tí -p m
!>>
-H o
g cd
CD
S Л
tí о
cd о
Рч pQ
cd P~
ILO j
-f~'
¡VD
! V
O
' V
D I
-3"
'LA
m
о •H
S и
G
о о
и
m-
J2 <H
К
о
со
¡> н
Д
cd
а -н
о
о ш
о
о со
гЧ
•Н
TJ
Л tí
Рч
cd
m
CD tí
•H Ü •H T
j CD
VD
.<L,. -P
. Ш
•H -P tí
CD P LTV
Рч
Щ H
fe
О Й
о со
н
И
Ен
Ен
<
D
Ü
н
р
Еч И
со
H
faO tí
•H tí •
H
cd
tí В tí
CD .tí о cd ш
Ей
из tí CD
.£ -P
О OJ >
Lû
LJ
н
TJ
0 -P cd
о
•H T
j r¡
•H
03
cd
и CD г-\
О a «5 Ф >> ! о
-р О
н О
Tj
cd
Ф -Р m tí
•н
w ф гЧ
о о tí
cd
Ф ¡ i
о -р ф
. %
W
«s о
о
Tj
Ф
О
н
'
•Н гЧ
tí tí -Р
о m
В w T
j ф
' tí.н
•н
м
tí
а
•н cd
d °
£- H
о ^
tí
•H
(D
tí
>
. Ф
о
^•°
H cd
Ф
-P
о
а cd
tí
•н
•p
tí
ф w
tí < tí •H
-p
tí ф s а
о н Ф
>
Ф Р
чз tí cd
w ф о tí
tí
о m Ф P
i
tí
cd
В tí
H tí
о •н -p cd
о tí
Tj
H
P
О g ф о tí tí о СО
page 13
LEVEL OF. EDUCATION - • cjo DISTRIBUTION Pre-primary 2.3$ Primary 77.7$ Second Level 15.2$ University and Higher <т.8$
TOTAL 100.0$ -The relevant distribution of pupils within the second level of
education is as follows.: (l) TYPE OF EDUCATION- $ DISTRIBUTION Secondary General 70.5$ Technical . . _ • 17.3$ 'Profesional' 12.2$-'
TOTAL SECOND LEVEL 100.0$ For a better understanding of these figures5 reference to
DIAGRAM I will be useful. The evolution of a cohort of 1 000 new entrants In primary education
through the succesive educational levels shown in DIAGRAM II is also very illustrative : (2) " " ' ""
(1) Ibidem, TABLE II. 3 p. 38 (2) Ibidem, p. T98
page 14
DIAGRAM II
EVOLUTION;;OP,.'A..-;:COHORT OF 1 OOO NEW ENTRANTS IN PRIMARY EDUCATION . • THROUGH THE SUCCESB/E EDUCATIONAL LEVELS
263
26" 16^->| 165 ^ ' '
l _ lBl '
'Secondary 1st.cycle Secondary 2nd cycle ! 128 .1 128 ^
; Ц 25 i ^'- 32 i \s" iL...-
Technical 1st, cycle Technical 2nd cycle
-• I ) University and .: -Higher
\.i 19
9 . ."Profesional"
Source : OECD, Education, Human Resources sind Development in Argentina.рД98 It is worth noting that before the reorganisation of studies which
that has been undertaken very recently "the 'bachillerato' stream (secondary general) has been the traditional avenue to university studies for the children of the more wealthy classes and it was and is a typical pre-university education paying no attention to the needs of the economy" (l)
With the growing number of children continuing post primary studies, pressures exerted on these types of studies* they .were converted into fully fledged secondary schools giving access to higher education. This led to the present system (see DIAGRAM i) : a first cycle followed by three streams of the second cycle. i.eaí 'bachillerato normal and comercial'.
A similar structure was adopted for technical education where a
pupil could obtain a formal qualification after completing the first cycle.
(l) Ibidem p. 454.
page 15
This is not however the case for secondary general education (which
is grave since enrolments are the most numerous here given the social
prestige patterns of. this type of'" education) where a formal qualification
of very relative practical use is delivered only after completion of the
second cycle.
Thus a child who attends only to 3 or years of secondary general
education has nothing to show for it nor a set of abilities of practical
economically-retributed use. The desirability of an intermediate qualifi
cation in secondary general is obvious. There should be several exit
possibilities related to the various tasks really required by society.
On the other hand., from a mere qualitative standpoint., as.well, as
from the point of view of the content of education., problems are also very
important indeed.
As a matter of fact the 'enseñanza profesional' (SEE DIAGRAM I) is
an anachronism and bears no relation to the needs, social or economic« of
the country. Drop-out rates in technical education » as a whole - are very
high,, almost 60 per cent and it is thought that this is so because of the
fact » again - that the training given bears little relation to TECHNOLOGICAL
needs of industry so that pupils have the feeling.;of wasting their time.
This is however an assumption which needs confirmation.
Agricultural education in general, and agricultural' technical
education in particular, have been neglected in Argentina. Such a verific
ation is quite striking in a country where an agricultural sector has
great importance-for the whole economy.
This type of education suffers many insufficiencies 1 the middle-
level technician, for example, is practically unknown-. Besides, there is
no university course in agricultural economics (!) so that "it would be
only a slight exaggeration to say that Argentina has no training facilities
below the 'profesional' level for one of the most important sectors of
its activity".
page 16
Malutilisation of human resources is. also striking in Argentina
mainly at the higher education level. When examining, for example, the v
number of student-years to produce a graduate in Argentine Universities,
the following figures were found : (l)
Science and Technology 2j5.1
Medicine and related studies l4„9
Social Sciences 24.2
Inadequate patterns of use of human resour.ces are also to be noted when
highly qualified people occupy jobs for which much lower qualifications are
in fact required,. This is mostly a consequence of the lack of properly trai
ned middle-level technicians» In Argentina, (2) a special case in this
concern seems to be that of engineering occupations where these are per
formed by persons not having the formal educational - requirements' on the .
one hand, and of persons holding degrees but occupying positions, the
educational requirements of which are far below their educational level, on
the other. Inadequate organization, inadequate entrepreneurship, lack of
efficient methods of production and lack of the necessary human skill mix
are the. main reasons underlying such occupational phenomena.
(c) The case of Mexico. - On average, common features already described
for Latin America and Argentina are also valid for Mexico. We should like
then to focus our attention,, as far as the Mexican case is concerned, on
the^wrong patterns of utilisation of trained manpower.
The Banco de Mexico working with a sample corresponding to the
manufacturing enterprises (the manufac.turing sector being responsible In
Mexico for something like 22 per cent- of the G.D.P.) found out the following -
results with regard to the employment of scientific, technical and
skilled personnel ° (3) '
(1) Ibidem, p. 450, TABLE IV. 3
(2) Vid. OECD, op.cit., pe 28i
(3) Vid, Davis, Rüssel G., op . cit.
page
A. Professionals (university level B. Sub-professionals С Practical technicians
4,843 831
6,574
TOTAL 12,248 (a) (a) The study sought to identify three levels of technical manpower : practical technicians, 'sub-professionals' (no distinction was made between intermediate and upper-level technicians) and 'professional' (including graduate-level scientists). A sample of 17,186 establishments employing 632,644 people and 12,248 technical employees..
Ratios between figures mentioned above were : A : В = 6 t 1 A : С = 1 i .1.4 . В : A = 1 : 6 В : С = 1 : 8 С : A = 1.4 : 1 С : В - 8 î 1 •
A Ï (В + С) =-1 •: 1.5 Six 'high level professionals' per one 'sub-professional' ! One, 'high level professional' per one and a half practical-..
technician.! Besides it was noted that the ratio 'high level professionals1 to
totalworkers was 1 ; 131. The ratios existed in the United States, of America in 1920.
Although the definition of technicians, sub-professionals and professionals is by no means the same all over the world,.-figures and ratios presented above are.striking enough to give them further, thought.
The following diagram presented by Davis (l) could be useful for a better understanding of the educational and practical requirements of skilled, technical and scientific personnel in Mexico.
DIAGRAM III SCHEMA OF TECHNICAL TRAINING BELOW THE PROFESSIONAL LEVEL
MANIPULATIVE AND CRAFT SKILLS
(Shop Work) TECHNICAL SKILLS
(Application of mathematics, .science and technology)
i Skilled i Machine j Operator ]
(l) Op. cit. p. l6
Skilled Craftsman
. . .TECHNICIAN-Technical . !-Specialist j
Engineering Technician
page l8
Source to Diagram III.
Source ° Davis, Russell G., Scientific. Engineering and Technical
Education in Mexico,, p. l6
In Mexico, the term 'middle level technician' has usually meant
'individuals' in the last two columns of the schema as well as a sizeable
proportion of the better skilled cfaftsmen. These better skilled crafts
men., commonly called 'practical technicians' are normally graduates of the
first cycle of vocational schools or individuals'with high natural talent
who have received training within industry.
The so called 'intermediate technicians' are technical specialists;
normally graduates of second cycle terminal programmes with some additional
experience on the job. They are capable of filling supervisory positions
in those establishments where technology is evolving slowly.
Finally the engineering technicians, called 'upper-level technicians'
would require-at least two years of formal training beyond the second cycle
of middle-level of education or its- equivalent. They fill supervisory
positions and assist professional and graduate-level scientists and engineers
working in establishments where technology is high and in rapid evolution.
Now in order to offset this imbalance concerning the 'surplus1 of
high-level professionals and the lack of middle level technicians, the labour
market has moved as follows : (l)
(a) a. considerable amount of engineers and other 'high level
professionals' are actually performing tasks which could be
normally performed by middle-level technicians. This has im
plied underemployment of professionals but, on the other hand
and as a matter of fact, in many cases the education offered
in higher education institutions was only the equivalent to a
middle-level training»
(b) some graduates of the vocational system at the primary level
could obtain employment corresponding in fact to a middle level
of training.
(l) Lajous Vargas, Adrian, Aspectos de la Educación Superior y el Empleo
de Profesionistas en México 19*59-1967J Escuela, Nacional de Economía,
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico, Mexico 1967^ p. 25
page 19
(с) some workers with very little formal education have been promoted to higher positions.
Mexican authorities are not unconscious of such problems and important measures have been taken in this regard for example by founding polytechnic and technological institutes whose principal aim is to provide the Mexican economy with the required technical manpower it needs. Anyhow social pressures exerted to transform training institutions of a middle level into high-level ones with university equivalences have impeded the success of' Mexican educational policy, Prejudices against technical education as well as the traditional social value' of academical education are important factors explaining the situation. Let "us see for instance the growing -imbalance between enrolments in preparatory cycles' and enrolments in terminal technical programmes with figures corresponding to the Institute Politécnico Nacional :
GROWTH IN SECOND CYCLE,... MIDDLE-LEVEL ENROLMENTS, IPN (a)' .
Type of Education 1958 I963 jo Increase
Technical Preparatory
(for University) 6 113 11 010 80c/b
Terminal Technical 2 2J>k 2 684 : 20%
(a) Davis, Rüssel G., Scientific, Engineering and Technical Education in •.
Mexico:> p, 14
•A conclusive remark seems to emerge after looking at the experiences
we have very briefly discussed : Latin American educational systems seem
to function in accordance with an implicit basic assumption : every pupil
admitted to primary schools shall finish his, education at university-
probability to do so will depend on the social and economic, status of the
pupil. The absurdity of such a principle is evident.
page 20
CHAPTER II
MANPOWER, EDUCATION AND PLANNING
The preceding chapter has shown how necessary it is to define precisely
what the goals of education are within a given society. Up to recent years the
assumption was that the formal system of education was the means to reach
these objectives and goals, whatever they are. This is, for example, to a
large extent the case of the Mediterranean Regional Project; according
to it the manpower, required ten years ahead, can be expressed in terms of
educational needs which will be met exclusively, or almost exclusively, by
the existing formal educational systems. Such an assumption In the case
of Latin.America would be obviously unrealistic.
It is also clear that an education aimed exclusively at satisfying
the demand for specialized skills may not be the most effective way of
securing the kind of human resources needed by a world undergoing continuous
and rapid change, especially technological change.
Vie are coming again here to the arduous problem of choosing the
proper approach for educational planning : social demand or manpower
approach? Many times, and especially In developing countries, conflicts
between both criteria exist. However, priorities should be established in
accordance with the special circumstances of each case. This.may seem a
truism or a. statement of common sense. ..Anyhow, the experience of real
facts tend to demonstrate that developing countries have become extremists
by following mostly what we might call the social demand model when planning
their education. This seems to be as we have already seen, the case of Latin
America.
.-.•.The absence of properly prepared technicians and . employees., of.
educational planning seems to.have led many, developing countries to-imitate...
models from abroad. We have already verified, the expensive;., consequences;.,
of such behaviour. Notwithstanding, manpower criteria has recently been
given top priority in the developing countries - "with the implicit assumption
that as soon as development targets are achieved, increased sources would
allow better consideration of social demands. And, on the other hand, that
development may in turn lead to changes in the demands of society for the
various types of education. îr(l)
(l) OECD "Conclusions and Recommendations of the Working Groups", Training
Course on Technical Education, DAS/EID/68. 30.
page 21
Such an assumption will be of the utmost importance, but it would
perhaps be-' unnecessary and even prejudicial to remain inflexible between
these two extremes. A more dynamic policy combining the best elements of
both standpoints would be indispensible.' ' However, a verification can be
made in the case of loxv industrialized countries : manpower requirements
are becoming more and more important each time and to meet them properly
is an affair of absolutely vital importance. Education, science and tech
nology seem to be if not the only, at least the most., important means to
match "with.
Relationships linking these-e-le-ments- have- been, -in fact, neglected.
Developing countries have paid almost no attention, .to., a serious study ;..:of this
linkage. Changes in technological processes may require, in fact they do
require, changes in the educational inputs of the relevant occupations.
The educational policy-makers will have to adapt teaching, in its
structure, methods and content to the new situations created by development
within the labour market whose requirements become more and more fluctuating.
The answer to the problem is thus to be sought not in better manpower fore-
castings alone but in the curricuie themselves, (l)
The 0ECD(2) points out very brilliantly that the curricula must be
increasingly seen in a new and dual__ role, i. e. : both as one of the main
instruments through which the objectives of education are attained on a
unified basis and as_ _a facj or to be taken into account in determining these
objectives and in adjusting_ them__to jthe educational process.
Since these objectives are mostly ones of economic and social
development, curriculum planning can only fulfil this function if it is
fully integrated into the overall economic and social planning mechanisms, or,
in other words, educational policy and therefore curricula must be designed
in such a way that the education students will receive will be relevant to
their own needs and those of the society in which they live.
(1) OECD, Curriculum Improvement and Educational Development, pages 6o-5l
(2) Idem.
page 22
It seems to be clear that when implementing such principles a deep
transformation is going to take place within the educational field. This
transformation should mean "that full-time formal education will be but
a part of a general process of life-long training and that the latter will
be in terms of size., organization and budget assume an importance at least
equal to that now involved in the regular school system. The function of the
schools will be profoundly affected by the.impact of outside sources of
information; in fact, the school will have a different task in teaching
children to sort out the abundant flow of information and to teach them
how to use it rather than be overwhelmed by it."(l) Schools must become
formative rather than informative agents. This statement implies profound
changes.
(1) Ibidem, p. 4l
page 23
CHAPTER III
SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION
1. Some Preliminary Considérations.
It is our feeling that little attention has been paid in fact in
the specialized literature to the specific relationships between science,
technology and education. This is, partly, the consequence of the extreme
youth of the new branch of Economics or, more broadly speaking, of Social
Sciences dealing with : the Economics of Human Resources.
Economists have tried recently to find out what the impact of the
educational investments on the GDP is. Education and Economics appear then
as new branch of Social Sciences denominated as the Economics of Education
which in fact seems to be a sub-branch of the already mentioned Economics
of Human Resources. Authors such as Aukkrust, Becker, Bowen, Correa,
Denison, Fabricant, Harbison, Kuznetz, Myers, Renshaw, Schultz, Solow and
Vaizey have become classical in this field. It is but only recently that
the specific relationships between science, technology and education begin
to be a matter of serious study by specialists in the developed countries.
Almost nothing has been done in developing ones in this concern.
Within these circumstances the following' lines are nothing but the
expression of some personal 'worries in this connexion. We have felt for
instance that some-of the principal questions 'which need a proper answer in
the educational and economic field are : whajt-is technology? how may
education be linked with technology? can technology be 'taught'? can
it be learnt? Who can do this and how can this be done?
Looking for definitions : Defining the term 'Technology' offers a
great number of difficulties, ' The word is used with a somewhat different
meaning but at -the--same- -time- it seems that more or less everybody recognizes
a certain basic content.
Some current definitions are the following :
(l) Technology is "the art concerning the applications of pure
science, of theoretical knowledge in the field of production and
in the field of the Economy. "(I)
(l) Robert,Paul, Dictionnaire Alphabétique et Analogique- de-la Langue
Française, Tome VI, p. 28.••'•
page 24
(2) Technology isMa set of méthodologieal procedures founded on
scientific knowledge employed in production. "(l)
(3) Technology is "the study of tools, procedures and methods
employed in the diverse branches of industry. "(2)
(4) Technology is "the treaty of arts in general. The study of
techniques, tools,, machines and materials. " (3)
Definitions of technology may vary depending on whether we employ
an economical or an engineering language. If we use the first one, 'technology'
could express the relationship between inputs and outputs and c.onsequently
express a certain kind and degree of technique of production being used.
By expressing this relationship by means of an index one can sometimes have a
rough idea of the relative degree of efficiency of an economic system.
When discussing the term 'technology' in relation to engineering
we get closer to the expression ' know -hovi ', i.e. : (as already mentioned)
"the study of tools., procedures and methods employed in production. " We
intend to define technology as follows :
"Technology is a determined, form and. manner of employing materials,
tools, machines, methods, organization and inputs in general in view of
realizing the production whether of a single commodity, a set of commodities,
an industrial branch, an industry or an economic sector and even of a whole
economic system. The production under consideration may in fact be realized,
according to the specific case, whether maximizing the physical utilization
of inputs or maximizing the benefit.
"Besides, technology also denotes the effort of applying scientific
and technical knowledge in the search for new materials, tools, machines,
methods and organization for improving production techniques. "
Whether one, both or an intermediate goal is chosen to"design a
production, technology will vary. Thus the general principles to realize
production according to one criteria or another, seem to be found by means
of science and research. (Natural, exact, social and behavioural sciences).
In the modern world then the advance of technology, as we have already
defined it, has become a function of scientific discoveries and of innovation.
(1) Idem
(2) Larousse, 3 Volumes en Couleur, Tome 3* page 8ll
(3) Petit, Robert, Dictionnaire"dé "la Langue Française, p. 488
page 25
There would be, therefore, a slight exaggeration in saying that technology
is but the concrete application of scientific knowledge and discoveries
to production tasks. Consequently, technology is a matter dealing with
Economics, Engineering, brain-power, manpower, training and finally Education.
The former attempts to be a comprehensive definition but is rather a
speculative one. It attempts to be an eclectical definition in the sense
that it tries to take into consideration the engineering elements as well
as the economic ones of what is commonly understood by technology'.
Erich Jantsch of the OECD defines technology more briefly. We feel
however that our definition and that of OECD's is similar in essence. For
this organization "Technology denotes the broad area of purposeful appli
cation of the contents of the physical life and behavioural sciences. It
comprises the entire notion of techniques as well as the medical, agricul
tural, management and other fields with their total hardware and software
contents, "(l)
Given our definitions of Technology it becomes evident that different-
types and quality of production will consequently require different types
of technology. Different volumes, type and quality of available re
sources will also need different types of technology. This is especially
true when we examine the prob].em concerning the dilemma of developing countries,
that is to say, the dilemma of using" capital-intensive or, on the contrary,
labour-intensive technologies. We shall make reference tö these problems
later on.
2. Relationships between Science, Technology and Education
We have already mentioned several times 'thatJ"these connexions have
not -yet been clearly shown. Anyhow some essential statements may be derived
from'all" that we have seen before and from facts that are taking place
within'some of the most advanced countries such as, for instance, the United
Kingdom "-and-Germany-on the one hand, and Yugoslavia on the other. (We refer
here to the rapid- expansion of enrolments-in-higher and technic-al-edücktlon,-
and, more properly, taking in 'technological' education). The case of
Yugoslavia is an example of a rapidly modernising country.
(1) Jantsch, Erich, Technological Forecasting in Perspective, OECD,
Paris, 1967, p. 15.
page 26
We have mentioned above that technology is the concrete application of
scientific knowledge to production tasks. Science does not advance alone
by magic. It requires researchers to make it progress and to keep it alive. •
Researchers are in fact produced by only one 'factory' : the educational
system. Sometimes they come from abroad but always the source is the same :
an educational.system.
In actual societies, scientists may have one or all of the next
functions :
(1) to assimilate,, stock and diffuse existing knowledge
(2) to find out how to apply practical existing knowledge to
concrete problems of production.
(5) to create new knowledge., i. e. , to realize pure research.
There is no doubt that all of these activities are of- vital importance
in no matter what society and there is also no doubt that all of them are
closely linked with the technological processes. At first sight it seems
that the second one appears to have a crucial importance in. this concern.
We might perhaps also deduce from these three functions of scientists
that each of them requires« in fact,, different educational backgrounds,,
the last one, perhaps, being the highest. Education is here then the
elementary: ingredient; the 'conditio sine qua non'. It is not however
a question of any kind of education, it is a question of a well defined,
at least in general, type of education : comprehensive education.
Scientists are not however the 'factorurn'; they design the general
framework of a given technology, they may set up the general principles to
adapt or to improve an existing one but, as a matter of fact, they are not
the indicated agents to implement it since, by its very nature, technology
is but a form, a manner, a method to realize certain types of production.
Engineers, technicians and generally speaking, qualified manpower -
at all levels are the counterpart of the whole. They implement a given
technology, they realize it, they handle it, they manipulate it.
In other words, the realization of a given technology requires,
in our personal opinion, three types of brain and manpower :
page 27
(1) scientists and. highly qualified engineers to design its
. basic frameworkj,
(2) ' engineers., and. upper-technicians, to control and manage the . :.
basic guide lines., of. its application,...
(3) middle-level technicians and skilled manpower (workers directly
linked with production) to implement it.
The educational and skilled requirements of each of these types of
'human inputs' are to be defined by each society in particular and, within"
each of them., by certain conditions prevailing in the different economic
and social sectors. This is the theory,' but in-practice it happens that
technologies generally used in different countries are rather similar
(we mean technologies of the most dynamic sectors of the economy) for their
origin is,' most of the time, more or less the same. This constitutes another
kind of problem which we shall deal with later on.
The conclusion here is that the understanding of scientific principles
connected with production and their manipulation is indeed a matter con
cerning education. The proper and efficient use of tools, machines, methods»
formulae, organization and inputs in general, i.e., the implementation of
technology itself is also a matter of education, a matter of training,
because manipulating technology involves the problem of teaching and learning
how to do so. -
Teaching and learning is, no doubt, a question, first of all, of
education.
Whether education and/or training required to implement technology
is a concern of the formal or -of the non-formal system/ of education is for
the moment irrelevant. The fact -is that in order to adapt, to handle or;
to create a technology is a question-of giving and receiving : knowledge,
a question of giving and receiving training, ä.matter of applying knowledge
and of applying skills. In'one word, it is a-matter of education in"its •
broadest sense. By this we should like to mean educationin the way that
Schultz defines it(l). : Education has a main feature : it Involves.a process
(l) Schultz, Theodore W. , The Economic Value of Education, p. 3
page 28
of teaching and learning. Thus' "to educate means ethymologically to educe
or draw out of a person something potential and latent; it means to fit hiin
for a calling by a systematic instruction; and it means to train (and what is
perhaps the most important) to discipline or form abilities. " In this
context the act or process of achieving one or more of these objectives is.,
as a first approximation, what education means in its broadest sense.
When examining the causes of the so-called 'technological gap the
Third.Conference of the Ministers of Science of the OECD countries held in
Paris on the 11 and 12 March 1968(1)' linked the study of this technological
gap with education in the following manner : "Every study concerning the
technological gap leads inevitably to compare the' efforts which different
countries devote to education and to .¡the entire development of their human
potential which is one of the bases of their scientific and technical ;
potential. " Technology development and education and training are claiming _••,
for- a proper co-ordination which at present, is recently being set up in
the "Western European countries and which' seems to have been set up earlier
in the U.S.A. ' The above-mentioned Conference also expressed. : " it is.
true that a qualified manpower is a necessary condition for reaching a high
technological level. This qualified manpower alone is not by itself a
sufficient condition as is clearly demonstrated by the observed brain-drain
all over the world. It is then absolutely necessary to establish an
equilibrium between the development of economical and scientific sectors. ..
and the expansion of the educational system, the source of scientific,
technical and generally speaking, intellectual personnel. "
One main conclusion among others may be derived from the confrontation
of Ministers of Science held in Paris : policies concerning social and
economic development cannot be assessed any,more, isolated from well defined
policies of science, technology and education.' These last ones have become,
essential components of growth and social welfare.
(l) See OECD, Troisième Conference Ministérielle sur la Science des Pays
de l'OCDE 11 et 12 mars 1968, Point V de l'Ordre du Jour,..... Ecarts
Technologiques•• entre -Pays Membres. Rapport Analytique, OCDE, Paris,
1968, CMS (68) 4.
page 29
З. Technology transfer and adaptation. Some general remarks and definitions. The OECD offers the following rather sophisticated definition of
technology transfer (it has to be borne in mind, that this definition as well as all those presented in this paper are not intended as rigorous ones and no claim is made for their universal applicability)(l) : "Technology transfer is a transfer process (usually complex) which takes place at different technology transfer' levels, which can be roughly divided-into development and impact levels., and' is composed of vertical and horizontal technology transfer components... .Vertical technology transfer, moving through the development'levels, is characterized by the four research and development phases :
- discovery phase - creative phase (leading to invention, a term not sharply definable for complex technological systems) - substantiate phase and - development phase All these followed by the engineering phase. The extension of this
vertical transfer by a considerable subsequent horizontal technology transfer (for example, application and.service engineering, marketing, diffusion of knowledge) marks technological innovation.". ..;•
A less sophisticated but also very provocative.definition-is .given by Rosenbloom(2) : "By transfer of technology we mean the acquisition, development and utilization of.technological information-in a .context different from that in which it was originated. The; result of this process is innovation, •• i. e. , the novel application of technology to a perceived need,"
Rosenbloom also indicates that the minimum implied conditions for transfer are : (3) - '
(a) an invention (b) its incorporation in an innovation
(1) Jantsch, Erich/OECD, op. cit. p. 15 (2) Rosenbloom, Richard S. , Technology Transfer Process and Policy. An
Analysis of the Utilization of Technological By-Products of Military and Space Research and Development, p. 9»
(3) Ibidem, page 10
page ;>0
(c) a difference in the context in which (a) and (b) takes place.,
and,
(d) a linking process which brings this about.
It is evident that a better understanding of the nature of the last
condition., i. e. , the linking process, is one of the most important steps
toward attainment of the ability to facilitate the transfer of technology.
Technology transfer may occur in fact by means of imitation or by
analogy. If an invention has been utilized in an innovation in its source
context, and if similar needs exist in a different context, the original
innovation may be imitated. This process of imitation is called the diffusion
of innovation. Some examples of diffusion of innovations are the adoption
of hybrid corn by farmers throughout the country and the spread of diesel
locomotives and railroads in factories.
Transfer by analogy poses distinctly different problems and is more
complicated : if new technology is to be used in secondary innovations
which will meet needs different from those met by the source of innovation,
another step is added to the process : technology must be ADAPTED before
it can be adopted. Transfer occurs by analogy when some perceive a
similarity between characteristics of a discovery or in a new situation.
The conceptual representation of these things in the language used
to describe them has an important influence on the likelihood that these
analogies will be formed. In general "the transfer of new technology -
whether it be from person to person, firm to firm, industry to Industry or
government to private enterprise - depends primarily upon the exchange of
information rather than upon the exchange of things. ,!(l)
It becomes then clear that an implicit condition for technology
transfer Is given by the possibilities of information to move from one
innovating centre to another. Information when existing, and when available,
can only circulate when people supposed to receive, read interpret and
eventually apply it are able to do so, I. e. , are duly qualified, properly
educated people. The role of education becomes then strikingly evident
within this context.
(1) Ibidem, p. 22
page 31
The adaptation of technology. Since a secondary innovation cornes
most of the time by analogy rather than by imitation it seems that we are
in fact dealing with a qualitatively new element of the process : CREATIVE
ADAPTATION.of technology*
In'practice/ the addition of an intervening step raises an essential
and transcendental question : Who can be expected to perform this creative
adaptation? Is it to be made by the original innovator, by the potential
adopter or by a third party? It is of course not easy to answer either
of these questions. A whole bunch of other explosive questions is hidden
inside the former, but principally they lead us to discuss an inherent
problem : technological dependence."
4. The Technological Dependence
It seems to be clear that countries belonging to the Third World are
not at all.producers of - technology but rather importers of it or, in
the best cases they" become adapters of it.
Now, the most dynamic sectors of the economy always intend to-
intensify their capitalisation (that of the so-called 'strategic poles
of development') by purchasing new equipment, new machinery which is con
sidered to', be - in the industrialized countries - much more productive- than
the old one.
It is rather easy to explain the origins of this technological
dependence" by means of rather well known historical reasons : the fact
that during colonial times rich countries penetrated all over the world
Imposing their technology. This is understandable since they did not have,
any interest. ..In using resources of dominated countries,, maximizing their use
at best "in view of domestic social goals of welfare. They simply had in
mind the realization of maximum, economic and financial- benefits and, under
these circumstances,- It.did not matter having production which, wasted con
siderable amounts of available human and natural resources.
After .their independence many countries of the-Third World were
absolutely lacking in a technology adapted to their, specific social con
ditions, not having -a foreign one located and utilized within sectors of the
economy whose Importance did not properly correspond to the strategy-of
an autonomous economic development.
The process' of adaptation of residuals of that technology to the
real needs of the economic system has been a long and difficult one but
most of all a very expensive one. Within the general context of scarcity of
economic and qualified human resources, struggle for subsistence has
obliged underdeveloped countries to continue the importation of foreign"
technology with which the so-called 'poles of development' of these
countries are being fed.
This is rather a serious problem since within a general context,
like that we have just described^ technological dependence acquires a
broader meaning implying something more than the mere subjection to foreign
patents, payment of utilities abroad, devise drain and so on. , In fact
technological dependence often involves inadequate allocation of natural
and human resources - their wastage in fact.
The gravity of the economic effects of technological dependence may
vary from one country to another. In this concern very little research has -
been carried out in order to measure the real magnitude.of these effects;
partly because those organizations who could carry them out cannot study,
treat and discuss very easily such a problem involving- no little amount
of political content. International organizations, because of their very
nature, must be very careful when dealing xvith these kinds of problems..
It could then be useful to mention, merely as an example in this
regard, a study which Intends to give a concrete idea of this magnitude.
Criticism of all kinds may be posed to the study; anyhow the study is
very useful as an illustrative one. Its title Is : Estimating Technological
Change in the Productivity of the Mexican Economy during the 1950-19oO
Decade. The essential is- that this work makes use .of a double technique :
first it utilizes a Cobb-Douglas type production-function- ('properly-
modified to admit the element 'technological change') and secondly, it
handles Solow's technique. Results obtained show that the technological
change index decreased instead of increased (just the contrary of the
developed countries' case). In other words : notwithstanding.the positive
contribution either of capital or labour force taking place each year during
the period under consideration, a more capital-intensive economy has
functioned less effectively.
page 33
A useful and illustrative comparison may be made between the figures
obtained for the U.S.A. by .Hector-Correa--and. Sol ow on the one hand and for
the Mexican Economy on .the .other by the-Centro de Estudios Educativos. •-
In the U.S.A.'s case the technological change index increases almost
constantly...s..tart.ing..from the base year... The Mexican case shows just the
opposite trend. See Table 1.
Imputed cumulated losses for Mexico in this regard for-this ten year
period become equivalent to 5. 4 per cent of the GDP of the same period. In
I960 for instance, the corresponding loss was the equivalent to 5'3 per cent
of the federal budget of the same year.
In other words,.: the Introduction of anew technology where manipulation
could not be effectively assured because of several reasons but principally
because of the lack of properly qualified human resources, represented for
Mexico's case a loss of very considerable dimensions.
In other words, there is in each case some essential scientific and
technical pre-requisites to be filled.? no matter which country or region
adapts.an imported technology, but one of the most important Is the existence
of a properly qualified domestic brain and manpower. When such conditions
are lacking, wastage of resources is even more -critical than that observed
in the Mexican case.
Imported technology, whether alone or accompanying foreign Investments,
or adapted by the original innovator or by the adopter or by anyone else,
has to take Into account properly the existing economic, social, scientific
and technical conditions of the importing country and firstly of its
availabilities of brain and manpower.
Technological progress seems to be a by-product and also a factor
of economic and social progress, "roughly speaking It' is possible to distinguish
as far as technological levels are concerned, three of them each corresponding
to different economic and social levels. This graduation could perhaps
specially reflect the ease of developing countries in this connexion :
(l) manipulation of foreign technology without or perhaps with
very little modifications (this manipulation..generally involves
very little use. of native brain- and manpower).
page 34
Table 1. Technological .change index calculated for USA
Year
1909 I9IO I9II 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 I917 ' 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 -1928 1929
Correa's Index(l)
1.000 • 985
1.001 1.046 1.042 I.304 • 992
1.022 1.009 I.O26 1.078 1.074 1.064 I.I66 1.195 1.214 I.254 I.260 I.237 I.238 I.239
Solow's Index(2)
1.000 • 983
1.021 I.O23 1.064 I.07I 1.041 1.076 I.O65 1.142 1.157 1.069 1.146 1,183 I.196 I.215 I.254 1.241 1.235 1.226 1.251
Year
I93O I93I I932 1933 1934 1935 1936
' 1937 I938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
Correa's Index(l)
I.I99 1.219 1.187 1.179 I.294 I.370 I.435 I.449 1.459 I.506 I.564 I.6IO 1.599 1.624 I.699 I.726 I.677 I.658 1.686 1.701
Solow's Index(2)
1.197 I.226 I.I98 1.211 I.298 I.349 1.429 1.415 1.445 I.514 1.590 I.660 I.665 I.692 1.812 1.850 I.769 1.739 I.767 I.809
(1) Hector Correa, The economics of human resources, pp. 148/149-(2) Robert H. Solow, Technological change and the aggregate production-
function, in the Review Of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 34, No. 3* August/ 1957, p. З15.
Technological change index calculated for Mexico(3)
Year
I95O I95I I952 1953 . I954 1955 I956
Index
1.0000 • .9736 .9289 . 9094 • 9393 • 9387 .9459
Year
1957 1958 1959 i960
Index
.9646
.9643
.9445-
.9658
(3) Centro de Estudios Educativos, Estimación del Cambio Technologico en la Productividad de la Economía Mexicana durante el Período 1950-19ÔO,
Dase .•У °" CD ^
(2) adaptation of the relevant foreign technology to real- needs of the dynamic sector of the importing economy (considerable 'inputs' of domestic brainpower are then required and the implemen- . tation itself is largely executed also by domestic manpower). (3) creation of .a-specific new technology fully adapted to the country or, region under consideration (without remaining isolated., to do so would be. completely absurd,, the economic system or systems become almost autonomous in the technological field. Gaps in relation to the technological leader may exist but efforts to close them may become more real:than speculative). Roughly speaking we could.also find three levels of.automation or
mechanisation of industrial techniques.(l) These different levels of automation seem-to correspond in fact to
different degrees of capital intensity and consequently to different stages of economic and social development.
Different countries require in fact different techniques of production, different technologies indeed, especially.when their economic, policies are following .supreme guidelines; of social welfare and especially when measures against underemployment and umemployment are- essential elements of these policies :
- First -technology is dominated-by dependent machinery : the worker must provide the raw materials; he starts the machine, directs it and regulates it, etc. determining thereby the .rhythm of work. - On the second level are the semi-independent machines : work processes are largely, but not entirely automatic and the worker has to lend some assistance. The best known example Is the assembly line. . - Then full automation is reached. The worker ceases to be a slave of
."••• • the machine and performs tasks of a very different nature - regulation, supervision,:repairs. - Most important, the individual worker will have 'to-control:a-whole complex of automatic machines, he will be required to supervise-measuring instruments and to regulate them on the basis of his technical knowledge- in an absolutely reliable way.
(l) Friedmann, Georges, quoted by Schelsky H. , -'Technical Change and Educational Consequences' in Education, Economy and Society, pages 32-33.
page 3°
Attempting to define technological dependence : Vie can then search
for a definition : Technological dependence may be perhaps denoted as the
fact that an economic system of national characteristics or a whole set of
economic systems belonging because of some essential basic features., to what
might be called 'a region' operate as far as their production tasks are
concerned with technical procedures that have been mostly discovered^
innovated and implemented originally abroad and consequently belonging to
foreign individuals, enterprises or governments.
These systems are in fact bound to the payment of licences^ patents
and connected expenditures in order to realize production. This subjection
may in fact be multiple in the sense that it may be a question of :
- the subjection to licences, patents., formulae and procedures of
production and of organization
- subjection to imports of capital assets and raw materials.
- subjection to imported brainpower and even certain amounts of man
power.
Technological dependence can affect in fact the whole economic system •
or only the most dynamic sectors of production, i.e. the denominated poles
of development can affect some important branches or only some industries
or services.
On the other hand technological dependence may be established-.,' generally
speaking either by one or all of the next conducts :
- foreign direct investments
- bilateral or multilateral credits
- importation' of patents and licences
- technical aid
Industries belonging to the so-called group of science - based industries
are those inhere developing countries or even Western European countries are
more technologically dependent from the innovation centre. "These industries
are usually defined as aviation, electronics, scientific instruments,
electrical machinery, chemical s , drugs and oil. They tend to be industries
dominated by big companies, capable of handling huge research programmes
of the order of $ 100 million a year and upwards, "(l)
(1) The Economist, "The Technological Gap"", March lo 1968, p. 75.
page ;>,
Is it possible to express technological dependence? A specialized
review(l) points out some of the evidence concerning l40 major developments
of the last 20 years. 'They were stated as-follows :
Sweden. : 3. 5 per cent
Switzerland k. 0 per cent
Germany 10. 0 per cent
Great Britain 15.0 per cent
Other - - 7. 5 per. cent
U. S. A. 60. 0 per cent
The QECD suggests that a quantitative indicator of the technological
gap between a given country and abroad may be constructed by expressing
as an index the relationship between receipts and payments of patents and
licences concerning the 'know-how'.(2)
Another illustrative indicator might be the value represented by -
payments made to foreign countries by right of licences and patents
expressed as a percentage of the total industrial investment in a given year.
Although such indicators present in fact many statistical reserves
and are not consequently completely reliable they constitute at least
rough illustrative measures of what we have denoted as technological
dependence.
By using the first index., the OECD indicates "that in 19"6~3-^ France,
Germany, Italy,. Japan and the United Kingdom have bought to the U. S. A. a
little less than one half of the technology they have obtained during-these
- years..... Figures., available .indicate for - example -that.- the U. S. A. are • the -first
suppliers of technology within the OECD zone. However, it does not follow
from this that technological exchanges within Europe'Herself are negligible.
...On the-.-other hand, statistics available relative to receipts and payments
of licences and patents by industry show a strong concentration on five
industrial sectors :
--non--electric equipment--• •'• -•
- transport materials
- basic"metals and metallic"products
- electric equipment
- chemical products
(1) Idem!
(2) OECD, Troisième Conference . .., Chapitre B, "Les Réalisations des Pays
Membres en Matière d'innovation Technique", pages J>6 and following.
page 36
It might also be useful to consider in this context for example the number of licences and patents supplied abroad by some countries; this is indicated by the following table : Table 2. Number of Licences and. Patents supplied abroad by countries
of origin in 1963(a)
Country of origin Number of Licences and Patents
U.S.A. Federal Republic of Germany United Kingdom Switzerland France Netherlands Italy Sweden Japan Canada Belgium Czechoslovakia Austria Denmark
Thousands
56.3 29.9 . 15.2 9.4 9.З 6.4 4.6 3.8 3.5 1.9 1.8 1. 5 1.5 1.0
%
38.5 20.5 10.4 5.4 6.4 4.4 3.1 2.5 2.4 1.3 1.2 1.0 1.0 0.8
TOTAL" 146.1 100.0
(a) Source : J. Shipman, "international Patent Planning" in Havard Business Review, March-April 1967* quoted in Troisième Conference Ministérielle sur la Science des Pays de l'OCDE, 11 et 12 mars 1968., Point V de l'Ordre du Jour,
Ecarts Technologiques entre Pays Membres. Rapport Analytique, OCDE, Pari s
I968, Chapitre B, p. 47.
page j?9
Illustrative figures are also the following :
Table 3 . Relationship between "payment relating to technological transfers
and total gross industrial investments" in 1964(a) -(expressed in
percentages). • - •- -•
Country
United Kingdom
Germany
France
Italy
Japan
(a) Source : OECD, op. cit. , p. 42
- % •
0. 26
0.31
"0. 28
o. 63
o. 50
Another very interesting, comparison is made.between the variation
index of 'technological receipts' of U.S.A.. by region of origin and other
economic indicators :
Tabled. Year 1965 (1957 = 100) (a).
'Technological Receipts of U.S.A.
P. N.B. (at current prices)
Gross sinvestments in equipment and materials
Industrial production
U.K.
373
160
165
129
Europe/QECD
167
179
153
Canada
300
I63
157
154
(a) Source : 0ECD., op. cit. , p. 42
It seems to be clear according to the above mentioned figures that
'technological receipts' received by U.S.A. have increased much more rapidly
than the other indicators of the economic activity. A first conclusion
xvhich could be derived is that technological contributions coming from
U. S. A. are plavin0, &n increasing role in the 0ECD zone.
Dage 40
Table 5. Proportion of receipts perceived by U.S.A. by right of licences
patents, royalties and management charges proceeding from operations
between central enterprises and their subsidiaries (a)(in percentages)
Year U. K. Europe/OECD Canada Japan
1957 44.4 •• -4-5.1 75.4 - 15.4
1965 72.3 70.8 89.5 24.5
(a) Source : OECD, op.cit., p. 4^
The principal'"remark"that can be formulated is that figures - • •
seem to prove that the transfer of American techniques--towards other
parts of the OECD zone is increasingly being made effectual mostly by means
of direct investments instead of imitation, excepting Japan where a strong
imitation process seems to be taking place.
Figures concerning indications of this sort are unfortunately available
only for some selected countries, that is to say, U.S.A. and some of'the
OECD member countries. For almost the whole of the so-called -under-
developed countries or developing ones, figures are not available. Anyhow
not much intuition and common sense "is needed to-perceive-the-magnitude • •
of such phenomena in countries of Latin America, Asia and Africa/
Technological dependence and education. Any economic system in
order to function needs to absorb qualified manpower from all possible •
places. When it is decided to introduce certain types of production in
a given society, at the same time the corresponding technology is chosen and,
consequently, the respective technical co-efficients of such types of
production. Thus, rigidities'are"settled up"and capital" and labour inputs'
are then defined in quality and quantity. • ' •
When'such a process takes "place in'developing countries, it is -•
implemented, generally speaking, by using mostly foreign technology,
imported technology. If the country' or countries under consideration are
page Ц-l
not already duly prepared to receive technology from abroad,, the degree of their technological dependence in relation to the supplier will be higher and there will be few possibilities for domestic techniques and, -especially, brain power to be used. The only considerable contribution that such '. countries make is physical labour., unqualified or very little trained manpower, which, just because of its relative abundance, appears to be very cheap.
If the country we are dealing with is a more advanced one and has been able to train, whether by means of technical schools and specialized centres, or by means of on-the-job training, certain types of qualified manpower, such an active population, will more easily assimilate foreign technology although there may always be the probability that the- introduction of .new techniques of :production represent a considerable amount of expense by the effect of wastage due to the process of' adaptation- of the labour force to these techniques, as for example happened -to be the. case of Mexico during the decade 1950 - 19o0. ' It seems to be clear thatjthis imputed cost of introduction of new technologies will vary according to the amount-, type and quality, of trained manpower available in the importing country when introducing them.
'Now, as we have already seen, a considerable number of developing countries-' educational systems are in fact, an educational system, of formal education whose main characteristics have already been exposed. In this connexion, we came to the conclusion that this kind of.educational system was, generally speaking, an absurd, copy of old European and American model's. '" Many Latin American countries could, as a matter of fact, be introduced in -this--assertion.
There is inside a wide scale of values in the way education is conceived within these 'formal' systems. Rattinoff(l) has pointed out very, well that education plays the role of a symbol of a social class. What is intended to be found through education is most of all a channel of social mobility allowing its possessors to acquire, a middle-class social, status which- is characterized by occupational" roles, excluding physical effort.
(l) See : Lajous-Vargas, Adrian, op. cit.
page 42
Besides, since the so-called vocational courses do not ensure, if
not economically speaking, at least socially speaking, this status, these
courses have been submitted to social pressures in order to give them an
academic formal and material equivalence to general education.
On the other hand, foreign systems, such as we have imported in
many developing countries many years ago, assumed certain basic equivalences
between the type and amount of education received and the professional
occupation really exercised.
This is not by any means the case of most educational systems of
these countries at present. This is due, as Urquidi(l) points out, to
the speed with which the demand for technical manpower has grown in some
branches, the surplus of supply over demand in others and the general
atmosphere of improvisation -that often prevails. Some means should there
fore be found when assessing the present situation to correct the nominal
education standard by a factor indicating efficiency in the job.
These educational systems this way conceived are then mainly
concerned in giving pupils only some general knowledge, i. e. , the elemen
tary principles of some arts and sciences. But they leave aside (assuming
that other organisms either public or private, will do something in this
connexion) the transmission of the concrete forms of application of this
knowledge, i.e., technology itself. Under such circumstances a serious
revision of educational policies seems to be absolutely necessary.
This analysis seems to be specially valid for urban education.
Things are not better with rural education. Wolfe(2) indicates that
"turning to the rural strata one sees an educational pattern apparently very
remote - from the one just described ( the urban one), but in reality dominated
by it. For, by and large, the rural school has been an exotic and sickly
import from the cities, deriving from national policy rather than from local
demands. "
(1) See : Urquidi, Victor L. , op. cit. pages 77 and following
(2) Wolfe, Marshall, "Social and Political Problems of Educational Planning
in Latin America" in Problems and Strategies of Educational Planning. .
Lessons from Latin America, p. 23 ..
page 43
5. Paths towards Technological Independence? To propose purely technolo
gical independence or autarchy for every country or group of countries
would be equivalent to proposing an impertinence and a Utopia. We cannot
ignore the pre-eminent position actually held by the existing technological
centres on the one hand and the enormous task of obtaining even a partial
independence; countries willing to settle up the basis for their autonomy
would have to face, giving the prevailing circumstances.
Besidesj as a first approximation it seems that national technological
autrachy would be, in fact, nonsense. Technologies are not so flexible as
to be able to conform to strict national criteria. On the contrary within
the field of factual realization« regional "or multinational independence
in relation to the existing innovating centres, might be envisaged.
This appears to be in the present days the direction that Western'
European countries intend to follow. Roughly speaking they have the means
to achieve such a goal; they are conscious of the existence of the problem,
they have the sense of international co-operation, they have some basic
common interests, they also have the financial means and the minimum brain
and manpower requirements to attempt such an effort; finally their governments
are walling to undertake this huge enterprise.
The developing countries' situation is rather different. Only very
few of them could perhaps imitate Western Europe. Anyhow,'these'few countries
have something to do in this connexion.
We feel that two main paths could be followed by developing countries:'
(l) For those regions where technological autonomy cannot be envisaged
even In the long run and where the actual and prospective technological
situation could be roughly defined by the restricted manipulation of some
basic technologies imported from abroad with very little modifications, efforts
should be undertaken in order to train at best the relevant domestic brain
and manpoxver by means of comprehensive educational planning to diminish at the
minimum degree the payment of licences, patents and technical aid, on the
one 'side, and to "render most effective the use of imported technologies on -the
other. As far as the long term policy is concerned, action to attain the
next technological level, i.e., creative adaptation should be undertaken .by
developing higher scientific and technical education as well as regional plans
of manpower training.
page 44
(2) Such countries or regions (let us say Argentina, Brazil and Mexico,
for instance) who appear to be already realizing the beginnings of the second
phase of the technological movement, that is to say, creative adaptation of
foreign technology to the real needs of the dynamic sectors of the economy
as well as, in some cases, to realize original innovations (in agriculture,
for example) the path to be followed could consist in continuing the radical
transformation of their existing educational systems in view of developing in
the medium term a flexible and quickly adaptable active population. • In the
long run the essential aim would be to strengthen their higher education
institutions by designing adequately conceived science, research and develop
ment policies of multi-national character.
It is evident that for the realization of such aims international co
operation will be absolutely necessary.
For the second type-of developing countries the concept-of 'technological
personality developed by Uwe Frisch-Guajardo(l) would appear to be useful.
It is rather a simple concept but it is of much .interest. He points out that
"to each specific (geographical) area corresponds a well defined 'techno
logical personality'. - Although knowledge underlying all technologies is a
universal one, its concrete forms of application - this is, technology itself -
is not as much universal since these forms of application will differ from one
place to another according to the specific case.". ' This seems to be
especially true when assessing the techniques of production to be-chosen
when dealing with capital-intensive economies on the one hand and with
labour-intensive economies on the other.
Besides, in certain ways, developing countries, because technological
progress realized in the innovating centres is, relatively speaking, in .
a more comfortable position than the latter were at the very•beginning of
TL-heir technological development, can in fact choose among the wide
range of technologies which have been developed over the whole period of
the industrial revolution. .One example of the range of choices in re
lation, for instance, with electrical power plants is set out in Table 6.
(l) Frisch-Guajardo- Uwe, "Subdesarrollo, Dependencia Tecnológica y Geo
grafía" in El Dia (Mexican Newspaper), Mexico, D. F. , December, 19&7,
p. 4.
page 45
Table ó. Categories of Electric Power Plants(a)
Category
Size Range
Individual Village Area Power Plant Power Plant Power Plant
Watt s-5 KW 5 "KW-100 KW 100 KW-1000 KW
Grid + Sub-Station P. P.
1000 KW upwards
Power Plant Type
Batteries Muscle Power Solar Cells Thermoelectric Wind Turbine Hydroelectric Fuel Cell Biochemical Fuel Cell
Gasoline Engine Diesel Engine Stirling Engine Gas Turbine Closed Cycle Turbine Closed Cycle Engine
Fuel Availability
Solar Radiation Wind Water Wood Agricultural Wastes Dung (gas) Crude Petroleum Products
Refined Petroleum Products
Lignite/Peat Coal '
X : X D . D.. .. X X'
D X X
X X X X X X
X
X x -
D X X D
D D
X X X X X X
X X
D X D
X . D X D
X " •:'X
X '
X
x' ! X x . •
. x D
X D X
X
X X X
D = Major development required for practical economical equipment.
(a) Source : Theobald, Robert, "Technology in Focus - The Emerging Nations
Long-Term Prospects and Problems", The Encyclopaedia Britannica Con
ference on the Technological Order, p. 21.
page 46
No doubt each one of these technical possibilities for generating
electric power may in fact correspond to a given 'technological personality. '
Whatever be the case it becomes evident that for an efficient twentieth
century educational planning to establish a close and substantial link
between formal and non-formal process of training is absolutely necessary.
The latter should enjoy official recognition and have financial state support.
Co-ordinating mechanisms should ensure an integrated approach to policv-
making and all other matters related to technical education and training,
such as the analysis of the current training situation, programming,
innovation, experimentation and evaluation of results. All these activities
should of course, be developed within the framework of national development
plans and a proper link with central planning should be established.
A fundamental foundation of the new educational policy which should be
executed by technologically dependent countries could be the establishment
of specialized institutions whose key function would consist of the
possibilities of application of already existing technologies. The
following are the essential activities such institutions are supposed to
perform(l).
- identification of useful technology by securing reports of inno
vations, searching for literature, identifying commercial technology,
investigating means of adapting technology to public use, and
surveying advances in specified technical fields.
- evaluation, by employing independent research institutes and
other consultants to appraise the feasibility and potential value
of specific advances.
~ development of regional information, dissemination mechanisms,
by supporting experimentation with independent ventures of the
storage,retreival.. interpretation and adaptation to local industry
of the technical "knowledge-generated by foreign countries.
- support of relevant research projects, by encouraging research of
analysis of technology transfer, research and development management.
(l) Rosenbloom, Richard, S.', op. cit. , p. 2k
page 4?
Such activities would constitute in fact what Werner Hirsch of the
University of California has referred to as an emergent 'knowledge -.trans
formation industry'(l)
Paths towards technological autonomy'also claim for d.rasti-'c changes- for
the organization and contents of education. Changes should especially affect
the second level of education where technical terminal programmes should be
set up to a level equivalent for instance to the technical" institutes of the
U.S.A. or the' 'technikums' of the Soviet Union.
A strategic piece of the new policy will be represented by the role
assigned to the formation of technicians of lower and upper levels. It, would
be useful to bear in mind in this connexion the definition of 'technician1
as stated by the Committee of Manpower Resources for Science and Technology
which is as follows :(2) Technicians. .... occupy a position between that of
the qualified scientist engineer or technologist on the one hand and the
skilled foreman or' craftsman or operator on the other. Their education and
specialized skills enable them to exercise technical judgment. By this is
meant an understandings by reference to- general principles, of the reasons
for the purposes of" their work, rather than a reliance on established practices
or accumulative skills. ,r
The occupation of technicians in industry has'recently emerged to :
(1) take over many of the standardized technical duties of the professional
engineer;
(2) cope with technical duties which have arisen because of technological
innovation and change; - . . . . . -
(3) fill in the continually widening gap of"technical ' skills and -'knowledge'
between 'the skilled craftsman and the professional engineer; ••'""'• •-'
(4) provide trained assistance for professional engineers and -other applied
scientists.
The OECD Gröüp working on the role of technicians in a developing-
country felt strongly-that-the level of a technician's occupation should be-
considered as terminal, that is as an end in itself rather than, a step_
(1) Hirsch, Werner Z. . "Transformation of new Knowledge for Economic Growth"
NASA-UCLA Symposium and Workshop, June 1964.
(2) Committee on Manpower Resources for Science and Technology, 1963
Triennial Manpower Survey of Engineers'-,. .Technologists, Scientists., and
Supporting Staff, October 1966 Cmnd. 3103 p. 48 quoted by OECD,
"Conclusions and Recommendations of the Working Groups", op.cit. p.7
page 48
towards another more highly remunerative profession. The concept that
the technician is to be considered as valuable as the individual and a
member of society as the professional was endorsed.
In this connexion there are already available valuable studies(l)
which intend to formulate suggestive recommendations for properly established
programmes and curricula for the training of technicians as well as for •
setting up fully developed vocational and educational guide services.
In the field of realities and experiences of more developed
countries, developing ones should seriously examine the case of U.S.A.
and England, especially England's case, and Yugoslavia, although some
Latin American experiences may also be useful studies.
The North-American case deserves attention for obvious reasons.
When discussing the 'technological gap' Ministers of Science agreed that
"the arguments all lead back to the same starting point, that technological
innovation requires a certain state of mind and the Americans have it,- because
they employed better-educated managers. On the other hand, much of the
technological success of the U.S.A. can be explained by the way-North
Americans spend their research budget. Huge sums are concentrated on relatively
few big projects (2) instead of fragmenting efforts among a microcosm of
small research teams.
In the case of the United Kingdom, the inclusion of technology in the
curriculum of most British Universities as well -as the reform introduced
by the Industrial Training Act are the most relevant features of English
struggle for technological autarchy. '
"In Britain higher technological education is a primary responsibility
of education 18 out of 22 British Universities include technology in the
curriculum and the great colleges of technology which do bear some re
semblance to the continental polytechnics are either integral parts of
universities or are affiliated to one or other of them". (3)
(1) Mostly of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD)
(2) See : The Economist, March 16 1968
(3) Ashby, Sir Eric, "On Universities and the Scientific Revolution" in
Education, Economy and Society, p. 471.
page 49
The Industrial Training Act intends to.solve the problem of the
lack of properly trained manpower in Great Britain. This Act was established
in 1954, The three main objectives of the Act are :
(1) to ensure an adequate supply of properly trained men and women at all
levels in industry.
(2) to secure an improvement in the quality and efficiency of industrial
training and
(3) to share the cost of training more evenly among firms.
These objectives are to be achieved through the agency of Industrial
Training Boards. The Act covers all activities of Industry and commerce
at all levels. Industrial training may be provided in any of the following
ways :(l)
(1) in industry itself., either in the training centres or otherwise,,
(2) in a government training centre,
(3) in a technical college or other college of further education, or
(4) in a centre especially established by a Board.
The Boards, are not merely concerned with apprentice training but
with training at all levels. . Adult training and. re-training are important
activities and in this field especially* the Government Training Centres,
have been of the greatest value.
The United Kingdom for instance, is a good example whereby training
within.industry constitutes-a fundamental part of the technical education and
training, schemes as a whole.-
.. Yugoslavia's case is also one of high interest where . one verifies how
polytechnical education, endeavours•to establish a functional link between
the. different composite subjects; its.main innovation is the introduction of
technology and practical work as an integral component of curricula. For
example., in the so-defined 'preparatory stage of secondary education'" "the" pro
posed time-table devotes 42 per cent of the total instruction for general
subjects, j5o per cent to scientific and technological disciplines, 17 per cent
to technical work™irr production and the remaining 5 per cent for elective
subjects. (2) "
(1) Vid : The Education, Training and Functions of Technicians, p. 1
(2) Vid : OECD, The Education, Training and Functions of Technicians in
Yugoslavia, p. 6.
page 50
Among several important recommendations of international organizations
concerning reforms of education, there is one concerning the duration and
features of compulsory education in relation to specialized education.
"Compulsory education should last for eight completed years commencing at
the age of six or seven. This phase of education, given in a comprehensive
or unified type of school, should comprise both general and polytechnical
subjects as well as elements of vocational guidance, (l)
We think that given the prevailing situation all over the world, as
far as the duration of compulsory education is concerned, the recommendation
above mentioned should be carefully adapted to each country's case or to
each particular region. AS a matter of fact it seems that many Latin American
countries for instance cannot actually implement such a measure, for 5-year
compulsory education has not yet become a hundred per cent reality in the
majority of the Latin American areas. In the African Region some countries
are considered to be more realistic attempting universal primary education
of 4-year duration.
On the other hand, economic prevailing conditions oblige in fact
many children and young men to work at the age of 12, 13, l4 and so on and
it happens that those who have to do so cannot in fact perform any qualified
type of job even after having completed the 6-year primary education.
Emergency measures can be taken in this case such as, for example,
those undertaken in Mexico where the so-called Training Centres for Agri
cultural and Industrial Work (Centros de Capacitación para el Trabajo Agri-
cola e Industrial)(2) were established for permitting youngsters to acquire
an apprenticeship of several productive activities on the one hand and also
for giving to untrained workers the opportunity of completing some training.
(1) OECD, "Conclusions and Recommendations of the Working Group" in
op. cit. , p. 3-
(2) Secretaría de Educación Pública de México, Cinco Años de Labor Educativa
del Gobierno Mexicano, S, E. P. , 1963, p0 58
page 51
To the Training Centres attend mostly young men who have already
finished their primary education and cannot or will not continue studies as well
as adult peasants and workers who are willing to improve their working
techniques. Up to now this is an official! government-supported programme
but measures could be undertaken to expand it to the private sector. Courses
given in such centres are for example the following : (1)
- precision mechanics
- electricity
- industrial drawing
- welding
- radio and television .
- automobile mechanics
- seizing and tailoring
- needlework
- sanitary installations (plumbing)
- ceramics • ' • • • • • • ' :-.•
- building (masonry)
Summing up, it is clear" that- paths toward technological independence
point to two essential changes : the first concerning curriculum policies and
the second concerning science/ research and development policies.
On the one hand, science is constantly expanding but at the same time.,
"there is a limit to the amount of material which .can be accommodated, within
the school syllabus and the extension of schooling which has resulted from the
awareness that man in modern -society needs more basic knowledge and preparation,
cannot in itself resolve this problem.
This "dilemma has reinforced the concept that the role of the school
is not to proffer -even more knowledge BUT TO SELECT FROM THE VAST STOCK OF
KNOWLEDGE THAT WHICH IS ESSENTIAL AND PARTICULARLY TO DEVELOP THE APTITUDE FOR
ACQUIRING AND USING KNOWLEDGE ON A CONTINUING BASIS"('2) Curriculum planning
must then become an essential part of educational planning which must set
out explicitly or otherwise the general objectives of an educational" system--
and the means through which these objectives have to be achieved.
(1) Torres-Bodet, Jaime, "Programa de Labores de la Secretaría de Educación
Pública para 1964", S.E.P., p.18.
(2) OECD, Curriculum Improvement and Educational Development, p.29
page 52
Science policy and technological planning should concern all
economic sectors ': industry, services and agriculture and some of their
principal, goals could be :
(1) investigation of existing technologies
(2) research for pre-requisites for adapting existing foreign technology.
(3) development of local technologies
(4) development of technologies for possible export.
(5) establishment of multi-national or regional technology centres.,
developing technology to be used in certain areas with common
features and similar technical problems.
(6) Formation of high quality brain-power, i. e. , training of scientists
and engineers at all levels, this is to say, capable to manipulate
properly existing local technology on the one hand, and to adapt
and improve importable technology as well as creating an original
one, on the other.
(7) Training of duly qualified manpower in order to develop an adequate
educational and occupational structure according with required techno
logical levels ( high lev-el-, middle-level and lower-level manpower).
(8) But perhaps one of the most ambitious goals of such a policy would be
the establishment of the appropriate mechanisms for 'technological
forecasting'. Technological forecasting may be defined as "the
"probabilistic assessment on a relatively high confidence level/ of
future technology transfer. Exploratory technological forecasting
starts from today's assured basis of knowledge and is oriented towards
the future, while normative technological forecasting first assesses
future goals, needs," desires, missions, etc. and works backwards to the
present (Gabor). The subject of both types is a dynamic picture of
a technology transfer process. Technological forecasting may be aided
by anticipation and may 'harden' the prediction, "(l)
(1) Jantsch, Erich, Technological Forecasting in Perspective, OECD, p.15«
page 53
It is obvious that the above mentioned features of a curriculum,
science, research' and development policy are rather general." Dangerous
confusions are -to be avoided between what is desirable and what is feasible
within a real context.- Concrete :efforts may be made by several developing
countries by following some of the general guide lines we have sketched
and by defining very precisely what the main features of the relevant strategy
should be. To bear in mind what., generally speakings a strategy is, would
always be useful.
Lyons points out that .-"According to the classic definition of
Clausewitz in his monumental work 0n_War, tactics are 'the theory of the
use of combats for the object of the war1. (1) A recent definition which is
more in keeping with the technological realities of our days is that of the
British military writer and historian, B. H. bidder Hart., who defines
strategy as 'the art of distributing military means to fulfil the ends of
policy' "
After adapting the former definition to our particular context, it .
is obvious that the critical element is then a concise definition of the
relevant ends to be fulfilled by education.
(l) Lyons, Raymond F. , "Critères et Méthodes Permettant d'Evaluer un-
Système d'Enseignement : Le Role du 'Stratège' dans les prévisions
en Matière d'Enseignement" in L'Education et le Développement Economique
et Social, p. 59«
CONCLUSIONS
1. Scientific and technical development have shown that the distinction
made between formal and non-formal education is rather an inadequate one.
2. The Borderlines between formal and non-formal education tend to be-,
come less and less rigid. Education is converting quite rapidly into a single
and coherent unit,, it is just becoming that : EDUCATION.
3. A critical bottleneck is appearing within the linking process of science,
knowledge, technology and education: science is in fact advancing much more
quickly than education, i.e..: the mass of knowledge has increased much more
quickly than the means to diffuse it.
4. It seems to be clear that the educational systems of many developing
countries are still functioning according to outmoded European and North-
American models. - Several Latin American countries could in fact prove this
assertion.
5. Considerable economic and human resource wastage is the practical con
sequence of the inadequate organization and vague definition of aims and goals
of such educational systems : 4 out of 1 000 pupils enrolled in the 1st year
of primary education reach the 5th university year of education; 468 times
the cost incurred in having one pupil one year in the primary school are
necessary to produce an university graduate; 72 % of the budget of public
education is, on average, devoted to support studies that are never com
pleted. This is some striking data relative to economic and human wastage
and malutilisation of resources of resources in Latin America.
6. Generally speaking, Latin American educational systems as well as
others with similar features seem to function in accordance with one idea in
mind: every pupil admitted in primary school should finish his education at
university,.. the probability to do so will depend on the social and economic
status of the pupil. The absurdity of such a principle is evident,
7. Changes in technological processes require in fact changes in the edu
cational inputs of the relevant occupations. The educational policymakers
will have to adapt teaching in its structure, methods and content to the new
situations created by development within the labour market - whose requirements
become more and more fluctuating. The answer is thus to be sought not in--— -
better manpower forecastings alone but in the curricula themselves.
8. It seems to be clear that the majority of developing countries be
cause of'the characteristics which are"inherent to them are not producers of
modern technology but rather importers of it or, in the best' cases- they be
come adapters of it. Consequently they are technologically dependent from the
existing innovating centers.
page 55
9. There are in each case some essential scientific and technical
pre-requisites to be filled by any country or region in order to adapt
imported technology. One of the most important is the existence of a pro
perly qualified domestic brain and manpower« When such conditions are
lacking considerable wastage of resources is to be expected»
10. Technological independence is a relative concept which - concrete
meaning varies according with each particular case. It can be understood
in some circumstances as an effective technological autonomy vis-à-vis
of the innovating centers but as far as developing countries are concerned.,
this concept rather denotes efforts to diminish at a minimum level the conse
quences of being submitted to the importation of foreign technology.
11. Paths towards technological independence are to be divided into two
principal groups: one concerning the short and medium-term on the one
hand and one concerning the long-term on the other.
12. Models which could inspire some effective measures to be undertaken
in this concern are, for instance,, the North American., the British and the
Yugoslave ones. Some experiences taking place in some Latin American
countries may also reveal to be interesting.
15. Summing up5 it seems to be clear that paths towards technological
independence points to two essential types of measures, the first concern
ing curriculum policies and the second concerning sciencess research and
development policies.
Given the speculative character of this paper, to propose some rele
vant recommendations would be rather pretentious, anyhow we feel that one
at least should be formulated 1
RECOMMENDATION
To establish within Unesco or the HEP a research programme intended
to:
(1) Deepen the study of the interrelations between the development
of science* technology and education.
(2) Establish the relevant connexions ' between economic and social
planning, educational planning, manpower planning and
technological forecasting.
(3) Encourage research of other international organisations, public
and private institutions in this field.
page o(
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ashy, Sir Eric, "On Universities and the. Scientific Revolution" in Education,
Economy and Society. A Reader in the Sociology of Education, Edited by
A.H. Halsey, Jean Ploud and C. Arnold Anderson, The Free Press of Glencoe,
Fourth Printing, May 1964.
ANFEI (Asociación" Nacional de Facultades y Escuelas de Ingeniería), La
Enseñanza de la Ingeniería en México 1966, ANFEI, Mexico 1967.
Bernai, J.D., "La Ciencia, ios Inventos y las Aplicaciones Sociales de la
Tecnología" en Filosofía deliFuturo. Exploración en el,Campo del Materia
lismo Moderno by Farrington, Benjamin, Hill et al., Translated from English,
Printed in Mexico, Compañía .General de Ediciones-j Mexico, .D„F.., 1951»
CEE (Centro de Estudios Educativos, A.C.), Estimación del Cambio Tecnológico
en la Productividad de la Economía Mexicana durante el Período' 1950-1960,
•CEE, México, D.F. 1964.
Coombs, Philip H„, IIEP., The World Crisis of Education, A-. System Aanlysis,
IIEP/UNESCO, - Paris, October. 1967.
Coorea, Hector, The_ Economics^ of Human Resources, Den Haag, Brukkerij Pasmans,
I962.
Davis, Rüssel G.,•Scientificai, Engineering- and Technical. Education in-Mexico,
Occasional Report No J,. Education and. World. Af fairs., New. York, I967*
THE ECONOMIST, The Economist Newspaper Ltd,, March l6, 1968., London, England,,
The Encyclopedia Britannica, Vol. 21, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Ltd/Chicago,
London, Toronto, I96I.
Harbison F. and Myers - N., Education,^ Manpower^ шу!. Economic Growth, Mc Graw-Hill Series in International Development, New York^ 1964.
Jantsch, Erich., OECD, Techiiolog^ajL^Fprecasting in Perspective, OECD,- Paris,-1967.
Kristens.en, Thorkil, OECD, "Foreword" to Economic Development and Investments in Education^ OECD, Paris, I965.
La jous-Vargas., Adrian^ Aspectos de la Educación .Superior y el Empleo de Profesionistas en-: México 1959-1967; Escuela ..Nacional...de-Economía.,. Universidad
Nacional Autónoma de México, México, 1967«, (Unpublished thesis).
page 58
Lourié, Sylvain, "Education for Today or Yesterday" ? in Problems and
Strategies of Educational Planning, Lessons^ from Latin America. UNESCO i
HEP, Paris, I965.
Lyons, Raymond F., "Critères et Méthodes permettant d'évaluer un système -
d'enseignement : Le role du 'Stratège' dans les prévisions en matière
d'enseignement" in 1*Education et le développement économique et social,
OCDE, Paris, 19б2„ OECD, "Conclusions and Recommendations of the working Groups", Training Course on Technical Education, Villa Lucidi, Monteporzio Catone, Italy, l6th-28th October I967., DAS/EID/68.3O
-• , The Education, Training and Education of Technicians. A summary Survey for Ten Countries, DAS/EID/67.66J Paris, September 1967
—. •-, Troisième conférence ministérielle sur la science. 11 et 12 mars I968, Point V de l'ordre du jour, Ecarts Technologiques entre Pays Membres,
Rapport analytique, OCDE, Paris I968, CMS: (68)4
, Education, Human Resources and Development in Argentina, Paris I967
— . . — _, Modernizing our Schools^ Curriculum improvement and Educational
Development, Paris, December I966,
—.—.__, Formation et Fonctions des Techniciens.. Royaume-Uni. DAS, Paris,1966
„__.—,__. The Education,i Training and Functions' of Technicans. Yugoslavia,
DAS, Paris, I967.
, Problems of HumanResour_c£S__ Planning in Latin America and in the
Mediterranean Regional Project Countries, Paris, I967«
_. Scie_nti.fic_ Researj3h^^d__TeGhnoIogy in_ elatj._oji_to_the Economic -
Development.^1 Greece, DAS/SPR/67,2, February I967.
_„__— з Scientific Research _and Technology.in Relation to the Economic -Development of Spain, DAS/SPR/67,6, April 1966.
Paul,Robert, Dictionnaire Alphabétique et analogique de la langue française Tome VI, société du nouveau littré, Paris 196'k
Rosenbloom, Richard S., Technology Transfer Process and Policy. An Analysis
of the Utilization of Technological Byv-Products of Military and Space -
Research and Development, National Planning Association, Social Report
No 62, July I965, Washington, D.C.
page 59
Schelsky H., "Technical Change and Educational Consequences" in Education,
Economy and Society, Halsey, Floud and Anderson, The Free Press of Glencoe,
Fourth Printingj May 1964.
Secretaría de Educación Publica. Cinco Años de Labor Educativa del Gobierno
Mexicano, S.E.P., México, D.F., 1963
Solow, Robert M., "Technological Change and the Aggregate Production Function"
in The Review of Economics jand Statistics, Vol. У\э No j3, August 1957« Theobald, Robert, "Technology in Focus-The Emerging Nations. Long-term Prospects and Problems", The Enciclopaedia Britannica Conference for the Technological Ordern, The Board of Editors, Encyclopaedia Britannica Conference for the Technological Order, The Board of Editors, Encyclopaedia Britannica, - Santa Earbara, California, (without date).
Terres-Bodet, Jaime, "programa de labores de la Secretaría de Educación Pública para 1964", S.E.P., 1964.
UNESCO ; HEP, Problems and Strategies of Educational Planning. Lessons
from Latin America, UNESCO/IIEP, Paris 1965»
Wolfe, Marshall, "Social and Political Problems of Educational Planning in
Latin America" in Problemsi and Strategies of Educational Planning. Lessons
from Latin America, UNESCO/HEP, Paris, 1965.
