The social context of education and health

Abstract

This paper stresses that the relationship between education and health cannot be meaningfully analysed in isolation from the economic and cultural matrix of society of which it is an integral part. An examination of the different kinds of education available to Third Worlders shows that formal schooling is generally regarded as a passport to urban employment. It therefore accentuates socioeconomic differentiation. Altogether, education for the sake of increased knowledge and/or improved welfare is a luxury only the wealthier can afford. Moreover, an examination of the culture-specificity of health concepts is taken to show how Western health care is inappropriate in settings where health is seen as an indicator of morality. Numerous case materials are used as evidence for the argument presented here. The final section of the paper devoted to “policy implications” emphasises that low levels of education and health are symbolic of under-development. Formal education or Western type health care are no panacea, nor even palliatives for the poverty syndrome. Appropriate education associated with appropriate health measures may help to alleviate the worst evils of disease.