If you are reading this, there would be a good chance you are currently attending university. University is the first educational institution outside of compulsory schooling. It is commonly assumed that later in life, you will be able to get a better job and earn a higher salary based on what you have studied at a university. Also, there is a large body of research on the economic benefits of higher education.

Education has long been seen as the easiest way to move up the ranks. Through education, a person gains the qualifications that make him or her socially relevant, and thus the desire to improve his or her socioeconomic status. From a social perspective, education can also contribute to social integration by enabling individuals to fully utilize their talents, regardless of their parental background, and as a result, forming an open society.

Many of you probably came to university because you agree with the above opinion. But what if it is not true? It would be shocking if education does not actually help you move up the ladder, or that the opportunity to move up the ladder is being monopolized by the rich.

In this debate, we are going to explore how education is being passed down, and what policies are being put in place in different countries to limit this and make it a more equitable way to move up the ladder.

Opinion A: Education is a system for the rich, therefore being passed down.

Despite education being seen as the easiest way to move up the social ladder, children of highly educated parents often achieve high levels of educational attainment. The following sections discuss the relationship between parents’ education level and child’s education level, and the factors that contribute to it. We will also look at the relationship between parents’ income level and child’s education level and the factors at play to understand what social phenomena are currently occurring within the current education system and policies.

1. Parent's Education Level & Child's Education Level

First, we would like to discuss the relationship between parental education level and child education level. The graph below** shows the intergenerational educational mobility. It shows that the higher the education level of the parents, the higher the education level of their children.

These factors include role modeling, parental involvement, expectations and aspirations, cognitive stimulation, access to educational resources/educational networks, economic stability, and parents’ attitudes toward education.

In the case of role modeling, parents act as role models for their children, setting an example, and children are more inclined to emulate their parents' behavior, which increases the likelihood that they will be able to achieve higher levels of education. 

If you look for this phenomenon in society, you'll often find students in elementary school announcing their parents' professions as their future careers.

In addition, more educated parents have higher expectations for their children's academic achievement and become more involved in their children's education, actively encouraging them to pursue higher education. This leads to a variety of outcomes: active participation in school activities, parent-teacher interactions at school, and helping with homework and learning, actively utilizing books or teaching aids, and providing educational materials at home. It also provides opportunities for a variety of cognitively stimulating activities, which can be intellectually enriching, as well as improve language skills and critical thinking skills. Such involvement helps children succeed academically.

More educated parents are also more likely to provide their children with multiple educational experiences. This is because education and income levels tend to be related, and financial support can provide a stable home environment and more opportunities for educational experiences. In addition to this material support, more educated parents are also more likely to have access to a wider network of education-related connections through their own experiences.

These are some of the factors that influence the intergenerational relationship between education levels. However, children of highly educated parents do not always have higher educational attainment. This seems to be caused by a few other factors: school quality, peer group, and the child's personal characteristics. Also, there is a case where children of less educated parents have higher educational attainment. This is an outcome that education systems and policies should strive for,which we will be discussing in opinion B(**p.00).

2. Parent’s Income Level & Child’s Education Level

The focus of this section is on the relationship between parental income and child education. The graph below** in general supports the idea: higher the parental income level, the higher the educational attainment and education level of the child.

The reasons cited include access to educational resources, school quality, private education, nutrition and health, reduced financial stress, and lower barriers to higher education costs.

First of all, higher-income families have more resources to invest in their children's education. They can afford to provide books, learning devices, educational software, and other materials, giving them the opportunity to explore even if they are learning the same material. They can also provide multiple academic and nonacademic tutoring opportunities. They can offer a variety of extracurricular opportunities: math/science lessons, sports lessons, music lessons, and more. These opportunities allow for a variety of learning experiences and skill development.

Also, at a macro level, school quality also varies. Schools in higher-income neighborhoods are generally better funded therefore has better educational environment: smaller class sizes, more teachers, better teacher experience, and peers who also aspire to high educational achievement, which increases the likelihood of better educational outcomes.

In addition, higher-income families provide better physical and mental health for their children. Higher-income families are more likely to have better physical and mental health than the lower-income families, as they are able to afford nutritious food with high quality, better healthcare, a comfortable home environment, and less financial stress. This impacts academic achievement and well-being.

But again, there are exceptions to the above graph: Ivy League Plus students and Harvard students from low-income families. This is because, as we will see later, policymakers are working to increase equity in education, to give all students an equal chance to succeed, and to eliminateeducational inequality to create a society where anyone who is willing to work hard can succeed.

We have seen that children of highly educated, highincome parents are more likely to achieve high educational attainment. However, there are exceptions to this statistic, which is a testament to the effectiveness of education support policies and the education system in closing the education gap along income lines. It is fair to say that parental education and income have a significant impact on children's educational attainment, but do not determine their destiny.

Opinion B: Due to government policies, education is a still valid means of upward mobility.

Many countries have implemented a variety of policies and supports to ensure that educational opportunities are not limited by the family income. In this section, we introduce countries with interesting education support strategies and policies, and explore how trends in intergenerational educational level have changed over the past 50 years.

1.Interesting Education Support Strategies and Policies

Mexico & Brazil - Promoting low-income families' participation in public education

Oportunidades (Now Prospera) in Mexico provides conditional cash transfers to low-income families on the condition that their children attend school regularly and participate in health checkups. It contributes to increasing school attendance and access to education for disadvantaged students. Also in Brazil, a program called Bolsa Família provides financial assistance to low-income families on the condition that their children attend school regularly. These policies were introduced in Mexico and Brazil because children from low-income families often drop out of school and go out to earn money to make ends meet, making it difficult to provide even elementary education.

United States - Federal and state financial aid for higher education

To support students with financial need, the United States offers:

1. Pell Grants: a form of federal financial aid that does not have to be repaid and is awarded by the U.S. Department of Education to help low-income students pay for room and board or housing, tuition, and various other college expenses.

2. Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOG): Grants awarded at the discretion of the college or university to students receiving a Pell Grant who demonstrate exceptional financial need.

3. Otherfederal financial aid programs, such as subsidized and unsubsidized student loans. State governments also offer scholarships and grants to lowincome students.

Germany and Norway - Free higher education for nationals and foreigners

In some European countries, such as Germany and Norway, public and state universities used to offer tuitionfree higher education to all students, whether domestic or foreign. This applied to undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs. However, this has now changed in Norway, where tuition is no longer waived for international students, and in Germany, where it varies by state.

Singapore - A pragmatic education system, success guaranteed with the ability,

Singapore's KidStart program targets families with young children under the age of six living in rental housing, providing health care, finances, and early learning support to improve children's cognitive and social-emotional development. It also provides support for pre-school education. It also recognizes the importance of parental involvement and provides services such as parenting workshops and home visits to help parents provide a good nurturing environment.

This KidStart program, which aims to bridge the socioeconomic gap and ensure that all children have an equal opportunity to reach their full potential regardless of their family's financial situation, is closely tied to Singapore's unique education system. In Singapore, entrance exams begin in the sixth grade of elementary school, and students are divided into classes based on their academic performance, with high-achieving students going on to secondary education facilities that provide quality education. On the other hand, students who do not meet the standards are educated in vocational training centers.

South Korea - Ample support for compulsory education and secondary education

South Korea is known for its competitive and highpressure education system. However, the state provides support from early childhood to secondary education. Public kindergartens are free of charge, and elementary school, middle school, and secondary education up to high school are also all free of charge. In addition, free school meals are provided to students regardless of income, and recently, study materials have been provided free of charge in some provinces. To ensure that no student is left behind, various supplementary education programs are offered after school. This is also free of charge for low-income students.

In addition, books, computers, and educational software are provided free of charge to low-income students. These countries have implemented various policies to reduce the education gap. However, the challenges remain, and the effectiveness of current policies may vary over time. Addressing educational inequality is an ongoing process that requires constant evaluation and adaptation to changing circumstances and needs within each country's education system.

2. Correlation Between Parental Education Level and Child Education Level over the Past 50 Years

The graph above** shows the correlation between parental education and child education over the last 50 years. The overall trend is downward. This means that parental education levels and child education levels match less often. In other words, children from low-income, low-education families are achieving lower educational attainment less often, and children from high-income, high-education families are achieving higher educational attainment less often. This can be interpreted as an indication that educational opportunities are more equally available than they used to be, as countries have introduced various educational support policies as living standards have improved.

Thanks to various policies and supports to ensure that educational opportunities are not limited by the gap between rich and poor, educational opportunities are now more equal than before, and it is easier than ever to move up the hierarchy if you have the ability and effort. However, it is still true that educational inheritance is still occurring, so much attention is still needed to eliminate educational inequality.

Is education an upward mobility tool for the rich?

Through the above discussion, we have seen that in the current education system, children of high-income and highly educated parents tend to have higher educational attainment. However, as living standards have improved over time, countries have adopted policies to close the educational gap. As a result, over the past 50 years, children from low-income and low-education families have become more likely to achieve high educational attainment, and children from high-income and high education families have not necessarily achieved high educational attainment. As governments and politicians continue to work toward equalizing educational opportunities for students, we can expect this gap to shrink in the future. Hopefully, social policies will continue to improve to make it easier for people to move up and down the social ladder and reduce inequality.