The impact of supranational organizations on public education

The growth of supranational organizations reduces the sovereignty of nation-states, weakening their willingness and ability to provide high quality public education. Expanded mass media controlled by trans-national corporations compete directly with schools for attention, and offer content that often contradicts the values and knowledge taught by schools. Supranational organizations have changed patterns of dispersion and employment of educated persons, reducing the capacity of education systems to anticipate what they should teach. Supranational organizations have directly encouraged decentralization and privatization of education, and have competed with national, public organizations for control of public education. Efforts to defend endogenous national development seem unlikely to succeed. A call for improving education to enhance the global competitiveness of national economies is feasible only for economically powerful states. A more helpful alternative to re-design education to contribute to integration at a trans-national level, overcoming problems of conflict and injustice endemic in a system of nation-states.