16/11/2015

Social mobility is possible to occur in a democratic society. It shows the ability to facilitate a person to improve their social position by moving from class to class. Social mobility shows the progress of social development. This mean a democratic society enables social mobility to occur now and then. The society with lacks of social mobility shows the absence of democracy practice. The main aspects of social mobility are education and occupation.

The level of education determines a person's social position. It is important for each individual to have an opportunity to learn. Learning prepares a person to resist to the real life and provides a social mobility. It is the role of schools and teachers as an agent for change, to teach, to build and to transform their student mind settings to be a better person. However, there are different schools for a different level of income which mean some schools only affordable for a certain class. This situation puts some barrier for students especially from a lower class family’s background as their chance to succeed is limited. Generally, the system of education that characterized by certain classes features does not cut off opportunities for students from different schools. This is because the education system role is to build students from different schools to get the same scope of basic knowledge. The reality is complex. There is a natural law. As a proverb Arab said, “whoever strives hard will find (whatever he is striving for) and whoever sows he will harvest”.

*Frankly, there will be many arguments here. I struggle thinking about this and I hardly put this into position. It is complex. Some cases may be linear and some may be the other way round. It can’t be denied that, a middle-class student, with a great family background, has an opportunity to learn in a high-rank school, with the best teachers and good friends will achieve more. But if the student is lazy and not learning, take for granted all his possession, it might end with failure. There is a thing that can be bought and there is not.

A real case in Malaysia, a student from low socio-economic family, living in an urban area manage to score 20 A’s for the national exam. Her father is a fisherman and her mom is a housewife. Her success was through the endless effort and struggle of learning. She managed to move her social position in the academic field through the achievement and provide a wider chances to success further. This case shows how the type of school or family status is not a reason for a person to success. I believe this case do happen in other places.