Knowledge gaps in education

One of the most annoying problems in the educational process that prevents building an educated generation is the knowledge gaps in education. It directly leads to social and economic inequality between society groups because they significantly affect the student system in general and the educational system in particular, which negatively affects academic achievement, and increase repetition rates and crime rates and the difficulty of reaching  prestigious jobs due to the poor scientific level.

 

Knowledge gap

It is the inequality in educational skills among students in society, which leads to a difference in the level of scientific knowledge between students and each other. This affects the educational process greatly because it causes a significant decrease in the level of academic achievement of students and their professional future after university education or the difference in obtaining the same educational opportunities.

 

Knowledge gaps in education occur because many reasons and we will address them in this article:

Economic factors:

It can be summed up in two ways: the absence of material income, which is a major contributor to the knowledge gap; the fact that many private universities are located next to public universities; and the fact that students with large incomes can access more external books, remedial lessons, and educational tools than those with small incomes.

 

Social factors:

Different mental abilities may result in a student having more distinct abilities, capacities, and mental skills than his peers, which speeds up the learning process. It is also possible that the difference in geographic location a knowledge gap because educational services in cities are more plentiful than in rural areas and are simpler to find.

 

As a student receives more education, his communication skills increase, and learning and gathering information becomes easier for him.

Knowledge gaps have very serious consequences, as they can lead to a decrease in income, increased crime rates and unemployment because of inequality in educational skills among students, which leads to different educational and academic levels of the student and thus affects career opportunities.

 

How do knowledge gaps affect student outcomes?

Knowledge gaps in education have a significant impact on the quality of the educational process and the performance of each student, and knowledge gaps affect students’ results in particular and the educational process in general. Knowledge gap appears on students’ results in more than one form, such as:

• If the basic concepts are not presented clearly and simplified to the student, the student will certainly find it difficult to understand and apply the course.
• It is certain that any student who suffers from the knowledge gap will have less self-confidence because of the lack of understanding of the course and ability to follow along.
• Knowledge gaps in education may push the student to leave the educational process after feeling frustrated by the emergence of large differences in the level between him and his colleagues, which causes a lack of interest and focus on education.
• The knowledge gap can affect employment, as a lack of understanding of basic concepts during a certain stage of education

Is it important to solve knowledge gaps in the educational process?

Because equity in education is important for ensuring a better future for a new generation. It is necessary to immediately begin knowledge gaps to ensure that all students have equal access to all available scientific and academic resources , and to improve the quality of the educational process in middle-income schools, community awareness of the knowledge gap in education and warning of its effects, and bridging knowledge gaps are required. Knowledge gaps in the educational process must be addressed for several reasons:

 

• The principle of parity can be achieved and equal educational opportunities can be provided to all students, regardless of the difference in material status, gender and race, which contributes to reducing knowledge gaps and reducing differences between societal classes.
• When the knowledge gaps are eliminated, students can achieve better results when their confidence in their educational abilities increases, which motivates them to pursue improvement and progress in the scientific knowledge.
• When addressing the knowledge gaps in education, students’ academic achievement level automatically improves, scientific creativity increases.
• Addressing customary gaps directly affects the economy, when students’ scientific skills improve, their chances of employment after education increase

 

Knowledge gaps in the educational process must be addressed because they are a major reason for achieving scientific progress for people in particular and societies in general by obtaining equal opportunities without bias to advance the educational level and improve the quality of education.

 

How can we reduce knowledge gaps in education?

• Through early assessment, we can know the size of the knowledge gap, the full strengths and weaknesses of the student, and then address the weaknesses. The student can obtain external reinforcement lessons to advance the educational level and improve his scientific skills.
• Through feedback, we can identify weaknesses and know the aspects that need improvement, learning in more than one way. There are many educational materials available online, which help to reduce the knowledge gap in education, the cohesion of society with all its classes in terms of race, social class and culture, provide the necessary support for each student, and provide the necessary academic support for each student without discrimination.

Through some tools, we can ensure a more equitable educational system that contributes to achieving all educational goals for all students through some points:

1.  Provide treatment individually: Through reports and analytical data for each student, we can identify weaknesses for each student and then identify knowledge gaps and determine a system to treat and avoid them in the future.
2. Modern technologies can be used to reach students in remote or rural areas to ensure that all educational resources reach all students without discrimination and to improve the educational level and get out of the circle of the knowledge gap.
3. Regardless of the different mental abilities among students, it is necessary to combat prejudice and achieve educational justice by teachers to ensure that there are no knowledge gaps between students and each other.
4. The multiplicity of effective learning methods such as remedial lessons, research projects, constructive discussions, working on them and applying them in more than one different context.
5. Encourage student self-learning outside the classroom to develop school skills and address knowledge gaps.

 

Conclusion:

It is important to be aware of knowledge gaps between students in society and work quickly to get rid of them in the ways described in the article. This will ensure equal opportunities to educational resources and increase academic achievement rates and then reduce unemployment and crime rates and increase rates of access to prestigious jobs. In addition, this will promote and improve the educational process, and it is necessary to deal seriously with knowledge gaps in the education system by adopting appropriate and logical solutions to be able to build an educated and developed generation that contributes to the development of society.