Equality of opportunity and competition

A. Equality of opportunity

Meaning: Each individual should have an equal chance for success. Life is a race for success. Everyone should have an equal chance to enter the fair race and win. The fair race means a person does not win just because he/she was born into a wealthy family or lose because of race or religion. The formation: no class system developed in the United States. Millions of immigrants had better chance and succeeded, so Americans came to believe in equality of opportunity.

B. Equality of competition

Meaning: A person must run the race and compete with each other in order to succeed. The pressures of competition begin in childhood until retirement, in some cases even until decease. Competition is encouraged by strong programs of competitive sports provided by the public schools and community groups.

The pressure to compete Americans to be energetic but also places a constant emotional strain on them. They may feel useless and unwanted when retired. If competing unsuccessfully, they will not fit into the mainstream of American life. C. Reflection in the U.S. Focus on education - Everyone has an equal opportunity to get a good education from elementary school through college. - The government established the basic system of public schools to ensure the principle of equality - Over 60% Americans, ages 25 to 39, have taken college courses - There are about 15 million students attending college now - Curricula are different from every public and private schools and only based on a general form of educational structure, as there is no exclusive textbook publisher, and thus provide a better environment and opportunity for students. - The most elite private universities have yielded a great deal to public pressure for greater equality of opportunity in education. - Both public and private schools have yielded a great deal to public pressure for greater equality of opportunity in education.

=> Example: Harvard, MIT, Stanford - Learning to compete and succeed is a part of growing in US. - Competition is encouraged by many programs of competitive sports provided by education systems - Americans has been trying various methods to achieve desegregation or social balance in education system, including many affirmative actions and movements:
Brown v. Board of Education Case: Supreme Court declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional Desegregation busing: Assigning and transporting students to schools in such a manner as to redress prior racial segregation of schools, or to overcome the effects of residential segregation on local school demographics.

Student council is another popular activity designed to develop competitive, political, and social skills in students

D. Reflections in Vietnam: Economic difficulties, obsolete reflection and social status distinction have many negative effects on students. In certain circumstances, some schools have not used properly their rights to increase the quality of training and did reversely such as lower the input requirements, exceed enrollment of the training capacity, too high percentage of students/teachers, open the faculties according to the tastes of society while the schools have not had sufficient training conditions. Outdated curricula, lecturer-centered and non-interactive method of teaching and learning, lack of linkage between teaching and research activities, and a large discord between theory and practical training contribute to a large number of graduates being unable to find a job, while skills shortages drive inflation to double-digit levels. According to the survey on graduate employment in 2009-2010 conducted by Center for Policy Studies and Analysis- University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, among 3000 respondents, 26.2% are still unemployed with the majority unable to find a job. Among those employed, 61% said they lacked sufficient working skill, 42% lacked experience and 32% cited insecure professional expertise. Public schools are underfunded. Primary education quality, particularly in poor areas, is below the required standard.

All lead to disadvantage and loss of opportunities for Vietnamese students