Education Levels by Country

[ShadowHM]

I am reminded of an anecdote about a man who consulted several authorities about what to do for his son's ailment. Three suggested surgery; the fourth suggested a non-invasive therapy. The non-invasive therapy worked a cure. When he reproached the surgeons and asked why they had recommended surgery when the non-invasive method was effective, the answer he got was "The surgery would have worked too."

So the E.S.L. experience here seems to be fruitful, in what I can observe. Would they muddle through just fine without it? I don' t know. :) Would they muddle through but take five years to complete high school instead of four? Would 'most' of them muddle through but we would lose some?

The problem is that taking chances on a 'maybe' on the cost reduction has a cost that is real, in real people. It is the same kind of cost, albeit on a less dramatic scale, that the burgeoning expenditures on health care in our two countries face. And in both cases, prevention is better than cure. You can look at the 'cost' of ESL and wonder if you need to pay it, just as some look at the 'cost' of health and safety education and home care and wonder if it is worth paying. But the societal costs of not trying are pretty steep too, albeit difficult to measure, and certainly coming out of a different basket of costs.

And on the subject of 'experimental subjects'......I know. :(