Figure 1.--One of the stndard activities in schools around the world is the school lunch. This is, however, a very modern phenomenon. Here we see students in India enjoyinh their school lumch. We are not sure why some of the boys get their own plate while others share. A reader tells us, "Eating with hands is a standard convention in India and not only aong the poor."

The school lunch is today unremarkavle, but for children around the world it is a very recent phenomenon, primarily because until recently so few children attended schools. Of course they are lunches, just not at school. Mass education is a very recent development. It began in Germany and America (18th century). And as recently as Workd War II, it was limited almost eexclusively to Europe and North America. The only important excceotions were the British Dominions, Japan, and the Philippines. Now there were schools in most countries. Missionaries founded the first modern schools in many coyntries uin Africa and ASsia. What did not were public schools offereing free schooling for the mass educatiion of the population. This only began with de-colonization following World War II. Of course the meals provided varied greatly around the world. And only a few countries were rich enough to build schools with cafeterias. Many children brought lunches to school. And many very basic schools did provide hot meals for the children, in poorer countries sometimes an important part of theur nutrional intake. It should not be thought that decolonization was the only factor involved here. Even in Europe, public scgooling was not universal, esoecually in the pootrer countries. Also important was the economic systems adopted. Thise countries adoptting socialist policies for the most part languished in poverty. Those countries carrying out market reforms (meaning capitalism) like the Asian Tigers were responsible for the greatest explosion of wealth and well-being in all of human history. The result was thatv have been able to finance first class educational systems with facilities and amenities comparable to the West. Many are achieving results similar or exceeding those of the West--especially as contries like the United States increasingly put more emphasis on perceived equity rathan than acadademic excellence.

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Created: 1:24 PM 10/19/2022
Last updated: 5:46 PM 10/19/2022