Abstract:
In 1995 the Republic of Korea (ROK) was officially admitted to the
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). This
organisation groups together industrially developed countries of the world.
Recently, the World Bank has also released a study of China that predicts
that China is going to become the second biggest economy in the next
fifteen years if its economic growth follows the pattern of the last fifteen
years. ROK is the only country from among the developing countries to join
the ranks of the developed industrialised countries in the last thirty years.
However, it is still a small country compared to China. Hence when China
completes its transformation into an industrialised country the whole world
will be affected.
How did South Korea achieve such an accelerated transition to
prosperity? What measures were adopted by the Chinese leadership that has
allowed China to grow so rapidly? There are many factors that have been
cited to explain Korea's miracle, and rapid Chinese growth. However, In the
following we will highlight the role that education, science and research and
development (R&D) have played in their success.
General prosperity with mass consumption has been achieved in the
present century only in those countries that have transformed themselves
from agrarian to industrial societies. They rely on massive industrialisation,
mass production and mass consumption. They build huge power plants,
country wide electricity grids, gas and oil pipe lines, refineries, dams,
highways, ports, airports, huge mechanical, chemical, and electrical
complexes. These industries use enormous amounts of energy and material
and are generally based on the exploitation of science and technology
(physics, chemistry, civil, mechanical, electrical and chemical engineering)
generated over the last hundred and fifty years.
While industrialising, these societies educate all their citizens,
banish illiteracy, provide schooling to all their children and youth (up to 18
years) and generally promote education and research. The modern
knowledge system, with its public schools, colleges, universities and research
institutions is the product of such societies. They generate new knowledge
at an exponential rate, thus doubling it every 15 years. This knowledge is
generated by scientists whose number also grows exponentially.
