Advantages and Disadvantages of EU Membership

         The European Union or the EU,  was created in 1993 with the signing of the treaty of the European union popularly known as the Maastricht treaty. Although efforts had been made in the past to unify Europe as a whole the signing of the treaty implied that the original 12 member states had become economically integrated and would possess common policies in a number of areas(Online Encyclopedia, 2009). This economic integration signalled that there would be a common market with among member states with which to influence policies and create common ground for its member states to form allliances and benefit from one another.  Therefore, in theory, it can be said that  the EU was created with a view of producing a large federation, both politically and economically.

Numerous member states of the EU  benefit heavily from the union, these benefits are as follows:
  
* Funds :- there are major funds attributed to developing the union, socially, economically and regionally. These funds are classed under the group of Mainstream funding.
      The most substantial aid  for developmental projects involving productive investments is the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). This is aimed at creating and maintaining jobs, improve developmental projoects in the regions and assist Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SME's).
        There is also the European Social Fund(ESF) which is beneficiary to human resource development and engaging widespread support for training and employment schemes at the national and regional level. Finally, the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) which is solely aimed at rural development (Tourism Unit, 1996) 

*Common Currency:- the creation and existence of the EURO as the common currency for member states with the exception of the United Kingdom has made business between countries easier to to carry out as there is no concern for exchange rates. This currency is presently the official currency of over 10 countries and it has removed diversification in business.

*Single Market:- Businesswise, this European single market has a population estimated at 500 million and with one registered european trademark, business is made easy and it also exposes SME's to economies of scale and export markets. For consumers, this free movement of goods and services across borders provides a wider range of commodities to choose from and with the registered Eupean trademark 'CE', consumers are more informed about  these products and are guaranteed a minimum standard. Finally, this single market gives individuals the right to live, work, or study in any other EU country. Hence studying abroad is made easy through the ERASMUS student foreign exchange programme. This creates a wider range of opportunities for individuals to choose from.(Great Britain. Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, 2012)

Although the EU has numerous benefits it is possesses a number of disadvantages:
*Cost:- according to (EconomicsHelp, 2012) the EU costs an estimated £6.4 to maintain, fund, and oversee. One of the factors which contibute to this is the large employee network. The EU has different organs and specialized ones with a large number of workers in numerous countries.

*Problems of the Euro:- the Eurozone; nations that tender the Euro as  main currency; has faced my obstacles especially in establishing interest rates across its member states. The reason for this being that the member nations do not all have the same growtth rate which makes it difficult for the European Central Bank (ECB) to set interest rate which will benefit all nations. This is one of the main factors contributing to the current Eurozone crisis. It is also believed to be a major reason why the UK refuses be part of the Eurozone.

*Net Migration:- the free movement of people, goods and services across Europe has resulted in some overcrowded cities in the UK and across Europe. Major cities such as London, Berlin and many others have become overcrowded and this is beginning to put pressure on available resources.

       
                                                                                                                                                              

 

                                                       European Union Countries(2009)

References:

1. EconomicsHelp(2012).Available at: http://www.economicshelp.org/europe/disadvantages-eu.html  (Accessed: 31 January 2012).
2. Encyclopedia of Management,(2009) European Union. Available at: http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/European_Union.aspx (Accessed: 31 January 2012).
3. Google Images(2009) European Union Countries[Online]. Available at: http://www.europeword.com/blog/europe/the-european-union-countries-at-the-helm-of-global-affairs/ (Accessed: 1 February 2012).
4. Great Britain. Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (2012) Benefits and Achievments of EU Single Market. [Online]. Available at: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.bis.gov.uk/policies/europe/benefits-of-eu-embership (Accessed: 31 January 2012). 
5. Tourism Unit, (1996) Tourism and the European Union: A Practical Guide. Luxembourg: Office for official publications of the European communities.

Educational System in UK and Nigeria

               From the the generalization of education all over the world, there have been many arising differences and similarities between different countries depending on the style the country required. However, with the influx of international trade and diversification of languages, the basic educational system has become a compulsory need in the lives of individuals who wish to locate lucrative jobs. Hence, there is a general hunger for high quality education at any level which is why numerous students travel thousands of miles away from home to different parts of the world to acquire quality education. Nevertheless, there is a need to examine the educational systems in the UK and my home country, Nigeria.

Here are some of the similarities between educational systems in the UK and Nigeria.

·         First of all, both systems are strictly based on proper British English.

·         Also, the systems are broken into three age stages : age 5-11, age 11-16 and 16 and above

·         Finally, the stages of school are called both the same names in the UK and Nigeria; primary school, secondary school and university. These are divided into terms and sessions.

Below are the differences:

	United kingdom	Nigeria
1.       Age of entry	By law, the compulsory age for a child to start school is 5 years.	There is no enforced age for starting school. Some children start earlier than 5 years, others later while some not at all.
2.       Finance	The UK government funds the education children between the ages of 5 and 16 years.	Here, the government only subsidises the prices of its public schools to make them cheaper. However, they are of very bad quality. There is also the option of private schools which must be funded by parents or guardian.
3.       Age of continuity	By law, child must be 11 years and above to enter secondary education and must be 18 years and above to enter university education.	Although there are laws regarding the ages for continuity there is no real enforcement of children’s ages to enter any level of education.
4.       A ‘levels or Sixth form	It is compulsory for a child to go to a sixth form or A’ level college before entering any university.	Here, it is no longer compulsory to do A’ levels before entering university. Hence, numerous children start university education before 18 years.

Clearly, there is a major difference in the adherence to rules in the UK than in Nigeria. However, that is not to say that both systems do not face their own problems. As suggested by Mortimore (2010), the UK government needs to give its teachers some extent of appraisal and sovereignty in classroom environment. It also needs to create a “democratically elected” commission to suggest amendments in the system to make it more effective and reduce its dependence in party politics. Hence, it is observed that the UK has its own issues with education.

Nigeria is not left out with its own set of issues. According to Tomori, (2012). The Nigerian educational system is filled with gaps such as inadequate infrastructure and facilities to provide a conducive learning environment; this is caused by poor funding of said schools by the Nigerian government. Hence, it could be said that both educational systems in Nigeria and the UK are somewhat similar but there is quite a gap in the level of quality.

Mortimore, P. (2010) ‘Ten Education Issues the Government should address’, The Guardian, 4 May [Online]. Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/may/04/education-big-issues-new-government  (Accessed: 24 January 2012).

Tomori, O. (2012) ‘Education will be far worse in 2012’, The Punch, 5 January [Online]. Available at:  http://www.punchng.com/feature/2012-in-view/education-will-fare-worse-in-2012-tomori/   (Accessed date: 25 January 2012).

The People of Britain

Britain, as we know it consists England, Scotland, Wales, and northern Ireland. Centuries and millenia back, the British people were considered as the most highly classed people because of their well-designed  manners and methods of association which was based on always being polite and courtful. Today, those mannerisms still thrive among core british people however, we also find that the british society has been injected with a large percentage of non-british as well as non-europeans.
This was due to fact that some decades in the past, it was quite easy to become a british national and possess a british passport. Hence, there was a large influx of people from all over europe who left their countries because of the wars or were simply searching for greener pastures.
             Therefore, if one might really ask who these british people are, then one must have proper knowlege of of their transition in history to be able to answer such a question.

1. First of all, from 450 A.D. it is shown through history that the britsh were very strong believers in religion.  At that time, the Catholic belief was dominant religion in those days and because the british ran a very strict monarchical system which was unquestionable, practically every british person had to either belive in the catholice way of life or show utmost respect for it. As a result, durind the early days, the Bishops and Popes were highly respected and their judgement infallible.
2. Later on, the monarchical system took all and absolute power, with some respect for the church, the Kings, Queens, Dukes, Countesses and so on were the most revered at that time. Hence, the britsih society became a stratified society and was divided into the Royals, the Nobles and the Peasants. Further, these rulers on the throne took it upon themselves to make all the world christian and catholic, so they would embark on crusades to place like Palestine, Jerusalem and other middle-eastern countries. However the people at these places already had srong belief in Islam and strongly resisted the jewish. 
3. Moving into the 16th,17th and 18th century, the british people become very invloved in making new discoveries and conquering unknown land. For example, the discovery of Australia and the Americas and the first locomotive engine built by George Stephenson. In time the people of the unknown places of the world that had been explored became distraught and gained independence by treaty or by force, for instance the american revolution. However, last on the list to gain this independence were the protectorates of Africa. Here, the british were in control for a long while from arrival of the missionaries to the advent of slavery to a representative british government and most difficult of all to defeat, Racism!

                                                     UK HISTORY 2000 TIMELINE. (2011)

Today, however,  the british society has become a home to all or most of the races of the modern world. They have come to accept people from all over the world. this is one of the main reasons why the british econmy thrives even in the waves and issues of the "Eurozone". With constant relationship with all kinds nations in the Commonwealth of nations and the United Nations, the british people have become a very hospitable and congenial people who are not only white people in complexion, but people from all over the globe.


Scaruffi, P. (1999) A History of England. Available at http://www.scaruffi.com/politics/british.html 
(Accessed:18 January 2012).
Historia Timelines, (2011) UK History 2000 timeline [Online] Available at http://www.historia-web.com/uk_history_timeline.php (Accessed:18 January 2012).

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Good stuff Gaby!