Healthcare and Education: Pillars of the Tertiary Sector

Healthcare and Education

Healthcare

The healthcare sector of a country includes all the services intended to prevent and treat human illnesses. Healthcare, therefore, has an impact on a basic necessity: health. This is why it is one of the most important tertiary sector activities.

This service can be provided by both private companies and government bodies. Due to the high cost of maintaining facilities, training staff, and offering a good standard of patient care, the government usually plays a significant role in providing public healthcare services, as very few people can afford private healthcare. There is a great deal of inequality between developed and developing economies in terms of healthcare. This is evident from both the investment made in healthcare (e.g., facilities, workforce, the level of care) and the results (e.g., life expectancy and mortality rates).

Education

The education sector of a country includes all the services used to provide people with education and training. Like healthcare, this tertiary sector activity is especially important because it meets a basic need: the right to an education that will make it possible to obtain a job and adapt to society. The education sector is also very important because it is related to a country’s scientific progress. A strong education sector gives people the training necessary to engage in key activities, such as research and innovation.

Education is a service provided by both private companies and the government. However, it is the government that establishes the legal framework within which private education must operate, covering areas such as:

• Compulsory education age
• Curriculum
• Subjects

Public education systems try to offer an education that guarantees true equal opportunities for people of different income levels, allowing them to acquire knowledge and gain access to the job market. The criteria for measuring the success of an education system include the investment made by schools or universities (e.g., the training of teaching staff, school materials, scholarships and grants) and the results obtained, which are indicated by metrics such as literacy and dropout rates. There are also significant differences in this sector between the education systems of countries with developed and developing economies.