Asses the view that the education system serves to maintain a capitalist society.

The education system can be seen to support the capitalist system. Education trains us for the workplace and it teaches us skills that make us employable which is part of the capitalist system. Also it teaches us to be punctual and to obey rules so we are compliant in the workforce. It teaches us to accept our status and authority figures in life and stick to the role we are in. The capitalist system shows that there are winners and losers, just like in education.
Marxists see the state as Capitalist dominated. Althusser says the state consists of two elements which serve to keep the bourgeoisie and these are the repressive and ideological state apparatuses. The repressive state apparatuses include police and the army and when necessary use physical force to control the working class. The ideological state apparatuses are the bourgeoisie controlling the people’s ideas, beliefs and values. His theory ensures that working-class pupils will end up in working-class jobs and accept their roles.
The capitalist society need people to do the low paid, hard labour, gritty jobs, they need students to fail, as high achieves would want to continue their education and aim for higher paid jobs . Bowles and Ginntis argue that capitalism requires a work force that has the right attitude and behaviour for that role and in their view the role of the education system in a capitalist society is too produce an obedient work force. Bowles and Ginntis also came up with the correspondence theory and the hidden curriculum where they argue that there is a close connection between schooling and work with head teachers being like bosses and the workers and pupils at the bottom obeying orders. They also say the myth of meritocracy is disguised and helps persuade the lower working class to accept inequality