Is Education Everything?
Education is undoubtedly a central chapter in one’s life and career but certainly not the cure of all evils. Education is not just acquisition of knowledge, skills and expertise but a broadening of man’s horizons and enlightenment. Furthermore, education opens doors and improves people’s understanding of our surroundings and the world and above all it contributes to developing our full potential and achieve our goals in life. An educated person has a better awareness of their purpose in society and can claim rights and perceive their duties and obligations towards society. Another important aspect of education is that it empowers men with self-confidence, a sense of accomplishment, financial gratification and critical reasoning.
Certainly, education is by all means no panacea to the innumerable challenges of our society and world, however an open window to the world. To better understand the value of education we better look at the developing countries of our world and the challenges they are facing: illiteracy, poverty, inhuman life conditions, unemployment and malnutrition family planning and contraception. All those problems surely relate to a great degree to lack of education and due to the fact that wealthy nations do not assist poorer nations financially as they should. “Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.”Aristotle. However, according to the great Greek philosopher Aristotle education is not only about sheer knowledge and skills, it’s about educating character and not only intellect but also heart and conscious mind.
Unfortunately, a lot of students observe education as a means to reach the highest levels of well-paid categories. In other words, they want to study just for immediate gratification and climb the ladder of professional success. The problem lies in their upbringing and education, but above all the way they themselves perceive the world and their place in it. Here comes a gap in the field of education which is to be perceived in the frame of a holistic approach to the realm of knowledge. In other words, education shouldn’t be limited in transmitting sheer knowledge and skills. Teachers should be committed to convey a set of ethical and moral values. To do that they need to be properly educated and above all it is imperative that they be role models and capable to represent the pillars of education as indispensable tool to reach a degree of absolute supreme standard, both ethical and vocational. “Education is the great engine of personal development. It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that the son of a mine worker can become the head of the mine, that a child of farm workers can become the president of a great nation.”- Nelson Mandela
The pivotal role of education is to teach the young generations to understand the needs, objectives and expectations of the society they are part of. Society and education are interdependent in a mutual association, crucial for their contribution to the nation and world. Education as backbone of society is not just a social system but rather the essence of development and sustainability of the world we live in. Every single nation should invest the most in achieving high standards in terms of schools, universities and educational institutions. Knowledge is indispensable we want to bring change in our societies and the world and it should be shared and distributed to all, even those who are still in distress and financial dependence. We all should be able not only to dream of a better future, but build this future ourselves, because we are capable of doing it provided, we practice human values by means of co-operation and solidarity for the sake of a better world for all. “The goal of education is the advancement of knowledge and the dissemination of truth.” —John F. Kennedy
We all should be aware of the value and importance of education in our society and community. It is worth investing our utmost in order to create better educational institutions and programs that provide knowledge, skills and ethics to younger generations. Without education there is no development, financial freedom and prosperity in our world. It is high time to work together in bringing about change that can make the difference in our small planet Earth.
