Published on 8.51pm on Tuesday, 4 October 2011.
By Isabelle Deschamps. Isabelle lives in Montreal, Canada. She is a qualified lawyer currently reading her LL.M. and D.C.L. at the McGill Institute of Comparative Law. She is also the co-founder of Health and Education Now!, an NGO working on community development projects in Benin. Please read and leave your thoughts and comments below. *Shortlisted for the NUHA Blogging Prize 2011*
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THIS JOURNAL BELONGS TO: Stella De moun…
Ségou, Mali - 24 July 2009This morning, I was jogging through the dry millet fields of the Niger River region of Ségou in Mali when a young man riding a slightly rusty blue bicycle loaded with a freezer caught up with me and started a chat. He enquired about my suffering from the harsh morning heat of yet another cloudless day. (I actually don’t really mind the heat). Then came the second predictable question: “D’où venez-vous?”
“Canada”, I said.
His eyes glittered. “You have everything there”.
I tried to convince him of the contrary. Vain enterprise.
He told me about his dismay toward life in Mali, toward his own limited prospects for the future. Perhaps attempting to take on the role of the liberator, I called upon education as key to development.
“Education?”, he answered cynically, “Education hasn’t helped me. I finished primary and high school and look at what I do today: I wake up at dawn every morning and cycle more than 25 km to neighbouring villages looking for clients to sell my juices to. Some days, I don’t even sell everything.”
I listened, feeling both annoyed at my helplessness and foolish for having thought, worst still suggest, that the magic word “education” could solve his fatality.
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Cotonou, Bénin - 23 May 2011
Today, Dr Eliphoeth took me to visit the primary school his NGO runs in Édifnolmïa, a Tofin indigenous community village built on Lake Nokwe, just on the outskirts of Cotonou. The school is the only one in the community and it is in a decrepit state. At one point, I thought that the patched wood planked floor would crack open underneath my feet.
Eliphoeth explained that when he suggested opening the school over a decade ago, the chief and other villagers opposed the idea for they wanted to preserve their modes. They ultimately agreed but the struggles to get support for the school continue.
When Eliphoeth advised the community against drinking and throwing waste in the water, they said: “We’ve been living like this for decades and we’ve survived, so why should we change our practices?”
Why should they indeed? To increase their life expectancy? Somehow I doubt that they would revere this objective as much as we do in industrialised countries.
As we rode back from the school to the dry land, I was amazed at the strength of the young boy stirring our pirogue, at the agility of the children climbing up the ladders leading to their shackle homes and throwing nets for fishing, at the endurance of the people in the community who bathe, wash their dishes, drink and eliminate waste in what I could guess to be body, animal and food waste filled water. Many of the children, I was told, learn to swim before they even learn to walk.
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London, Uk – 2 August 2011
I went for a pint with Ekim today. I told him about my NGO’s project to help rebuild the school in Édifnolmïa and about the villagers’ initial opposition to having a school in their community.
“Maybe they were right”, he said. “Maybe they don’t need Western-type formal education. We certainly do not have the proof that spending twelve years or more on school benches listening to a teacher and reading textbooks is the best method for learning let alone for fulfilling oneself or becoming useful for society. We tend to think that the value and benefits of the liberal arts curriculum are universal. But what do these people value most? What are their needs?”
He has a point. Yet in Édifnolmïa’s particular case, it appears that the community’s priorities changed since the time when the school was initially built: last year, three representatives of village (again all men) arranged to speak to me to ask for help in renovating the school. Also, when Eliphoeth was about to close it for lack of funds to pay the teachers, the parents got together and contributed the amount necessary to cover the meagre salaries. As for the students, they themselves asked that I teach them English and I am always astonished at how keenly they learn it.
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Montreal, Canada – 11 September 2011
Prof. Dor sent me a link about a blogging contest on the role of education in developing countries. It’s organised by the Nuha Foundation. I think I will participate.
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Montreal, Canada – 26 September 2011
“Only the educated are free.”
This quote from Epictetus posted on the Nuha website got me thinking about the people of Édifnolmïa and about my Malian encounter in the fields of Ségou a couple of years ago. Can such a claim be salvaged from its apparent aristocratic arrogance? It has after all been attributed to one who experienced slavery, and liberation from it.
To determine the relevance of Epictetus’ assertion, one first needs to take stance on what education and freedom are.
Take freedom, or rather liberty, a larger encompassing concept that more appropriately fits with development goals. Liberty involves both having choices, as Prof. Sen suggests, and having the capability (qualities, intellectual tools, knowledge, information) of making choices.
Having choices entails being free from constraints – material, political, physical, social. My Malian friend, I am sure, had many more constraints than the obvious material and physical ones I can think of now. Yet I am equally sure that he, as well as the women and men of Édifnolmïa, have developed much more grit, resilience and self-control than I have during my relatively unconstrained life, spent mostly in primary and high school, college and university.
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I believe that the extent to which grit and similar character traits determine people’s ability to choose is underestimated in Western conceptions of liberty. (Note to self: on this, finish reading “The Character Test” article by Paul Tough in the 18 September 2011 edition of The New York Times Magazine)
Equally underestimated in the West is the importance of grit and character in becoming educated.
(A good) education, according to me, accomplishes two things. It leads people to develop the skills and qualities necessary 1) for overcoming constraints and 2) for exercising choice in the face of freedom. Only in such circumstance might I agree with Epictetus. Formal education (and conceptions of freedom) in industrialised nations have put so much emphasis on overcoming constraints that this has led to the violation of other nations’ freedoms (increased their constraints). At the same time, western education has disregarded people’s need to learn how to choose. Psychologist Barry Schwartz gave a really interesting TED talk in 2005 on the unhappiness caused by the incapacity of people in industrialised countries to choose. The multiplicity of choices paralyses and becomes yet another constraint.
How then to educate for achieving liberty? I would start by striving to identify and weigh the needs of individuals, their community and society against each other. From there, I would attempt to use and design methods that most adequately respond to the needs, whether these methods are formal or informal, common or rare, new or old.
The “Great Books” may help to achieve liberty, but singing, swimming or learning to sow a fishnet might even more.
Published on 8.43pm on Tuesday, 4 October 2011.
By Adhar Maheshwari. Adhar, 17, attends the Sanskriti School of New Dehli, India. Please read his article and leave your thoughts and comments below.
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There is a reason why every civilization throughout time has valued education—because it truly can alter our collective condition and make our lives easier, simpler, and most crucially, happier! From Egyptians learning to write on papyrus tablets to late nineteenth century scientists striving to discover medicines like penicillin, there has always been an urge in humanity to be better and to be more than what we have been before.
Man’s highest achievements—the building of bridges and overwhelming skyscrapers, to video chatting and space travel— the marvels of modern day living that we take for granted today, were once just mere ideas in people’s heads, planted when a few lucky people got a chance to gain true education—one that told them that it was okay to dream things that did not exist yet, and then gave them the courage of their own convictions to turn those blueprints of ideas into concrete reality. Just think, if all the people in this world could be given the same chance! Things and phenomena we aren’t even aware of, would come true.
“Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten”, Edward Skinner had once said, rather wittily and aptly. Education in truth is more than just skills and knowledge; it is also the ideas and idealism of living, the power of the brain to imagine, the strength of the heart to connect, and the ability of a person to live fully, curious about the world around them. True education allows us to revel in our interaction with others, having, most crucially, discovered the indomitable strength and potential inside our own selves. If self actualization is the ultimate goal that man desires, as Abraham Maslow suggested, then education is the surest way to transform a human being’s life. It breaks physical, mental, and spatial barriers and allows a person to critically and logically examine life, believe in his own potential, rather than depending on any other external source.
In a more practical sense though, education equips an individual to create and find better choices of employment and hence upgrades his chances of economic success. In tough economic climates, educated people are more likely to be employed and break the cycle of poverty that many uneducated, poor people remain constantly trapped in. Although material success is not everything yet it certainly gives the individual a firm economic base and thereby greater leverage and freedom to have a more meaningful life in the pursuit and fulfillment of his dreams.
An educated person also then begins to understand his place in the world. An educated man who is gainfully employed contributes to the GDP of his country and the meaningful life he leads gets translated into enhanced productivity for the country, leading to increase in the country’s national income. It was an apt comment on the potential which educated individuals can provide in the form of enlightened leadership to a country when President Obama declared that “the nation that out-educates us today is going to out-compete us tomorrow.”
True education propels people to contribute positively to the society, community and country and the world at large. Education promotes world citizenship, acting as a passport to a better tomorrow since every enlightened, educated person shines a stronger light in the world around him. One need just look at people like Bill Gates, whose philanthropic efforts run into billions of dollars, to realize that those who get a lot from the world, in the form of a good education and opportunities, are also more likely to contribute positively to the world. Good education spreads its impact in concentric circles, starting from a single individual but then benefitting communities and societies as well, and that too across several generations. In fact, historically great educators like Socrates and Aristotle have always been concerned with and taught their students lessons in morals and ethics, since they and countless others after them, have realized that the true quest in life for people, and the only medium of creating everlasting change in the world is, education that encompasses the moral and philosophical development of people as well.
Calling education a weapon may seem radical coming from Nelson Mandela, a man who was an exemplar of peace, but the strength and force of education is visible to anyone who cares to look at the recent Egyptian revolution, where young students, with minds opened to the wonders of democracy, through education, helped overthrow the yoke of suffering that their parents had silently borne. Education is the silent and effective weapon of non violence, which can help people and societies break the cycle of oppression that many have historically suffered from. Many oppressed societies, where dictators have thrived, have had a paucity of education avenues.
Education liberates the mind from its shackles and fears and encourages it to challenge and to communicate with others. It is not without a reason that education is at the bottom of the priority list of dictators. It was also not without reason that upon annexation of neighboring states, Nazi Germany imposed its own brand of education. Many dictators find it easy to unscrupulously deny people education or better still, manipulate education to serve their own selfish interests. Throughout history, and even today, autocratic leaders censor literature and books and prevent potent ideas from spreading since they realize that an idea is the most powerful force in the world and can transform a human being completely.
More importantly though, to me, an educated person also has the capability to objectively analyze issues, recognize and learn from existing flaws, and relearn what is right. This ability to adapt and learn is important in our world as it is inevitable that in our world there will be a few self interested individuals, dictators like Hitler, Kagame and Gaddafi, who will try to seize power to serve their own selfish ends in this world. But whenever humanity goes wrong, or someone strays from the ideals and path of righteousness, the best weapon, and surest way to bring them back on track, is to empower others around them with education, to resist and reform such people. In a way then, education acts as a social safeguard, against the base tendencies of humanity, and the aberrations in the story of growth and progress of our civilization.
Democracy thrives best when there is widespread education amongst citizens, who make informed voting decisions, exercise their rights and perform their duties towards the State and strengthen democratic instructions in a country. It is for this reasons that the right to education or the concept of No-Child Left Behind is on the agenda of every civilized society along with the subjects of food, clothing and shelter.
Coming out of the narrow mental confines, education moreover, helps one see the diversity of the world around them in everything from opinions to culture. This naturally promotes tolerance and respect for the other people’s viewpoints and encourages social harmony. Studies have shown a definite correlation between a fall in communal incidents and a rise in educational levels and gainful employment in countries around the world. In a country like India, which is a cultural mosaic of various castes, creeds, races and religions, education becomes a powerful tool of National Integration.
Education enables each person to be an agent of change. In countries where health issues like HIV AIDS, Malaria and tuberculosis are a major concern, educational campaigns through advocacy have fundamentally changed the extant scenario for the better. Education is also a guarantor of human dignity and human rights for equality and justice. Education also has a great role in developing countries like India plagued by gender issues wherein education of the girl child is the least priority of most Indian families. Educating a woman has inter-generational cascading effects. By educating the girl child one is educating several generations of children as an educated mother is bound to rear educated children.
It is apparent all around us that the destiny of a nation is shaped in her classrooms. As a volunteer at an after school education program, I once interacted with a woman, a mother of a child in my class, who would sneak into the classroom and sit in the back. She broke down in a strange mixture of laughter and tears when she first learned to write her name and subsequently kept scribbling it everywhere—from her child’s books to the walls of the classroom! Her joy, when she learned to recognize and see her own name as a separate identity on paper—a validation of sorts for her existence, was incredible to watch. Education does indeed have such dramatic, life-altering effect on people, empowering them to recognize their own identity and potential in this world and no nuclear weapon could ever match that!
Published on 5.16am on Tuesday, 4 October 2011.
By Ayman Abd El Monem Amer. Ayman, 24, is a business owner living in Bagour, Menoufia, Egypt. Please read his article and leave your thoughts and comments below. *Shortlisted for the NUHA Blogging Prize 2011*
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I think one of the most common assumptions that should no longer be accepted is that ignorance and illiteracy are actually the same thing, or that ignorance is just a result of the inability to read or write, for the concept of "not knowing" oneself is mystical and does not really mean anything.
For example, when you describe someone as an "ignorant person", you certainly do not mean that his mind is all empty and does not contain any kind of thoughts or information, but you might by referring to the fact that his mind is storing obsolete, wrong, or even funny information compared to the quality of information today. But how do you think this ignorant someone could have heard this funny information unless someone else had "read" it in front of him which indicates that "the reader" is sharing the same obsolete, wrong or funny information?!
Reading is only a learning technique, inability to read means missing only one learning (or gaining knowledge) tool.
Thus, it is not about whether you are able to read or not, it is about the quality of the demanded knowledge, and yet we make an unforgiving mistake confusing ignorance (not knowing) with illiteracy just by judging the external look.
As a result of this understanding, one cannot really escape the trap of ignorance just by possessing this learning technique called "reading", because again it is not about how much you can read, it is all about the quality of what you read and how relevant it is to the truth, and we should not be concerned about how many illiterates we have, but we should be more concerned about the kind of knowledge we are all missing, because if all what we have in books is a combination of stupidity and nonsense then there is no use at all of encouraging more people to go to school: that would be like teaching people how to read, so they can read the nonsense by themselves instead of just hearing it! You cannot really get rid of ignorance by finding its "readers".
Learning is a continuous process from cradle to grave, however this seems to be a totally unknown concept in developing countries and the Middle East. This is the sort of statement you might hear: "Are you kidding me?! Education stops when you are 21 years old and have a college degree (as if it was ever started before) then you look for a job with the good salary and get married!" This is the most common accepted prescription for success and happiness for most people, it is not about "what you learn" or about you being able to decide what is important, valuable and useful in life. There is only the sacred quest for "the right career", the social approval and how much you can make every year; this is the outcome of a system that was originally fashioned by social filters (governmental authorities, biased media companies and large corporations).
The learning process cannot be continued unless you start it from the first place: you first need to learn how to learn then you will be able to start, pause or even stop learning anytime you want.
You cannot encourage or motivate people to do something they don't know anything about. You will be fooling yourself and them if you expected any results from preaching people about how critical it is to continue their "learning process" if you did not make any effort to introduce them to the idea of learning itself.
Learning to Unlearn
It is very surprising that so much of what we currently know is just getting to be wrong, many things we used to look at as facts now are proven to be nonsense. The globe was initially believed to be flat. But the subsequent learning confirmed that the globe is round.
Therefore the question of unlearning is becoming more important than the question of learning, and it turns out that it is a lot trickier to learn to unlearn than a lot of us might think at first. Fortunately by having a firm and flexible mindset that you are still learning and evolving can make it a lot easier, and of course in addition to not taking your learning for granted, accepting that what you learn during your life may be subject to change.
Finally, the burning passion for learning must be the same as for unlearning and relearning. If it is not coming from the core of your heart, then you should get busy doing something else, but don't forget to do it with burning passion as well.
Published on 4.09pm on Sunday, 2 October 2011.
By Sen Phoi Thich. Sen, 26, lives in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. She studies at the Hung Vuong University. Please read her article and leave your thoughts and comments below.
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In the past, most people believed that the illiterate were those who barely knew a word. Is it still true in the 21st century? Personally, I think the concept of illiterate has been changed. In today's society, education is open to almost everyone. However, read and write are not the problem of being illiterate, it is lifelong learning. When the world around is going fast with technology and competition, being unable to keep on learning everyday is considered as illiterate.
Before the era of Internet and the booming of online community, women were tight in the house. Their roles were to take care of the children and cooking meals for husbands. Later on, with the revolution, women are able to have an education, and they are able to have jobs and to hold important positions. They keep themselves up-to-date with new knowledge and technology. Although Internet seems like an alien thing to them - those tender mothers, tactful wives and dedicated employees, they spend time to learn. It is because they want to know their children, who happen to be computer savvy. It is because they want to catch up with the race in their workplace where seniority and experience alone could not make up for the lack of competency in new technology.
Once, I had a chance to talk to a successful CEO of a community site for ladies. It is where to-be mothers, already-be mothers and single ladies come to share their experience of work, life and family care. Besides sharing, women can go there for online shopping, for entertainment, and be the dominant of Internet world. How could a non-tech savvy mom become so successful with her site? Unless she spent time to get to know the technology with the dedicated guidance of her husband, she would not be a respectful and powerful woman of today. There have been times of stress and tiredness because she had to juggle with her duties of being a wife, a mother and a manager. It was the hard time when frustration and hopelessness were your constant-visited friends, yet with perseverance and resolution, she kept on going with learning and relearning. According to her, the world only can see your triumph, but you are the one who knows how hard and how much effort it takes you, a woman, to be recognized and noticed for your contribution to the community and society. Talking with one of those talented women like her, I can feel the charm of their feminine aspect and the courage to seize the chances which Internet brings along.
However, there are still some young people of the upper-middle and the upper class who have the most advantage to access the latest technology. The strong background of their family can bring them anything ranging from the luxurious life to high quality education, but not necessarily an ethical attitude and a tactful mind which knows how to love others. Eventually, they fall for those raving parties, endless entertainment activities, and foolish competition showing how rich they are. They have the finest opportunity to gain exposure to school and books, yet they hardly take this chance seriously.
In my country, teenagers of the nouveau riche are nurtured in the wrong way - get what they want without effort, so they gradually become heartless and brutally violent - insulting friends, becoming a school bully, being a victim of addictive medicine. Somehow, they turn their back on others, they refuse the opportunity to learn from teachers at school and the old generation, and they care for nothing but the satisfaction of their foolish self-esteem, of which they truly lack. Finally, how the society could be, if the young generations continue to be in this harmful way. The solution still cannot be found up to now. As a result, there are countless youngsters becoming teen criminals.
Nowadays, knowledge is at our finger tips. One mouse click, a pool of information is shown on your computer screen. Internet demolishes the gap of geographical and generation distance. The primary matter here is whether you are willing to spend time for your lifelong learning process because even a prophet or an expert still has to learn in every single minute.
Published on 12.58am on Saturday, 1 October 2011.
By Kunal Nathwani. Kunal, 19, lives in London, UK. He is a second-year law student at UCL. Please leave your thoughts and comments below.
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The quest for education by the Scheduled Castes/ Dalits /Untouchables has followed a similar pattern to the Indian Freedom Struggle: Unsatisfactory compromises by the government providing an impetus for greater demands for education. Complete freedom, however, is still pending.
The Scheduled Castes, the lowest strata of the Hindu caste system, were the uneducated, exploited segment of society compelled to perform the traditionally considered demeaning tasks from cleaning toilets to sweeping streets. This has been beautifully encapsulated by Mulk Raj Anand in his book, Untouchable. Shunned by society, they were kept out of educational institutes, places of worship and communal places. Unfortunately, there has been little change in the attitude of the ‘higher castes' towards Dalits, continuing to leave them largely uneducated and inhibiting their progress.
The situation of the Untouchables can be likened to that of the black population of South Africa. In modern day, post-apartheid South Africa, less than 2% of the black population has a degree as opposed to 17% of the white population [FN1]. This can be largely attributed to the Bantu Education Act 1953 in apartheid South Africa, in which the black population was deliberately oppressed and given poorer education and job opportunities than the white population. In order to rectify this febrile situation the government needs to tackle the problem at the grassroots level. Similarly, for the Untouchables, the way forward is increased education.
Reservations, used correctly, would be an effective tool towards this goal and for the Dalit to lift himself out of the morass. This was the motivation behind incorporating reservations into the Indian Constitution under the chairmanship of Baba Ambedkar (1951), the architect of the Indian Constitution and a Dalit by birth. His struggle is well documented and his success attributed to the legal education that he received. While inspiring, it poses a question: should every Dalit have to struggle as much to live a life of equal opportunity?
Reservations have not produced the envisaged results because it has become a weapon used by politicians to exploit the Dalit vote bank. With some universities having close to seventy per cent reservations, deserving candidates do not find a place in educational institutions owing to the absurd levels of reservations. In fact, this has created antipathy towards the concept of reservations and the Scheduled Castes, compounding the problem.
To say that reservations have been a complete failure would also be incorrect. The rate of increase in literacy for the Scheduled Castes has grown at a much higher rate than the overall rate since the Indian Independence. Additionally, while in states like Bihar literacy among the Scheduled Castes is dismal, in other states, such as Mizoram, through effctive implementation of reservations, the Scheduled Castes have an almost 90% literacy rate [FN2]. The results highlight a shortcoming in the implementation of the policy by certain states.
The alternative to reservations would be the policy of ‘racial blindness,' as followed in South Africa, in which there are no reservations based on race. However, as seen earlier, this policy has not provided acceptable results and a large portion of the black population remains uneducated in comparison to the white population. Another drawback has been that there is no integration of students, with most ‘African schools' having 100% African students [FN3]. This causes segregation, and therefore does not achieve the objective of assimilation.
The solution needs to start at the lower levels of education. By providing a good primary and secondary education to the Schedued Castes there will hopefully come a stage when they can compete for university placements without the need for reservations. A fundamental problem is the dearth of schools in villages, compounded by the socially prejudiced people purporting to run them. The government continues to focus on the urban sector and ignores the rural sector largely, where the majority of the Scheduled Caste population still lives. Essential facilities, which increase the value of an education, such as libraries, laboratories and other essential facilities are lacking in schools in rural sectors. These deplorable conditions have been discussed by authors like Mahasweta Devi. Yet large populations of India's rural sector remain uneducated. Most schools in these sectors don't require a lot of capital to set up. A problem faced by the government is finding teachers who are willing to go to these villages. Another effective tool to alleviate this problem is the use of technology such as internet and video communication. Furthermore, there can be a common school for a small group of villages that are in close proximity. Not only will this increase the level of education in the country, but this will start integrating people of Scheduled Castes with other communities at an early stage. The government has taken a step in the right direction with the launch of EDUSAT, which is an alternative form of education. EDUSAT is a satellite, launched to beam classes being conducted in a studio to remote areas where children cannot go to school. Children can ask questions through emails, text messages and any other mode of communication. This will revolutionize the educational system in India.
It has also become easier for the government to provide students with computers owing to the OLPC Foundation, which provides students with laptops for $100. This has significantly reduced the cost of providing students with a technical education which has become a mainstay of the work environment. Giving students a technical education teaches them vital skills that can be effectively used.
Another major obstacle is the prejudice of the people who run these schools. Many of them are still biased and do not provide Scheduled Caste children equal opportunities, often refusing them an education. This is a major stumbling block in the way of their social rehabilitation which needs to be tackled at the roots. The way forward is by instilling the idea of equality in the minds of everyone through education, creating a society of equal and fair opportunity.
The Bollywood movie, Arakshan, which had a lot of opposition from people of both sides, conveyed that the only way forward is education, and reservations should not be done away with, but monitored carefuly.
The KIPP programme was started in New York City to provide underprivileged children from the Bronx with better opportunities by starting schools that were geared towards people of certain backgrounds, working with them on ther weaknesses and training them for a college education. Similar schools are needed in the rural sectors of India to educate Scheduled Caste children, who would usually not be given the same opportunities or attention were they to attend regular schools. Only through this focus will they be able to achieve more than they are currently being allowed to and finally destroy this impervious wall that is restraining them.
The government has taken another step in the right direction with the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009, which provides every child free education until the age of 14. The problem lies in its implementation, which must be focused on if it is to transform millions of lives.
A misconception is that a good education must consist of a university degree. A good education can also incorporate vocational skills like welding or craftsmanship to learning farming essentials like dry-farming techniques and water-harvesting mechanisms. These seemingly basic skills could be life-changers for people of this stratum of Indian society. The Chinese proverb, ‘Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime,' is apt for this situation.
It is relatively easy to implement this vocational education. Centres could be set up in areas that are easily accessible to these people. There have been several state-sponsored centres for teaching students computer skills. However, they have mostly been opened in urban areas and the government continues to ignore the rural sectors which have a greater need for these facilities.
The reason that education is the ultimate freedom fighter for these oppressed people is because it helps give them self-belief. Providing them with an education gives them the tools to live and excel with people from all other backgrounds, privileged or underprivileged and that will eventually help break the current mindset in the country. If done effectively there soon will be a stage when there will be no need for reservations or separate schools; no need for the status ‘Scheduled Castes'. They will be equals to themselves and others. They will be transformed into the leaders of tomorrow.
Even though India fought one hundred and ninety years for freedom everyone in the country is not free. Even during the freedom struggle most leaders believed that the sole way out of colonial rule was education. This seems to be a lesson unlearned. Only through education will it achieve the goals set out in the preamble: justice, equality, fraternity and ultimately liberty.
Footnotes
1. The Economist 2010
2. Literacy and SC/ST
3. The Economist, 2010
Bibliography
1. Anand, Mulk Raj. Untouchable. London: Penguin, 1990
2. ‘Last in Class', The Economist Special Report, 03 June 2010
3. ‘Literacy and SC/ST', University of Montreal (accessed 22 September 2010)
Published on 5.36pm on Friday, 30 September 2011.
By Lucas Veuillet, of Aumont-en-Halatte, France. Lucas, 15, is a high school student at the Lycée St Vincent, Senlis, France. Please read his article and leave your thoughts and comments below.
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I totally agree with this quote. Why? That's really hard to explain. But I can ask you a question: what is most important, more powerful than education? Army, Economy, Industry, Politics, or Religion? Nothing. Because everything begins with education. Indeed, a society cannot exist without education. Our society but also our mentality depend on education. If education was different, based on other rights (better or worse), the society would change its face. Thus, education is not only the most powerful weapon to change the world, it is the only one. In fact, the army or religion for example does not have such influence as education. If an army or a religion wants to change the world or the mentality, they cannot totally achieve this objective. Because education has allowed some people to take their own decisions and therefore not to be influenced. We have some examples of this situation in history. During the 15th century, persons like Martin Luther or Jean Calvin opposed the supremacy and the total control over thoughts by the Catholic Church, creating Protestantism. Another example is the resistance of some Chinese citizens against the communist dictatorship during the 20th and the 21st century. This intellectual resistance is possible through education. We can see that education is the most powerful weapon to change the world.
But like every weapon, education can be used for noble causes but also for the worst crimes. When education, like in every developed country, is used to learn respect of human rights, intellectual and religious tolerance but also to learn to form his own opinion, to think alone and to prepare his future, education is the best thing for the society and the country. With this type of education, the children, who are the future of the nation, receive a solid foundation for a successful life but also for participating in the organization of the society in a good way. Even if education is not a success for everybody in the developed world, we can see that when education is used in a good way, it affects all sectors of the world.
However, when education is used, like in the very poor countries, to learn how to kill somebody, how to steal or how to do war, it may have terrible consequences on the country. In this case, education is used to cause violence, intolerance and disrespect for others, authority and society in general. It leads to a high rate of delinquency and crimes (especially for young people), civil wars, dictatorships, traffics and poverty or misery. In the countries where education is not developed in a good way, we can realize that there are low standards of living and high rates of violence. These countries are often on the margins of globalization.
To conclude, we can see that "education is the most powerful weapon" to change the world, as said Nelson Mandela. Education is the foundation of the society and every sector (army, economy, religion, etc...) depends on it. Education allows respect of human rights, other people and also tolerance of other beliefs. Education can also be a weapon against totalitarianism or single thought. However, education can also lead to some scourges (violence, crimes, wars, dictatorship, etc...) when it is used in a bad way. That is why it is really important to promote education throughout the world in order, why not, to change the world in the more or less immediate future.
Published on 4.38am on Thursday, 29 September 2011.
By Abdullahi Muhammed. Abdullahi studies law at the University of Ilorin, Nigeria; he is also a freelance writer. Please read his article and leave your thoughts and comments below. *Shortlisted for the NUHA Blogging Prize 2011*
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Education makes a people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern but impossible to enslave. - Lord Chancellor Brougham
Freedom would be meaningless, if existent at all, in the absence of education. This is because knowledge is paramount in every sphere of life. It is the most potent tool for charting the growth and development of a society. The process of acquiring, reforming and utilizing and imparting knowledge is what is termed ‘education'. Education is a broad, functional term - implying all forms of training, learning, practice and experience that improve a person's output from cradle to grave. While in a strict sense, there is no one without education or knowledge, I take ‘education' in this context to mean ‘formal and functional learning or acquisition of skills' so that one who has not consciously undergone any training can rightly be classified as uneducated.
Freedom denotes the liberty to act freely and independently within the limit of the law without being coerced or unduly influenced. It is a person's right to think independently, associate with whom he wills, say and believe what he likes, move to and live where he chooses and engage in what activities please him, provided no law is violated. It is my contention that a person who lacks education is not free but in shackles in every area of his being.
The world over, education is recognized as indispensable. International legal instruments including the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the constitution of every nation of the world guarantee it. Epictetus declared, and I believe rightly, that only the educated are free.
In the religious circles, learning is given a very high premium as a prerequisite for freedom and salvation. The first 5 verses revealed of the Qur'an command the seeking of knowledge. "Read! In the name of your Lord Who has created ... Read! And your Lord is the Most Generous. Who has taught by the pen. He has taught man that which he knew not." (Qur'an 96: 1-5). The Bible also says, "And ye shall know truth and the truth shall set you free." (John 8:32). By analogy, if a dog recognizes his master, never will it be deceived into deeming as its master a rogue who would only enslave or murder it.
In the social setting, education ensures a person is capable of pursuing his legitimate interests without jeopardizing the rights of others and the community as a whole. He does not resort to violence as a means of ventilating his grievances. In Nigeria for instance, the Northern region has witnessed series of avoidable ethno-religious violence with thousands of casualties. This is due to the high level of illiteracy in the region as no religion allows the indiscriminate cleansing of an ethnic or religious group. The fact that only 45 of the 117 Nigerian universities are in the region and that about 10 million almajiris (pupils memorizing the Qur'an and begging to fend for themselves without any formal education) and many more of their youth do not attend any formal institution of learning reveals how educationally deficient the region must be.
In politics and governance, education ensures there is sanity and fair play. In the first place, no community would give legitimacy and loyalty to an ignorant, unlearned fellow as its leader. Education guides the leader to know that the loyalty and cooperation of his subject can only be sustained by persuasion, pro-people programmes and value-based welfare schemes. Such knowledge liberates him to become the leader. Also, if the people are learned, they would be active participants in the governance process which would give them the unfettered freedom to occupy the driver's seat in determining their political destiny. In advanced nations like Britain and France where scholarship flourishes, elections are seldom rigged, political opponents rarely persecuted, electoral violence infrequently heard and military intervention never seen. The reason is not far-fetched: the learned people are vigilant and would simply not allow themselves to be toyed with like chess pieces. In educationally deficient states however, the rulers ‘ride' their docile subjects like donkeys. The purposeless killing in the 2011 post-election crisis in Nigeria is still fresh in mind. A society's development in politics cannot be quicker than its growth in learning.
Education frees man from the shackles of economic servitude. It teaches him to give value to his money-making endeavour. If an untaught mind produces and sells popcorn, he would not sell beyond his stall and he would most probably not enjoy the patronage of the elite who may not feel comfortable standing by the roadside procuring the snacks. A learned person however would give worth to the trade. He could brand it by packaging the popcorn in sealed can, plastic or nylon with his trademark printed on the pack. Then he engages vendors who would buy from him in bulk and resell to the common man in his domain and the crème de la crème in their imposing houses and offices. This would see the educated entrepreneur selling his product and name to all in far and wide places and at a much higher price. He would have equally created employment for the vendors. On the global scene, the USA, according to the Digest of Education Statistics in US 2010, has 10% of her population in the university system in 2009 alone while Nigeria, according to the Nigeria's Bureau of Statistics, has just 0.35% of her population in the university system in the same year. Hence, the USA has the most vibrant economy in the world while Nigeria remains underdeveloped.
In the present times, education is the sole legitimate criterion which determines who gets what percentage of the national resources and income. Erudite professors, lawyers, entrepreneurs, medical doctors and engineers work in the conducive, air-conditioned milieu of their offices, taking decisions, signing documents, giving expert advice, making prescriptions and proffering pragmatic solutions to the problems of the world. They do what they love doing and earn a handsome income, live in gorgeous mansions and are reckoned with in society. The life of the uneducated man, by contrast, leaves much to be desired. He toils tooth and nail in the scorching sun and the heavy downpour cleaning the toilet, scrubbing the floor, clearing the bush, pushing trucks, dusting shoes, running errands and enduring constant scolding. He gets a pittance for a salary, puts up with starvation and malnutrition and sleeps, in Nigeria for instance, in dilapidated shacks, uncompleted buildings, under bridges or even on trees at night. He is in economic chains for the simple reason that he is educationally deficient.
The educated man is free to guard against infringements of his God-given rights. The constitution of every nation and the UDHR guarantee some minimum levels of human rights which are inalienable and which must be enjoyed by all and sundry irrespective of age, sex, religion, tribe or colour. These include the rights to freedom of movement, of conscience and religion, of association, among others. However, these rights cannot enforce themselves except that those who posses them vigilantly guard against their violations. Education would help a man know his minimum rights, how to protect them and how to seek redress when such are infringed upon. An illiterate is oblivious of his rights and their protection. If I possess a cake, but am unaware that I am the owner, will I protest if another person arrogates it? Even if I am aware of my ownership rights over the cake without knowing how to repossess it from the trespasser, will I enjoy the ownership rights?
Education equally guarantees liberty for man from the fetters of obscurantism. The modern society is replete with misinformation and stereotypes about many things. The media - rightly tagged the fourth arm of the realm - controls the thinking and worldview of the masses. Only the learned beings would be capable of sifting information to extract facts from myths and misconception. Only he would be capable of independent and clear reasoning, deep research and critical analysis and be liberated from intellectual servitude. If a teacher constantly tells his primary 2 pupil that lizards grow to become snakes, would the student not absolutely believe and fanatically proclaim, albeit without any proof, the "fact" anywhere in the world? The uneducated by the same logic are slaves of misinformation. But such a concocted lie cannot be popular with a college student whose intellect is not dwarfed.
Education is the mother of freedom. It procreates, nurtures and safeguards it. If Homo sapiens seriously craves development, desires justice and loves peace, I prescribe for him the remedy called ‘education'.
Published on 4.20am on Thursday, 29 September 2011.
By Jerry Olasakinju. Jerry, 37, lives in Fukuoka, Japan and is an ESL Instructor. Please leave your thoughts and comments below.
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There is no better way to express how strongly I feel about education than showing it in a poem I composed below.
Give me Education, Give me Life
Education-
You're a life-giver, the separator of the living dead from
From those who are wide awake in your bright glory of enlightenment.
You shove the fools to the corners where men of understanding
Gather in the darkened rooms debating the rudiments of creation.
It is almost impossible for an uneducated person to attain his or her desired position in the global community. Whenever I mention education in this article, I am only referring to academic education, not religious, moral or cultural education that anyone could obtain without much ado. It is true to state that a perfectly molded person needs all these other forms of education, but the position of academic education superimposes them all.
With academic education, you have been given a KEY to a life of achievements, successes and personal fulfillment. Incidentally, you will be free from bondage, poverty and a life of disaffection that ignorance often causes. You would look at anyone with God-given pride and be confident enough to offer your contributions to whatever issue people are discussing around you.
There is no better way to describe the potency of education than using this interesting illustration: I am a resident in Japan, and I have watched with intense surprise how life has dealt differently with two close friends based on their levels of education. The two gentlemen are British nationals who both immigrated to Japan in the late 90s. Mr. A has only graduated from secondary school and chose not to go to the university; but Mr. B has a Master's degree.
They both decided to enter into the educational industry in Japan. While Mr. A slugged from one English Language school to another, Mr. B obtained tenure at a Japanese private university. Mr. B's monthly salary could afford him his desired pleasures, lifestyle and needs while Mr. A laboured with a meager salary that was barely enough for his personal upkeep!
The illustration above is common everywhere and the only reason for the discrepancy in people's lifestyles is EDUCATION. I can't agree more with Epictetus that a person who has been lucky to be educated will experience freedom in his or her life. Come to think of it: several opportunities are closing in many countries based on the prerequisite for enjoying those opportunities. It is a fact that no country will like to have an illiterate as its president anymore in this modern age, and many professions would be adjudged excellent if the practitioners possess basic academic education. For goodness sake, what separates a quack from a professional? What makes someone qualified for a post and technically knocks out the other? Education! The list will be endless if I should give examples of achievements that are strictly bound to people's level of education.
In conclusion, to be alive without education, as my poem states above, is similar to being a living dead in a fast changing world!
Published on 10.47pm on Monday, 26 September 2011.
By Neveen El-Gamal. Neveen, 38, lives in Giza, Egypt. She is a writer and a translator. Please read her article and leave your thoughts and comments below. *Shortlisted for the NUHA Blogging Prize 2011*
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"The illiterate are those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn," Alvin Toffler
What is Education?
It is the process of learning information that helps us grow, develop, live safely and successfully in the world. And learning to learn because learning is an ever lasting life process.
Education requires qualified teachers who are RARE in the Middle East.
Education in Developing Countries:
Education in developing countries, specifically the Middle East, applies the exact opposite of the objectives of education. Instead of opening up children for learning, their minds are stuffed with mostly irrelevant information that blocks the mind from functioning naturally and blocks creativity and kills their natural curiosity. Adding that students are NOT ALLOWED to express what they think or what they feel. It is well known that the higher the grade of education, the less creative and less intelligent students become in the Middle East. The more they grow, the less they use their minds; and with time, they forget how to use their minds. Thinking and creativity are replaced by ready-made ideas and thoughts of others; not to mention, they're not even good ones.
Students leave schools and Universities hating education although education is a natural means for humans to satisfy their nature of curiosity. What education actually does is shutting us off and filling us up with others' stuff!
Why do we keep repeating mistakes throughout history since the beginning of humanity? Why are deep humane life lessons rarely shared? Why do we in developing countries after the school years are over need to fix/rebuild what education has ruined in us and seek what we have missed thoughout those years in four-walled prison educational institutes? About eighteen years of humans' lives are spent in buildings where they miss parts of life that cannot be relived. Why for heaven's sake would winters over 18 years be spent indoors in countries where winter is bliss!
Education teaches children how unacceptable they are because they are different while this uniqueness is why they are truly precious and is how knowledge is being created and supposedly shared.
Why would students in some schools spend most of their years separated: male students are separated from female students? Which grows an unnatural, unbalanced drive towards each sex as this draws their attention to the myth: ‘females and males should not mix'. And develops the question ‘why' which leads to all sorts of complications. Some end up unable to communicate with the other sex and not knowing how they are like?
Why do some people start to realize what life is really about at the age of 50?
Education is absolutely MISLEADING!
Statements published in "Al Masry Al Youm", a local newspaper in Egypt on September 17th 2011. Such wording never existed before this year's revolution:
Dr. Kamal Mogheith, an educational expert, demands a free atmosphere in the educational process and declares:
"Education is distant from national affiliation and produces a generation of extremists."
"Egyptian education is a bitter reality."
"Low cost education caused a lot of cons yet I am not against it."
"A committee of elite thinkers, intellectuals and scientists needs to reconsider the whole case of education in Egypt."
Dr. Yosri Afifi, former Director of the Center for Curriculum Development declares:
"Government schools have become insults and students turned into customers."
"Teachers' social and economical problems reflect on their performances in classes."
"I am against teaching syllabuses in the English language."
"Foreign schools are crimes in the right of Egypt."
Unlearning
In my personal experience, being a Taurus, not quite open or flexible for change, unlearning was a very difficult and painful experience.
Unlearning might be less painful and difficult for others but it is not a pleasant experience. And that is because learning usually comes from teachers; and teachers are seen as big figures; and big figures are BIG FIGURES! They represent AUTHORITY and at a young age, it is assumed that they cannot make mistakes and certainly cannot lie! Changing that is no doubt disturbing and will be resisted if not rejected. Whatever is passed through big figures to children gets rooted and is perceived as sacred. It is difficult and sometimes painful to uproot.
Why is unlearning critical and inevitable?
1. To teach learners that no sacred, mistake-free teachers/people exist.
2. To fix crimes committed by unqualified teachers.
3. To fix dysfunctional syllabuses designed by the Ministry of Education.
4. To assure the right of being and expression for students.
5. To spread the awareness about the educational myths we've been living and believing on all levels from the Ministry of Education down to the students.
Relearning
Learning starts from oneself:
Awareness! Self-awareness: who we are and how to deal with ourselves. And from self awareness grows the knowledge to deal with others and with life. I'm calling for a BALANCE. Human beings need to develop four aspects of their beings: physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually.
When a human being deeply learns about himself, he starts to deeply learn about people and the world around him. Starting from ourselves and expanding to the outside then as far as other countries and the Universe.
Students are teachers:
Maria Montessori's research proved how children are vulnerable, how brilliant babies are since and before they are born and how it is vital respecting their beings by building educational systems that cope with their brilliance and not the other way around. Children are not only brilliant learners, they are also capable of teaching us on all levels: physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually.
Education should be dynamic. A teacher's role should be mainly ‘a guide'. The students' role should be allowed being a guide. They should be perceived as little teachers/guides.
Choice is educational:
When a human CHOOSES to do something, his performance is brilliant because it starts from inside him out, it is a part of him that is allowed to grow and develop. And that's how naturally life develops from inside out and not the other way around.
Choice naturally contains taking responsibility of our choices.
Individuality to be considered in:
a) Receiving education, taking in information.
b) Different interests, contributing information.
Published on 8.56pm on Sunday, 25 September 2011.
By Stephanie Renaut, of Senlis, France. Stephanie, 16, is a high school student at the Lycée St Vincent, Senlis, France. Please read her article and leave your thoughts and comments below. *Winner of the NUHA Youth Blogging Prize 2011*
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To quote Nelson Mandela, "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, "Education is the knowledge and development resulting from an educational process." It also prepares one for the ability of reasoning and judging, readying one to face the "world". It's the foundation of developing one's mind and intellectual capability, without it, it is difficult to advance in life not only at a personal level, but also on a more global scale.
Education begins at home with parents sharing their knowledge, offering guidance along life's little bumps and potholes all the while providing a lot of encouragement. These things all make up for an enriching environment but more formal instruction is acquired while going to school. When children learn to read and write, they gain the most basic and important requirements one needs in life. Youngsters that build on these basic skills can later learn to form their opinion concerning different issues, important and urgent to the twenty-first century, thus discovering ways in which they can help their own countries' advancement.
Education is a vital weapon, a shield against the world by way of expressing freely one's ideas. Every country recognises that. But why are there more than 120 million children that don't go to school? Because the lack of education is the only way for some countries to control or to manipulate their population. Too many countries don't invest in schools, teachers, libraries... How are people suppose to know what school is or how very important it is if they have never been to one? They will never see what is outside their own country, much less their own, or know what it is like to live beyond the boundaries of ignorance. They are stuck in a prison cell, looking up for guidance, waiting to be told what to do, but never daring for fear of doing wrong.
I once read the wonderful true story of Ma Yan, a girl living in the northern part of China. She is taken out of school because her parents can't afford to pay for it anymore. Devastated, she seeks refuge in her diaries and writes about her everyday life and her battle to get an education despite extreme poverty. When her mother meets some French journalists, she gives them the diaries. Not long after, they are transformed into a book, showing the world how important education is to some children, how some crave to go to school and would give their life just to be able to learn. By knowing how to write, Ma Yan sent a message to the world. And that message, even if little, made a change.
In a world such as ours, a college education is ever more important today. Having an education, and a good one, assures one to succeed in life, to have a place in society and earn its respect. Brainpower or intellectual capacity are becoming more and more primordial and are often required even for the smallest jobs. Beginning with reading and writing. In today's society, a human being will struggle without an education, even if to fulfil daily tasks. People should put their knowledge to good use, find ways to solve threatening problems like global warming, wars and extreme poverty.
Of course, not everyone agrees on that point and that is why it is impossible to find solutions to each one of these burning issues. Some very smart people use their intellect to gain more power over others, working for their own sake. Ever since the beginning of time, when man started thinking, there has been unfairness and cruelty: Hitler, Mao Zedong, Saddam Hussein, and today Kim Jong Il, Omar Al-Bashir, Robert Mugabe were and are very good examples of men that have used their education to torture and destroy people. Men from all over the planet have changed the world, only some in the most atrocious and inhuman ways. But to denounce and not praise would be unfair. Heroes have walked amongst us, spreading peace and justice, like Abraham Lincoln, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, Mohandas Gandhi and Nelson Mandela.
Having access to an education is vital to go out and act, act towards an immoral world and try to change it; money isn't all it takes. Slowly, step by step, people like Ma Yan will show the world how necessary education is, that without it, one can't move on, the world cannot advance equally. That is exactly what Nelson Mandela meant: education is the key to knock down dictators and break free, to win the struggle against unfairness and most importantly, to help those who are in need.
Published on 11.31pm on Thursday, 15 September 2011.
By Antonia Anisy. Antonia, 21, has a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Massey University and works as a Policy Adviser in Wellington, New Zealand. Please read her article and leave your thoughts and comments below. *Shortlisted for the NUHA Blogging Prize 2011*
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Purpose: The purpose of this exposition is to provide analytical discussion and commentary on the rationale for why the State should encourage access to private education.
In an age of descending church attendance rates, the demise of the stable, nuclear family structure and the presence of mass media saturating our nation with questionable, superficial ideals, the role of quality education has become increasingly paramount to ensure stability and sensibility in the generations to come. As the 21st century progresses, the education system will be instrumental in upholding traditional values, retaining the strong virtues from yesteryear and protecting the moral fortitude of society. However, trapped in a grim reality of overcrowded classrooms and rising social problems undermining the mainstream education system, public schools so often fail to deliver on even the most basic academic expectations. Indeed, it is the private education system that will conform the youth of the nation into citizens that have not only attained superior scholastic and cultural achievement (as one would expect from elite, fee-paying schools) but who have also been sculpted by strong traditional values, scrupulous morals and meticulous discipline.
From The Guardian (Sunday 19th July, 2009) to the Time magazine (Wednesday 10th October, 2007), prominent, well-respected publications periodically publish material in praise of the private education system. Why? It is because the evidence to support the merits of the private education system is irrefutable. From Barack Obama and Condolezza Rice to Bill Gates and John Maynard Keynes, private schools from across the globe have produced many of the greatest academic and political minds in history. Long after the students have hung up their blazers and sung Gaudeamus Igitur for the last time, their nonpareil education leads them to lives marked with success and greatness. To provide just one example of this, one can note that in 2003, 84 percent of senior Judges in England and Wales were educated at independent (that is, ‘private’) schools.
Yes, there is no doubt that those individuals who experience a private education attain greater academic credentials, have the opportunity to engage in a wider range of extra-curricular opportunities than their public school counterparts and are exposed to more stringent discipline and regulation that will prepare them for life as self-controlled and restrained adult citizens. But why should the State undertake any responsibility to encourage access to this private good? What is the rationale to support State intervention to alter the market equilibrium for the supply and demand for private education?
The rationale to support why the State should encourage access to private education is encompassed by two primary factors. The first reason, as elaborated on in earlier paragraphs, is that students who receive private education go on to achieve greater outcomes academically, vocationally and, ultimately, financially. Taking a strategic, longer-term perspective, this reason demonstrates the potential for the State to reap the benefits of today’s private education in future generations. As those with private education move past the education system and into the work-force, the skills they have gleaned in their youth will rise into fruition. Ultimately, the wider population benefits from the skills and talents that they bring forward into the world through strong political leadership, innovative research and development and the collective significant contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) created through higher incomes and sound investment.
The second reason is the economic argument derived from the fact that taxpayer money funds the public education system. Every pupil who attends a private or state-integrated school reduces the burden on the over-stretched public education budget. If the State successfully encourages more students to attend private schools, then there is more funding available per student for those remaining in the public school system, facilitating a better student-teacher ratio and creating a better outcome for all.
With rising national debt, the aftermath of the global financial crisis and an ageing population to support, the need for fiscal constraint means that the State does not always have money to be pouring into the public education system. Hence, the imperfections and inadequacies of this system remain. Although the private education system is by no means a flawless, perfect utopia either, it is paramount that the State recognizes its benefits and encourages access to it. Tomorrow’s greatest leaders will not be born, bred or created by luck – they will be the product of high quality education and appropriate grooming for the role. As the Duke of Wellington once said, “The Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton.” So, let our State recognize the value of these words and wisdom of this notion and encourage access to private education for the greater public good.
Published on 10.58pm on Wednesday, 14 September 2011.
By Mary Rogath, of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Mary, 17, is a fourth form student at the Benjamin William Mkapa Secondary School (Dar es Salaam, Tanzania). Please read her article and leave your thoughts and comments below.
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Introduction
Education simply refers to the process of gaining knowledge or skills. It is the act or process of imparting or acquiring general knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgment, and generally of preparing oneself or others intellectually for mature life.
Education is a self enlightening process. It is an important component of life. Education has a direct influence on our society across many levels. Actually, it begins at home during the pre-school years and continues on through the elementary years, junior and high school years. The pursuit of higher education is directly related to the future success of any country. Supporting education is a key component of maintaining competitive presence in any useful aspect at all levels.
Every individual has different interests and should pursue careers that compliment those interests. Parents and teachers can have a direct impact on encouraging young students to pursue their dreams. Parents should avoid an attempt to push their child in the direction chosen by the parents since this can end up to great disadvantages to the child. Identification of students’ interests and abilities can assist them to grow stronger in those areas. Providing information regarding future educational opportunities that are in line with students’ interest will promote higher education. People should be successful in their educational endeavors and understand the options available to them that will ensure that they become successful future adults.
The fact that education is the most powerful weapon that you can use to change the world can be described by looking at various roles played by education in relation to social, political and economic aspects. This is simply by considering how education is important in those aspects and this can be described as follows:
Education and poverty reduction
Education is what people call human capital improvement. Educating someone is an important step in overcoming poverty. Education makes a person become able to perform a number of economic activities which improve his or her income thus reducing poverty. Denial of education leads to exclusion from the labour market and marginalisation into the informal sector or unpaid work. This perpetuates and increases poverty.
Education and cultural changes
In real fact, education makes people aware of bad cultural and traditional values which affect them in a variety of ways. The achievement of education can address some of societies’ deeply rooted inequalities which exist in the society and affect some of the people in one way or another. Improving educational opportunities for people especially children and youths helps them to develop skills that allow them to make decisions and influence community change in key areas. Education is also seen in some societies as an answer to the fear of change and now with globalization, the fear becomes even greater and this has changed many bad cultural and traditional beliefs. Education teaches creativity, patience, imagination and acceptance of others’ work.
Education and ignorance reduction
Education helps to reduce ignorance. Reducing ignorance helps people become able to do some of the things that cannot be accomplished under ordinary levels. Thus, accomplishment of one’s dreams is made possible. Education is something that cannot be taken from the one who has it. It brings people to great heights, generally where they wanted to be but were not because of ignorance.
Education, better health and awareness
Basic education provides people with an understanding of basic health, nutrition and family planning, giving them choices and the power to decide over their own lives and bodies. Education leads directly to better reproductive health, improved family health, economic growth, for the family and for society, as well as lower rates of child mortality and malnutrition. It is also a key function in the fight against the spread of HIV and AIDS as well as other detrimental diseases.
Education, freedom and human rights
(See for example the article by the RIGHTtoEDUCATION project on the Importance of girls'/women's education.)
The educational system has a direct influence on our society across many levels. It makes people become aware of their rights and freedoms. It helps men and women claim their rights and realize their potential in the economic, political and social areas. It is also the single most powerful way to lift people out of poverty as a result of being aware of their rights and freedoms. Generally, it plays a particularly important role as a foundation for peoples’ development towards adult life. It should be an intrinsic part of any strategy to address the gender-based discrimination against women and girls that remains prevalent in many societies. Education begins at home during the pre-school years and continues on through the elementary years, junior and high school years. The pursuit of higher education is directly related to the future success of any country. Any country must ensure its future leaders are equipped to succeed and this is through being aware of their rights and freedoms. Supporting higher education is a key component of maintaining the competitive presence of any country globally.
Education, imagination, creativity and inventions
Education makes people come out with basic ideas (imagination) which then lead to them being creative. Creativity is the basic need of every aspect of life. To study sciences for example, one needs to be creative with chemicals and basic experimental instruments. Education develops and nurtures the creativity which is responsible for every new invention. It helps people in inventing new ideas and doing old things with new methods. Imagination is the first for every invention and education aids brain abilities to turn imagination into practical inventions. Creativity is needed everywhere, in everything done whether at a local, regional or global level. Creativity makes people come out with (invent) new things which in actual fact may be very useful in economic, social or political aspects.
Effective performance of activities and employment opportunities
Having an education helps one to perform the day-to-day tasks of life more effectively like locating the right doctor, searching for a good investment, finding a new job, or working out family challenges. Performing daily activities in an effective way increases service provision and productivity in all aspects in the society. For the case of employment opportunities, it has been experienced in many countries that college graduates make hundred percent higher pay than high school graduates. Education is important because it leads to more job opportunities and a wider choice of jobs. Therefore, it is correlated with job acquisition and satisfaction.
Education and Clarity of Thoughts
Education helps people to think clearly and critically on various things and issues arising in the society. It helps more in understanding assumptions and concepts. Though people give priority to things that have direct or tangible benefits – education helps make them more logical and provides clarity in thoughts by giving a visual image for every concept.
Education, Self-Esteem and Confidence
Education improves self-esteem and boosts confidence in people. It gives confidence to people in expressing themselves in a better manner. This confidence actually helps them in all aspects in the society. Every individual has different interests and should pursue careers that complement those interests. Parents and teachers can have a direct impact on encouraging a young student to pursue their dreams. Providing information regarding future educational opportunities that are in line with a student’s interest will promote higher education. Children should be successful in their educational endeavors and understand the options available to them that will ensure a successful future as an adult. Educating them makes them have confidence pertaining to their future carriers.
Education and experience
Learning is a key aspect of personal growth. Ongoing learning is essential for anyone who wants to live a life of prosperity. Generally, understanding the expected results of any educational path is needed in any academic carrier. If someone does not want his or her results, he or she will be supposed to look elsewhere for an education that delivers the results he or she desires. So, education is important because it largely determines one’s results and experiences in life.
Education and self-discipline
Education does not only help in improving brain power but also helps in creating patience and self-discipline. By giving some safe techniques of expression, education teaches self-discipline. It is important for people to learn safe and disciplined ways of expression, and education mostly helps in this. It gives control to extreme emotions and lets people know about safe ways of expression. Also, it improves strength of will.
Conclusion
The value of education depends on the type of education and ultimately its goals. Effective education involves assimilating information and putting it into practice so that it becomes knowledge. It is the basis of culture and civilization. It is instrumental in the development of our values and virtues. Education cultivates us into mature individuals, individuals capable of planning for our futures and taking the right decisions. Education arms us with insight to look at our lives and learn from every experience. It fosters principles of equality and socialism. Education forms a support system for talents to excel in life. Education opens the doors to brilliant career opportunities.
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Featured on: Vijana.fm.
Published on 9.34am on Saturday, 10 September 2011.
By Felister Gabriel, of Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. Felister, 16, is a second form student at the Kilakala Girls High School, in Morogoro, Tanzania. Please read her article and leave your thoughts and comments below.
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In the world of globalization, it is obvious that expansion of science and technology has affected various aspects of life including education. The quality of education has been improved compared to the other centuries since science and technology expansion has affected at large the whole process of education provision, because education provision has been simplified by the use of the products of science and technology, computer being one of them. Computer is simply an electronic device that is capable of accepting, processing, storing and retrieving information. Due to this, it has been seen that in both developed and developing countries the use of computer has facilitated the process of learning. Although the use of computer is useful in simplifying the learning process, its application is not so much advanced in developing countries, especially at the low levels, mainly due to high cost of computers and lack of enough knowledge or skills relating to their use.
Due to increased demand of education improvement and due to many inventions and changes that are taking place in the field of education, for the 21st century books are not more efficient in learning compared to computers and thus providing computers to the child is better than giving him/her a book because of various reasons as explained below.
Computer is multipurpose. The children of the 21st century think in a wide manner compared to those before. Because of this, a child will always like to do many things and learn more things than the ones that can be learnt from the books. Although children in different education carriers need specific curriculum for their respective studies, learning extra materials from different sources is important to increase and improve their knowledge. Books alone can not satisfy each and everything needed to cover all aspects of education that a child (pupil or a student) goes through during his/her learning period. Therefore giving a child a book will not make him or her competent in various studies and other issues since he/she needs to learn as many things as possible and only computers are capable of providing the sources of learning different things.
Computer makes a child capable of living and interacting well in the world of science and technology expansion. Since science and technology is expanding with time, the use of computers for children makes them capable of interacting well with the expanding science and technology. Exposing children to the environment of interacting well with the science and technology makes them think in a wide manner thereby increasing the possibility of getting youths who can do important activities in the society including application of knowledge in discovering new things as well as solving various problems arising in the society.
Computer improves the information provision to the children. An updated information including various articles that plays important role in learning can be obtained through computers. The information or materials useful in the academic field needs to be updated since always various issues in academics cannot remain unchanged. Although the curricula for various subjects keeps on changing and new books are introduced after a certain period of time, the books cannot be as important as computers since new costs are incurred for purchasing new books. Also, most of the books provided do not directly related to the formulated curricula thus some basic deficits can be experienced as a result of using books. Thus, providing computers to the child is better than providing him or her a book.
Computer simplifies knowledge and skills acquisition. The use of computers simplifies the process of knowledge and skills acquisition to the child. This is because the various information obtained from the use of computers provide children with a chance of learning a number of issues thereby increasing their knowledge and skills. Using books also provides children with chances of getting knowledge and skills but at a lesser extent compared to computers. Due to this argument, the use of computers to children becomes better than provision of books.
Computer makes a child act globally. Computers are global in coverage. No one cannot support the statement that computers are found in all countries worldwide although they differ in form or the structure as well as being manufactured in different areas and by different companies. Although they are of different types but still their uses are not restricted to some areas. The opposite is that, many books can only cover or are only useful for a certain place, example a country or state. Due to this, some of the books cannot be used globally since they are specific for the intended area and purpose. A computer makes a child who can even think locally act globally since the uses of computers are global in coverage and thus making a child be in the same side or speak the same language of knowledge with other children globally. Hence it is better to provide a child with a computer than a book.
Computers make a child capable of surviving well in the world of competition. Take this essay competition as an example. It is obvious that this competition could have been absolutely impossible or even if possible but it could have been very difficult for the NUHA foundation to disseminate it to the whole world and also for the people to respond to it. The use of computers makes children capable of entering into the world of competition since they can communicate or network globally and get information from any place in the world. Since they can get information from all angles of the world, they become competitive with their fellows even with other people who are of higher age than them. Being competitive as a result of using computers makes me argue that giving a child is better than giving him or her a book for the 21st century.
From the explanations given above, it can be concluded that for the 21st century, giving a child a computer is better than giving him or her a book. This is basically because of the changes and expansion of science and technology. Although computers are important in various aspects of the life of children, if they are not used well and carefully, they will significantly affect their life and behaviours since we are in the world of globalization whereby the world has been made like a small village. Even though computers are very useful to children, books remain useful since they can easily be afforded and they have been familiar to millions of children in the world. Where necessary to change, we must accept changes. Rossane Cash said that "The key to change is to let go of fear". So, for the countries which are capable of interacting well with the prevailing science and technology change, let the children use computers more than books.
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Published on 6.36am on Friday, 9 September 2011.
By Monicah Shiloh, of Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. Monicah, 21, is a 6th form student at the Korogwe Girls High School, in Tanga, Tanzania. Please read and leave your thoughts and comments below.
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INTRODUCTION
Education simply refers to the process of passing knowledge or skills from one generation to another or the acquisition of knowledge either through learning or through experience. The acquisition of knowledge and skills can be as a result of being at a school or any organization or institution.
Freedom is a state of being free. This means that a person with freedom is completely capable of living and acting as he/she likes without facing obstacles if and only if he/she does not go against the formulated or enacted regulations or laws of the respective place in which he/she is living. Freedom and education are not far linked since education has a very great impact to the freedom of an individual.
MAIN PART
The statement that only the educated are free can be supported positively by inferring various aspects. Albeit to a lesser extent some of the people have education but they cannot share their education to ensure that they are free. Although education increases the freedom of the educated, it is not actually that all aspects of life will favour educated people to be free. Also, some of the people with very little or without education can also use the little education or knowledge they have to exercise their freedom. In fact, the acquisition of education make people be aware of the importance of being free and thus make them struggle so as to ensure their freedom. The relation between education and freedom can be described by considering various aspects as follows:
Freedom of giving views and criticizing. It is obvious thateducation makes people capable of giving out their views as well ascriticizing. Giving out various views has a significant impact on the society since they make various people in the society able to know of large a number of issues that are important in the society. Through giving out views and criticizing, various issues arising in the society can be revealed including performance of people in various community issues. The educated people are only the ones who can give out views and criticize in various aspects.
Freedom of making decisions. Generally, the educated are the ones who are capable of making good decisions in many societies. This is due to the fact that the educated people are considered as the people who can think more critically hence the decisions that they make are considered to be very important and impactive to the society. Also, the educated people have more freedom of making decisions in the society since they are the ones who are considered to have knowledge and skills on a variety of issues and thus they can make useful decisions compared to those without education.
Freedom of opinion and expression. Everyone has the freedom of opinion and expression. This is ideally the freedom to hold opinions without interference and to share information and ideas through any media. The educated people are the ones who know that they have the right of freedom of opinion and expression and thus they can share this with the society. The opinions given by the educated people can easily be accepted and put into consideration compared to those given by the uneducated people. Also, the educated people can express what they have more clearly and confidently than those without education. Thus, the educated people can be described as being freer compared to those without education.
Freedom of choice. It is obvious that the educated have more freedom of choice compared to those uneducated. It is generally believed that the educated people can make a good choice compared to those uneducated. Due to this bad notion, the educated have been given more freedom of choice than the uneducated. Also, the educated have been given more freedom and chance of choosing various things in the society which generally put them in a safe and favoured side in the society.
Freedom of the press. This refers to the freedom of communication and expression through various electronic media and published materials. While such freedom mostly implies the absence of interference from an overreaching state, its preservation may be sought through constitutional or other legal protections. The educated people have more freedom of press since they can express or reveal something related to the state since they are capable of defending their views using critical points. For the uneducated, the opposite is true since even if they can express something interfering with the state's interests they cannot defend their views in an appreciated manner.
Freedom of interaction. The educated are more interactive than the uneducated. Interaction is basically very significant in the society since it also plays an important role especially in service provision in the society. Interaction increases the chances of the society developing in both social economic and political aspects. Education plays a great role since it makes people more confident and thus become more competent in interacting with various people in the society.
Freedom of assembly. Education is a basis for bringing people together for a number of issues including making fundamental decisions. The educated people are the ones who are actually capable of assembling for a variety of purposes relating to their development. Uneducated people do not have or have very little assembly ability making them less impactive in various development issues. Assemblies can be held in various areas including political, religion and others and these are very important as decision making tools of the society.
Freedom of speech. The educated people have more freedom of speech than the uneducated. This is often covered by the same laws as freedom of the press, thereby giving equal treatment to spoken and published expression. There is no doubt that the educated people can give more powerful speech and can clearly express what he/she has compared to uneducated people. Also, the educated are given more attention in the course of their speech compared to those uneducated. In addition to that, the educated people have skills and knowledge of delivering speech thus making them capture more the attention of people who listen to them than uneducated people.
Freedom of privacy. The word "privacy" is sometimes regarded as untranslatable by linguists. Privacy, as the term is generally understood in the west, is not a universal concept and remained virtually unknown in some cultures until recent times. Most cultures, however, recognize it as certain forms of hidden or personal information that is not shared by a wider society. Many languages lack a specific word for "privacy". Such languages may use a complex description to translate the term but in a simple way the term refers to a private life. This basically refers to a lack of restrictions in a person's life. The educated people have more freedom of privacy in the sense that they have no interference or restrictions from others in their life. This is basically significant to the educated people since those who are not educated are not aware of the fact that privacy is their freedom.
Freedom of thoughts and feelings. The educated people have more freedom to their thoughts and feelings than the uneducated people. It is generally assumed and believed that the educated people have critical thoughts and feelings compared to the uneducated people. Due to this reason, educated people can express their thoughts and feelings more and with greater efficiency than uneducated people. The feelings and thoughts of educated people in many societies are given more attention and respect than those of the uneducated. Therefore, it can be generally said that the educated are free in terms of their feelings and thoughts compared to the uneducated.
CONCLUSION
Education is very important in both aspects of life. Many people have argued that education is the basis for liberation. In a real sense, education makes people aware of various issues arising in the society. People with education can easily accept challenges that arise in the society. Since education makes people capable of interacting with issues arising in both aspects of life, and since it plays a great role in making people play their part in an a well organized manner, it can be confidently stated that education is the basis for development. Education does not only play an important part in interacting with the issues arising in the society but also makes people aware of their rights and their freedom at local, regional or global level. Generally, education and freedom cannot be separated simply because education plays a lot in ensuring that people understand their rights and freedom thus making them struggle to acquire their rights and freedom.
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Published on 10.59pm on Thursday, 8 September 2011.
By Jastin Gabriel Malamsha, of Morogoro, Tanzania. Jastin, 24, is a third year student at the Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania, and is reading a BSc in Environmental Science and Management. Please read and leave your thoughts and comments below. *Shortlisted for the NUHA Blogging Prize 2011*
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Introduction
Illiteracy refers to a situation whereby someone is ignorant of fundamentals of a given art or branch of knowledge or lacking knowledge of a specific field. Thus, illiterate refers to a person who is ignorant of fundamentals (basics) of a given art or branch of knowledge or someone who lacks knowledge of a specific field. These are simple definitions since everyone can define illiterate in a different way since this term is very broad.
Learning is the process of acquiring knowledge through study or training, although knowledge can also be acquired through experience. However, learning is a broad term that is more than reading or writing.
For the 21st century, a reading and writing ability is not sufficient for a person to categorize him/herself or to be categorized by others as literate since the generation of the 21st century have very few people not capable of reading and writing especially young children and elders who are at a very critical stage of life and can even be counted. Very few youths cannot read and write. Therefore, it can be confidently stipulated that more than eighty percent of the people worldwide are able to read and write albeit this is not sufficient for them to be regarded as literates since literacy is more than reading and writing.
Main body
"The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who can not read and write, but those who can not learn, unlearn, and relearn." This quotation of Alvin Toffler is absolutely right depending on various points of view. The statement basically deals with the application of the knowledge acquired through learning and not only the ability of reading and writing. As described in the introduction part, learning simply refers to the process of acquiring knowledge. Due to this, a person with knowledge is not an illiterate. This means that someone may have ability of writing and reading but still he or she is an illiterate. Learning improves someone's ability to do a number of things at local, regional or global level. The illiterates of the 21st century will not be those who can not read and write but those who can not learn, unlearn and relearn. Due to the prevailing expansion of science and technology, and continuous increasing in society needs and population increase, the illiterates of the 21st century will be judged by looking on various aspects as stipulated below.
How to interact with the science and technology. The expansion of science and technology in the 21st century has made many people who even have ability of reading and writing to be illiterate since they cannot interact with the growing science and technology since most of them have not learnt how to do so. The use of computer and other electronic devices for example, has been proven to be a measure for literate and illiterates since if you able to read and write but not able to interact with various issues of life surrounding you, then the society can absolutely regard you as an illiterate.
How to tackle problems (How to look at problems from a new direction). Reading and writing itself cannot solve various problems in various fields that are arising in the society. Learning makes someone capable of tackling a number of problems in the society. Albeit to a lesser extent, a person who has learned and acquired knowledge on some of the issues in the society can be unable to solve some of the problems, but being capable of solving even few problems can put someone in the category of literate people. So, due to these explanations, a person can be capable of reading and writing but still he or she is illiterate since he or she cannot solve various problems arising in the society using his or her reading and writing ability.
How to judge, evaluate and categorise things in various fields of life. The illiterate of the 21st century are those who cannot judge, evaluate and categorize things in the fields of life. The people with learning ability can judge, evaluate and categorize things using the knowledge acquired from their learning. Also person with learning ability can relearn things that he or she has learnt before but forget them in the course of various issues arising in his/her lifetime. Due to relearning he/she can acquire more knowledge hence become competent in judging, evaluating and categorizing things.
How to acquire, classify and reclassify information. People who cannot learn or relearn are not capable of acquiring, classifying and reclassifying information. Also, people can read and write and they can even get information but they may be completely unable to classify and reclassify the gotten information. People who can learn and relearn are capable of acquiring, classifying and reclassifying information which is a good judgment of literate and illiterate people. For the generation of the 21st century, there is generally information expansion as a result of globalization which favours mostly people who can learn and relearn. Basically, information acquisition, classification and reclassification needs people who can learn different languages or who can transform one language to another. Reading and writing alone cannot satisfy acquisition, classification and reclassification of information. Therefore, people in the society who can learn and relearn are important in acquisition, classification, reclassification and dissemination of information for helping the society in one way or another.
How to apply knowledge in various aspects of life. The illiterate of the 21st century are those who cannot apply the acquired knowledge in various aspects of life. Most of the people in both developing and developed countries can read and write, but few of them can learn and relearn. People who can learn and relearn are capable of applying the knowledge acquired in various aspects of life for helping themselves and the society in general. People who cannot learn and relearn and unlearn again have no knowledge to apply in the fields of life. This can lead to them being regarded as illiterates since there is nothing they can apply in the fields of life to help themselves and the society.
How to change and accept challenges (How to move from concrete to abstract). Basically the illiterate of the 21st century are those who cannot learn, relearn and unlearn since most of them are very resistant to change and to accepting challenges. Failure to change so as to correlate with the current environment and accept challenges makes people who can not learn, relearn and unlearn again remain illiterate. The generation of the 21st century cannot be regarded as having many illiterates because of having many people who cannot read and write but rather because of having many people who cannot learn, relearn and unlearn again since these people cannot change with the environment and accept challenges existing in the society at either local, regional or even at global level.
How to move from simple to complex (How to get development). The illiterate of the 21st century are those who cannot learn, relearn and unlearn again since people of this category are basically not able to move from simple to complex (develop themselves in both aspects of life i.e. socially, economically and politically). Many people in developed and developing countries are regarded as illiterate since they cannot acquire development because they cannot learn, relearn or unlearn. It is obvious that people who can not learn, relearn or unlearn again have little knowledge to impart in development at either individual or society level.
How to interact with the society. In actual fact, learning makes people capable of interacting with the society. People who cannot learn, relearn or unlearn again have little interaction ability especially with the literate people. This can be possibly caused by lack of confidence or inferiority complex that they have. For the 21st century, people who cannot learn, relearn or unlearn again are the ones regarded as illiterate since they cannot interact very well with people of different categories in their society. Besides interacting with the society, also providing various services in the society is the indication of literacy. Service provision increases interaction ability and thus makes people who have learned be more efficient and competent in interacting than those who cannot learn, relearn or unlearn again thus making those who cannot learn, relearn or unlearn illiterate.
Conclusion
Since literacy is more thanreading and writing, the literates of the 21st century are those who have more than reading and writing ability. The illiterates of the 21st century should be those who cannot learn and who have not learned how to learn. They should be the people who cannot impart the knowledge they have to the society. The term illiterate should be viewed as a very broad term.
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Published on 8.41pm on Monday, 5 September 2011.
By Melanie Taylor Herrera, of La Chorrera, Panama. Melanie, 39, is a writer and educator. Please read her article and leave your thoughts and comments below.
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When I was young I hated the phrase "When I was young..." It was always the beginning of a long and boring lecture about life by someone older than thirty complaining about "things being different". Without doubt, time passes and things change, and, as humans, we may have difficulties dealing with, adapting to and understanding change. Change is inevitable, and it happens faster thanks to technology: changes in procedures, attitudes and professions. Technology brings to our screens a world in which certainly there are millions living in premodern societies, while others thrive in futuristic surroundings (the documentary "Babies" by director Balmes is a great and entertaining reference to these differences). Some may believe that education by itself does not solve world problems and social inequalities, but those who think that way are focusing only on formal education. Education encompasses not only instruction given in the sanctuary of a classroom; rather it includes non-formal training, self-training, distance learning and community projects.
Changes in procedures
The obvious that comes to mind is the digitalization of many tasks previously done by hand. Eight years ago I worked for a private school that implemented a digital grade book. The system allowed teachers to post grades, to keep an electronic calendar for exams (shared by all teachers) and email parents. The administration was able to monitor how often teachers posted grades and how teachers graded students. The main beneficiaries of these procedures were parents and students. While teachers 30 and younger adapted to the changes, older teachers became angry and frustrated, especially those that did not use a computer at home. More and more, many tasks in our jobs and personal life will be online. In the past, reading and writing was enough, but nowadays digital knowledge is a must. With so much information available, it's necessary to be a savvy reader, and, as a professional, to articulate and formulate new ideas not simply copy someone else's words. In the age of entrepreneurs, being able to establish a presence online is vital. Procedures will keep evolving just as software programs and online networks become updated.
Changes in attitudes
In order to survive in the contemporary world, the individual has to rely on a solid moral core and a strong psyche. Institutions that used to tell us how to be or behave crumble in front of our eyes: sex scandals in the church, corrupt politicians, the allure of consumerism... it may prove too much for those not raised to take decisions in a logical and ethical way. The democratic values necessary to live in a multiethnic and multicultural society have to be, in many cases, relearned. All groups have to relearn democratic values: it´s not only an issue of white versus black, since all ethnic groups practice different forms of non inclusion. The uprising of the extreme right in many Europeans countries is just an example of the above. In a global world, those capable of practicing tolerance, inclusion and respect for human rights will construct stronger societies in the long term. Activism has become a way to attain political space and promote changes in legislations. Those who do not organize themselves and are not able to communicate their needs to the media and governmental representatives will be left out of the democratic debate.
Changes in professions
Children are educated for jobs not yet created. Education took a quantum leap from rote memorization to innovative collaboration in a century. Pioneers in the field of education keep telling us that it is necessary to address different learning styles and guide children to be curious about the world around them. Digital learning considers knowledge as a community achievement and a result of collaborative problem solving.
(See for example What We're Learning from Technology-Transformed Schools: http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/education/education-it-leadership-revolutionizing-education-what-were-learning-from-technology-transformed-schools-paper.html.)
Science, math, and language arts are as necessary as emotional intelligence. Learning and relearning are not exclusively related to theoretical knowledge, but learning and relearning about ourselves as individuals. A global economy opens the door to intercultural exchange, several career paths and relocation. In order to be a competent professional, there is no other way but to undertake constant training. A recurrent trend is that there is a shortening of the average life of companies, occupations and the time that individuals expend in a particular job (see for example the 2001 paper by Helen Praetz, Learning and re-learning: Education and the workplace: http://www.fabian.org.au/946.asp).
What you learned in college is not going to last a lifetime. The XXI century offers a wide assortment of relearning opportunities such as online learning, podcasts, and video lessons; mentoring... helping others relearn is one of the big businesses of our times.
Published on 7.20am on Monday, 5 September 2011.
By Elia Mnonjela, of Morogoro, Tanzania. Elia, 22, is a third year BSc student in Environmental Sciences and Management at the Sokoine University of Agriculture in Tanzania. Please read his article and leave your thoughts and comments below.
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Whether it's formal or informal, education is all about imparting and acquiring theories and practical knowledges through teaching and learning, where freedom is an ability to act freely without being subjected to any restrictions provided laws are not broken. And one thing to remember is that having freedom with limitations signifies development to people with understanding like you. It's a convincing fact that only the educated are free, although education alone can sometimes be insufficient to liberate someone completely. But all in all education acquiring is a proved worthful weapon and catalyst towards development of any community, provided such education is applied by a right person at a right place and at a right time.
Freedom of association & interaction. Association and interaction create unity and solidarity towards development, since they both bring members together for a particular joint purpose. A person's ability to associate and interact will depend on factors such as sex and gender influences, personal habit of associating and interacting, and share of common interest. Education as a learning process acts as a catalyst in promoting someone's ability to interact and associate by enhancing someone's confidence, freedom and strength to interact and associate. In contrast, for an uneducated person, his/her ability to interact is always limited, due to low confidence, inferiority habit and self consideration of them being incapable of doing anything. This lowers their conditions to act, interact and associate freely.
Freedom of assembly. It's obvious seeing people gathered together, normally having legislative decision making power. Beingeducated in one way or another may act as liberty tool to prevent someone's freedom from being restricted in the use of his/her own right to assembly. In contrast, for a person with little education or having no education at all, knowing assembly as his or her basic human right may still be a dream, hence lowers their participation in development issues. Inferiority consideration of uneducated people toward educated people always creates a barrier for them to interact freely, and this again lowers their participation in various development issues.
Freedom of press, speech and expressions. In any community people must possess freedom to communicate through authorized media and published materials such as newspapers, magazines, radios and television. Being educated may influence someone's ability to utilize effectively the opportunity of using media and published materials as an important aspect of development where issues relating to social, economical and political get the wide platform to be discussed, for the betterment of people in the community and the country as whole. Most of the time, users of such media and published materials are leaders, educated people and other academicians where they explain to the community matters relating to development. But the fact is this, media are there free, for every person regardless of level of the education. Here is where the need and importance of education to set out someone's freedom can easily be seen, since education reveals to people knowing what their rights are and how to use them.
Freedom of reasoning & criticizing. Reasoning and criticizing are important aspects for the development in any community, as they allow for a clear understanding of the issues that were not clearly stated by leaders, laws makers, and any other person involved in a similar situation. Moreover, reasoning and criticizing act as a means to reveal weaknesses, mistakes that may hinder the community prosperity rather than catalyzing community development. Education being a learning process, always aims to create awareness to people in knowing basic things around them, create ability to measure correctness or wrongness of things, and seeing possibility of solving them based on available solutions. Ability to reason and criticize things tends to vary from a very ordinary person to a well educated person, depending on level of understanding of the things, evaluating them and judging them accordingly. Therefore, education will still be the most valuable weapon, as it equips the person to make a very positive impact on society.
Freedom of thoughts & feelings. As is well known, every person possesses some kind of thoughts and feelings, regardless of the kind of thoughts and feelings a person has. The thoughts and feelings tend to differ from a person to person, depending on level of education that a person possess, but this level of education does not mean that thoughts and feeling possessed by educated ones must always be good to suggest for development, since the issue of being either good or bad does not only depend on education level, but may also depend on other factors. The major difference between an educated person and non-educated person comes in the ability to be free in giving out thoughts and feelings they have. An educated people are more free to say what they know even if the ideas are wrong or not, and this happens due to much confidence and freedom they have. In contrast, for uneducated people, few of them are confident to deliver what they have, due to fear of their ideas being wrong, hence rejected.
Freedom of privacy. Privacy is a situation in which a person is not observed or being disturbed by the other. Although privacy is often applied in our daily lives, very few numbers of people have recognized it as an important human right to be given to them. There are so many reasons for privacy, one being a human right and the other is for security purpose, for the betterment of the company or government, provided there will be an important reason for doing so. Privacy does not only apply to an individual person, but can be applied to a company, government departments and institutions, especially when certain documents are to be protected for security purposes. As we have seen above, education still remains as a key to reveal to people to be aware of what their rights are and what right procedures to be followed, so as to be in a position of utilizing such rights efficiently and effectively.
Conclusion, we have seen how education influences the development and freedom of an individual person. But what is important to be understood here is that having only education does not provides an assurance of freedom and development of a person. Therefore, don't be surprised seeing an educated person act opposite from your expectations; this is because development does depend on other factors such as contribution of other people in promoting someone's development and freedom and the government system, especially in seeing the importance and effectively utilization of education and freedoms in bringing development. But friend, believe this qualified truth that Education is a an oxygen of any success that does exist, therefore struggle to be educated, to have positive hope for your future, your country and for the world.
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Published on 10.53pm on Thursday, 1 September 2011.
By Kingi Kigongo, of Morogoro, Tanzania. Kingi, 27, studies at the Sokoine University of Agriculture in Tanzania. Please read and leave your thoughts and comments below.
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Education is delivered from the Latin word 'Educatum' which meant the process of teaching. Also it was originated from the words ‘educare' which meant rising up and the word 'educere' which meant drawing out. The combination of these two words came into the word 'educa' which meant drawing from within. According to the meaning of those words the term education can be defined as the process of raising abilities and talents of a person to the highest potential so that he or she can be a useful member of a society. In a broad term, education is the process of acquiring knowledge skills altitudes and experiences. There are three forms of education which are formal education, non formal education and informal education. Formal education is the kind of education which is acquired in a formal organized education system. For example in Tanzania the system is 2:7:4-6:3-5. Two years for nursery, seven years for primary, four to six years for secondary level and three to five years for university level education. Non formal education is the kind of education which is acquired outside the formal organized education system. Examples of non formal education are secondary school evening classes, vocational training, seminars and workshops. Informal education is the kind of education which is acquired unconsciously from parents and environment through imitation and adaptation. This kind of education acquired throughout the life of a person.
It is true that only the educated are free. The Oxford Dictionary For Advanced Learners defines a free person as a person who is not restricted or controlled by anyone else, able to do or say what he or she wants. Also to be free is a state of not being a prisoner or slave. In the context of education, education should make a person free in all spheres of life. Paul Freire, a Brazilian philosopher, introduced education for liberation. He said that "...a true education is the one which makes a person to be truly liberated and this liberation comes through conscientization..." According to Paul Freire he explained conscientization as a situation where a person knows his or her rights and how to work on them. It is through conscientization that a person knows his or her identity as human being and his or her responsibilities in surrounding society.
In fact the aim of education is to make a person free in all spheres of life that's economically politically and socially. Through conscientization a person is able to open his or her mind and develop his or her plans and hence make his economic to be well organized, and also to participate well as far as political and social issues are concerned.
In economic sphere, there are many economic activities which people used to engage. Among of those activities are agriculture, mining and commerce. All of these activities need people who are well educated so as to progress smoothly.
Let's start with agricultural sector; people who are educated can practice productive agriculture by introducing mechanization, application of fertilizers and the use of insecticides so as to increase quantity and quality of crops. By doing so educated people are free to sell all over the world their crops since they have high quality crops compared to those which have been produced by uneducated people.
Mining sector also is dominated by an educated people. People who have been employed in mining industry are well educated in their respective fields. Examples of those specialists are mechanical engineers, civil engineers, electrical engineers, geologists and environmentalists. It is impossible to employ uneducated person in this important sector.
Also in commerce the educated people are able to progress faster than uneducated ones since they are able to use modern technology so as to advertise their products by using computer technology through internet services. For that case the educated people are free to dominate all markets in the World.
Now, let's move to political affairs; in this sphere there are National Leaders, International Leaders and Citizens. All of these are supposed to be educated.
In leadership, both National and International leadership posts are held by an educated people. All over the World, not even a single country which has a president who is not educated. Therefore educated people are free to dominate in National and International politics.
Also for citizens who are well educated, they know their rights and hence they are able to ask what is going on in their government and hence to make leaders to be accountable and the government to be transparent.
Let's move to social affairs; there are health issues, poor family planning, female genital mutilation (FGM), and inheritance of widows that have great effects in any society. Those factors affect a society which has people who are not educated as follows:
As far as health issues are concerned, people who are not educated are not aware of eating balanced diet, drinking clean and safe water and hence their health status are in danger of being affected by diseases. Also they are not aware of sending their children to clinic and therefore infant mortality rate is high to the uneducated people compared to the areas of educated people.
Also pool family planning is highly observed in families of uneducated people compared to those who are educated. As a result families with pool family planning, due to having a large number of children, are not able to provide important social services such as education, health, shelter and clothing. Therefore uneducated people live in poor life condition and hence they are not free to compete with those who are educated in all spheres of life.
Some uneducated societies practice female genital mutilation (FGM). This habit is not good since it causes many physiological and psychological disorders to females and hence undermines women. In those societies, women are not able to say anything or contribute to any decision making pertaining to development of the society. Therefore they are not able to generate any creative idea compared to women from educated societies.
Also there still a tendency of inheriting widows in some uneducated societies. This is the kind of dehumanization to women which makes them to feel inferior to participate in decision making and hence they are not able to compete with those women from educated societies. Also inheriting widows causes diseases such as sexually transmitted diseases and AIDS.
Generally, only the educated are free since they are aware of their rights and responsibilities in all spheres of life such as economic, political and social aspects. It is to deny ourselves to say that we are free while the majority of people are uneducated. Plato, the great thinker, said that "...in order to build a strong and just society, there must be strong political and Educational system which can prepare citizens to be useful member of the society..." By knowing that, J.K. Nyerere, the Tanzanian philosopher and the first president of Tanzania, introduced the policy of "Education for all" to insist on the provision of education to all Tanzanian citizen since he knew that it is through education people might be set free.
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Featured on: Vijana.fm.
Published on 10.01pm on Tuesday, 23 August 2011.
By Nicholas Omoh. Nicholas studies at the University of Benin and lives in Lagos, Nigeria. Please read and leave your thoughts and comments below. *Winner of the NUHA Blogging Prize 2011*
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Education is not knowledge due to possession, but knowledge due to motion. Education is not how much data a memory can save, but which data will be open for use. Education is not the heart, but the soul of civilized societies passed through generations.
Child education
In African societies and many societies across the world, much emphasis is placed on universal primary education, while little or nothing is done about the quality of the teaching process. Children can do well to read and write, for it is the major aim of most schools across the world. They find it hard to learn past what they can read or write because they are not provided with the opportunity to think and express their thoughts.
Recently, I went for an interview for a teaching job in one of the local primary schools in Benin City, Nigeria. In the course of the interview I was asked to teach a class. When I started teaching I found out that the children do not only want to hear me out, they wanted to be involved in the learning process. I decided to keep an open floor by allowing every pupil to express themselves about the subject to their excitement, and to my surprise I was able to learn what they knew about the subject, and add to it what they did not know they needed to know. Thereby filling open minds.
Children are the leaders of tomorrow but when teachers fail to make them good thinkers of today, by allowing them to express their thoughts so they can truly unlearn, learn, and relearn, they cannot become good leaders of tomorrow.
Youth education
In Nigeria, the obtaining of a college degree is seen as a golden ticket to a good life. Since it's all about the degree many students are not bothered if they have to fill their minds with other men's and women's thoughts without having any room for their own. Even when the lecturers in the institutions recycle lecture notes of over a decade with no addition of current trends or happening in the field of study, students just want to come out with a good college degree.
Today, in Nigeria a college degree does not even give you a life let alone a good life. The reason being that there are many graduates coming out of college each year and there are fewer or no job opportunities to accommodate them. The average Nigerian student has learnt to become an employee and when there is no job what happens? Everything a graduate knows is inside his degree; without using it he cannot perform.
A society that cuts off its youth severs its lifeline. For there to be development in Nigeria and the African continent at large the youths must unlearn the notion that a paper certificate or being locked in a box for four years or five years does guarantee you a good life. In the developed world many captains of industries do not have a college degree, yet they turned out right.
Youths must learn how to think not inside or outside a box, but without a box. They must search inside and see what they can bring out that will not only profit them, but others in the society.
Youths need to relearn what the youths of the developed world did to make their respective countries emerge in the global scene. It is no more about what the government can do for you, but what you as a self-government can do for your nation and the African continent.
Government education
Africa is home to many financial aids for development, and the truth still remains that the continent is even more underdeveloped. We have governments across the continent who know what to do but deliberately refuse to do it. Governments that know very well that anywhere education goes there is development either from the Greek to the British to the U.S, or to Japan. But the African continent has failed to take up the challenge to develop and use its fundamental human resource, rather it values the natural resources more and African governments could kill each other for these resources.
I was privileged to attend the ABCDE 2011 World Bank conference on development economics with theme broadening opportunities for development, in Paris France. In one of the sessions I attended about African achievements in development, I found out two things: that the researchers and speakers where all foreigners with no researcher or speaker from Africa. The other is there were no real achievements on development for what I saw. This caused me to ask myself two questions: are there no African scholars or researchers in the continent? What have the governments of Africa been doing with all the financial aid that we cannot boast of a giant stride in development?
I feel now is the time to stop fighting civil wars and declare war on education for development. Where Africans in academia will be ready to learn how to drop their title and take up the mantle to spearhead research that will be done locally and applied globally. Where the government will look at what is obtainable in the developed world, unlearn all it knows because it's not working, relearn what they know and learn to apply what they now know to create an enabling African continent were its people becomes its only tool for development. Thus, encouraging new ideas, new inventions and new methods.
Where Africa is today is only the beginning of were it can be. If only it can realize and utilize its human resources armed with definiteness of purposes, through instruction plus direction.
Published on 9.54am on Sunday, 21 August 2011.
By Joseph Markus. Joe, 22, is a postgraduate law student at UCL. He lives in London, UK. Please read and leave your thoughts and comments below. *Shortlisted for the NUHA Blogging Prize 2011*v
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"The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn." Alvin Toffler
Illiteracy-in the sense of un- or under-education-requires a context against which the absence of the capacity to convey or understand meaning is measured. An individual can be illiterate in one respect, yet learned in another. In fact, people excel in certain areas and neglect many others-such is the way of the world. But surely it's more than this. We in Britain consider, for example, in our fast-paced, driven and modern (Western) world, that economic knowledge is power; it is a language and literacy that can lead to both wealth and success. In policy fora and the halls of government, this is the language most resonant with the ruling élite. In other parts of the world, in other communities, a different form or type of knowledge may be privileged. Certain indigenous communities may emphasise values of culture and spirituality above scientific and economic knowledge.
An important corollary to this idea of different literacies and competencies is the idea of education. What do we mean by education? To many it is a panacea. For instance, feminism advocates a form of consciousness-raising with the intention of showing previously illiterate communities the error of their understandings. Another is the observation of Amartya Sen that good education policy in the Indian state of Kerala has led to falls in fertility rates, which may provide the answer to the perils of overpopulation. The clarion call is heard so very frequently: if only they could be shown the error of their ways; if only they knew. Education on this understanding is a motor of change.
To me it is a remarkably empty concept. Education in what, exactly? True, the idea of education has a vaguely positive connotation, but it is peculiarly difficult to attribute to the notion any objective meaning. I would suggest rather that when we speak of ‘education', we mean to append a subconscious qualification: ‘education in...'
Much of our learning is received wisdom and common narratives, used to make sense of and provide order to the world. Typically, we will privilege what we consider to be worthy knowledge. We learn our shared histories, cultures and traditions, all from a decidedly parochial perspective. While our intellectual histories may be the result of the confluence of myriad influences-from Orient to Occident-they are now noticeably Western in type. They are recognised as such by the Others of the world. By way of example, east Asia-especially China-disavows the imposition of Western learning; to be specific, our grand narratives of human rights, and civil and political freedom in particular, are considered Western constructs unsuited to their Confucian traditions. In the race to ‘catch up' to the West through (economic) development, China has argued that civil-political freedoms should come after growth. Certain theorists have given the lie to this historical observation, recognising that Confucius did lend credence to the individualist ideals of civil-political liberty. However, the point stands that certain types of knowledge are more easily attributable to certain cultures.
Now with the onslaught of globalisation in many and diverse areas of life, the claim to the universality of recognisably Western learning is at issue. In March 2004, then British Prime Minister Tony Blair said:
The best defence of our security lies in the spread of our values. But we cannot advance these values except within a framework that recognises their universality.
What Mr Blair meant by this was twofold. One facet was of political security. He could not contemplate seeking to advance British values other than within a framework that recognised their universal validity. He could not be seen to be imposing values; those values must be apparently a priori. The second is more ideological. It was thought by Mr Blair, and by innumerable others, that British, American or Western values should be universally valid.
It is this second aspect to the quotation that brings me to the crux of the argument. This is that education-in its abstract and unreal sense-should place precedence on critique and natural cynicism. I mean to refer to cynicism here in a socially useful sense and it is in no way intended to be pejorative. A reflexive awareness of the hegemonic claims of one's system of learning should be one of the great hallmarks of education. One must be able to accept that one might be wrong; that there may be a better understanding elsewhere. Or, at the least, one should be able to appreciate that there exist alternative understandings of the world, each of which has the same basic right to acceptance. This brilliant epistemological diversity is one of the singular reasons for advocating a cosmopolitan approach to education; that is, an approach that recognises diversity, accepts partiality, and welcomes learning, unlearning and re-learning.
In this light, it is not at all clear to me that the Western approach to, amongst other things, development, is desirable or sustainable. Development suffers from an extraordinary bias. Created, in its current form, in the inaugural address of President Truman in January 1949, it posits the Western mode of living as the model for the rest. The (culturally, socially, economically, politically) underdeveloped world, caught in a phase of traditionalism, pre-civilisation and pre-modernity, seeks to ‘catch up' with the modern and sophisticated developed nations. The great taxonomy of development is presented as value-neutral. The Western world, in development, is emplaced as a benevolent guide, as missionary and moderniser. What is hidden within this language is the notion of a remaking of the world in the image of the West; exporting ostensibly Western values and learning into previously non-Western cultures and backgrounds. This is a process profoundly threatened by the perception of imperialism.
But one must always question whether this is desirable. Whether the West does have a monopoly on the ‘best' way of living. Whether the creation of a global middle class and the rolling out of capitalistic production worldwide is as beneficent and sustainable as dictated by the development discourse. Whether a world of fully-developed, industrialised nation-states is one that we either can or ought to contemplate. Whether present levels of unfettered consumption and production can continue indefinitely. Whether learning can be objective and universally valid. Or whether, notwithstanding that there might-and probably do-exist some forms of transcultural, transcendental certainties, we are right to question received truths.
Published on 12.28am on Wednesday, 3 August 2011.
By Cookie. Cookie is 10-years old. She goes to school in France. Please read and add your thoughts and comments below.
Introduction
I am going to write about how education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world and what I think about it.
Education is a powerful weapon but only if you can use it for a good use. For example Mahatma Gandhi: he was very educated. He went to a university in London called University College London (UCL), he studied law. He used his education to save his country. He fought against the British but not with guns or bombs but with his education and that's how he saved his country. Yes education is a powerful weapon that you can use for saving the world or a country or a human being.
But a few questions need to be asked:
1- What is education?
Education is knowing how to read, write and how to speak. Education is also knowing how to be polite. If you are educated then you can work and you can learn even more than you know.
2-Where does education came from?
Education comes from observing things around us and trying to understand them; the people who look after us when we are small like our parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters help us to do this. Education also comes from going to school but we can only go to school if our parents have the means to pay the school or if we live in a country where schools are provided for all. That's why if you are educated then you can work and do many things.
3- Who gives it to us?
The teachers at school give it to us but we can only succeed if we try to work, if we want to learn if we know what that means.
4- Can everybody get education or is it only limited to some?
No, not everybody can get education because there are countries which are very poor so they do not have the means of having enough schools in their country. That means that the families which live in these countries can't have access to education. Other countries like France have the means of building schools and employing teachers, so like this children can be educated. Obviously, even in France there are families which don't have the means to send their children to school but because France is a rich country schools are provided for everyone.
If there are schools then you have a chance to go and get educated.
5- Can everybody possess this weapon which is education?
Yes, all normal born children can possess education because they have all been born into this world with intelligence and so if we look for education, if we ask people around us, read books, observe the world and keep our ears and eyes open to learn, then we will be able to possess this weapon.
Conclusion
I think that education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. Always get educated, and use it for a good use. What is very unfortunate is that as the years go by, many are not using education for a good purpose but are using education for fighting in the world with material weapons and destroying our world.
Published on 5.06am on Monday, 1 August 2011.
By Efembe Eke. Efembe, 25, is an aspiring writer from Calabar, Nigeria. Please read and leave your thoughts and comments below.
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Epictetus, the famous Greek philosopher rightly stated that only the educated are free. Education and freedom are no doubt closely connected. The process of training, teaching and learning contributes in no small way to the development of human beings, societies and the world at large. It is therefore not uncommon to find schools and institutions of higher learning springing up practically everywhere in the world; neither is it any wonder that the members of different societies are striving to inculcate the norms, values and customs of these societies in themselves. These underline the importance of education.
The lack of education is a major hindrance to the development of the human race. It is potent enough to keep the achieving spirit of man fettered. Education brings about the much-needed mental emancipation. It will never do for one to just aspire to do or be what one wants. One needs to acquire acknowledge in order to be equipped and empowered to actualize certain achievements. At this point, it will not be out of place to state that individuals with neither formal nor informal education are not at liberty to attain great heights in different fields of human endeavour courtesy of the restrictions placed on them by their ignorance.
Every environment imposes limitations on the organisms found therein. For instance, human beings have to deal with a myriad of conditions like sickness, poverty and environmental hazards. Without education, it is impossible for them to surmount these limitations. A case in point is the cycle of poverty which is the bane of uneducated people worldwide. Education is without doubt the one strategy that can set them free from poverty for it is only through education that knowledge of environmental and resource management can be acquired.
Furthermore, the dynamic nature of human societies can overwhelm the uneducated. On the contrary, the educated can function effectively in them because of their ability to control their environment through the utilization of acquired information and appropriate skills.
Uneducated people are likely to feel monumentally inadequate as human beings. Their lack of confidence stems from the dearth of knowledge and it renders them incapable of influencing their culture and society. They are also unable to protect their rights or know their obligations and as a result they cannot develop themselves nor participate in the development of their society. They are perpetually stuck in stagnation.
There is no gainsaying the fact that education determines the world view of individual members of society. It directs how people see and interpret events around them. Educated people with their acquired knowledge and information are better able to understand and have a healthy mental image of their environment. On the other hand, uneducated people tend to have misconceptions, stereotypical views and superstitions as a result of their restricted operational environment. Their warped perceptions have negative effects on their behavioural environment. In Southern Nigeria, for instance, there have been reports of the torture and mal-treatment of children believed to be involved in witchcraft. Pathetically, the ignorant families of these children are in most cases, responsible for these atrocities. Until they become educated, ignorant people will forever remain slaves of their environments.
Published on 1.27am on Sunday, 24 July 2011.
By David Adam, of Cape Town, South Africa. Please read and leave your thoughts and comments below.
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The beauty of this trio - Epictetus, education and freedom – is they have evolved. They do not mean the same for us as for the ancient Greeks. This has happened in part because we have evolved.
The nub of Epictetus teaching is there are some forces which are beyond our control and it does not pay to fight a losing battle against them. According to Epictetus education hones your discerning power and helps you direct your limited energy and time to where they are productive. The distinguishing mark of the educated is they do not flail in vain trapped inside the straitjacket of ignorance. They are on the wing. Free!
No authority greater than Epictetus can be found on the liberating power of education - he philosophized his way out of slavery. During his time philosophy and education were interchangeable. While both philosophy and education have grown, the later has outstripped the former. The straggling philosophy is still more like religion than science and the philosopher more like a priest than a scientist.
Epictetus invoked death to help people put life in perspective. This helps people to purge themselves of fear and attach the right weight to life. Though he cut life to size, he did not exalt martyrdom. His philosophy is of moderation and restraint. This makes his philosophy a required reading for psychos who think failure is not an option.
Like gurus and mahatmas Epictetus thought that happiness is about spiritual growth and not about how much wealth you have amassed. He thought your property may give a handle for your enemies and the powerful to drag you into slavery. Though, his teaching on this respect is too extreme, you never help thinking we need to revive teachings like this to temper the prevailing ‘greed is good’ philosophy which precipitated the financial crisis.
His teaching to some extent smacks of timidity. It reads like it is not a fox which breaks cover often in search of a mate or food, since these trips exposes it to danger. This put an exorbitant price on his version of wisdom.
The philosophy of Epictetus in some sense is unfitted to our time. Because, whatever it purports to be free, it is hobbled by the backwardness of the time. We are in an age where we are bending nature to our will rather than aligning it with her. For us Education is not the process whereby we reconcile ourselves with what we cannot change, but the force with which we relentlessly push the frontier of what we can change.
Published on 1.06am on Sunday, 24 July 2011.
By Alexis Wesula. Alexis, 22, is from Kenya. He is currently studying at the Voronezh State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering. Please read and leave your thoughts and comments below.
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I was never a good listener in my youth, but there is one thing I will always remember my grandfather said to me: knowledge is power. It meant little to me then it seemed a standard statement said often to motivate students. Only later in my teenage years did I begin to really understand. It all began with a season of teenage worries that led to a minor depression. I explained to my mother that I felt trapped and seemed to be insignificant. She then asked me what freedom was. I could not define the thing I wanted most, how ironic.
I thus began to look for definition. This was not something I could read from a dictionary. It had to be special. So I turned to philosophy and ethical sciences. There is one definition I fell in love with: freedom is ability and possibility to develop your mind, soul and body.
We are all born with the desire to advance and be better. There is nothing worse than potential not achieved. So it is not strange that we all want more and therefore find ways to be more. A large kill was how the hunters in stone-age proved their worth as today’s man has education. Freedom as I defined: ability and possibility to advance in mind, body and soul is bound inseparably with education.
I will begin with the mind which is the first resource that we are blessed with at birth. The mind from infancy has a habit to update data automatically and it is this concept education exploits. Education is all skills and information one acquires with the intention of using it to either benefit in monetary terms or self development. For those who have had to look for a job you know how much of an unfair advantage the educated or ‘over educated’ have. In one way you must recognize that, this group of educated people, are freed from poverty and fear of unemployment. People straggling under the chains of superstition, have found freedom in education and gone ahead to live happier lives.
Secondly education has saved and kept our fragile bodies away from disease both directly and indirectly. Appropriate dieting and exercise is an education sometimes undermined but has prevented a great deal of heart and weight related diseases. Apart from doctors who offer direct freedom from disease education in itself is a cure. Unexplained diseases such as hypochondria have sometimes been cured by simply educating the ignorant patient about whatever it is they imagine is making them ill.
Finally the soul, a very controversial concept, has also gained in one way or another from education. For those who believe in something they know they know the importance of choice. Blind followers to a certain belief are doomed to misinterpretations or misguidance from questionable leaders. Ignorance has never been an excuse. Education in whatever road to spiritual satisfaction will give you peace and pride to stand up for your beliefs.
Education opens ones eyes to a life that is purposeful and pleasant. With education you can deliberately be successful, unlike the incredibly lucky who win lotteries. If being in charge of your own luck is not freedom, I don't know what is.
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Featured on: Vijana.fm.
Published on 8.52am on Friday, 8 July 2011.
By Ruba Dayoub, 40, from Syria. Please read and leave your thoughts and comments below. *Shortlisted for the NUHA Blogging Prize 2011*
_____Before discussing the role that private education can play in the context of developing countries, I find it useful to start with the definition of the term 'developing countries' from different perspectives. For instance, Dove (1986, p.2) presumes that 'developing countries' are those countries with high averages of population and illiteracy, and who need a lot of educational changes although they devote 'a high proportion of their national budgets is devoted to education, planning and management structures'. While the World Bank and some international organisations (e.g. UNESCO, UNICEF, and UNDP) consider that developing countries are those poor countries which have lately become independent, have insufficient economics/ resources, and whose citizens are mostly agricultural workers and, generally, illiterate.[1]
Taking these definitions into consideration, there are some common features of developing countries as being recently independent, facing problems with their economics and; therefore, having challenges with their education systems. However, the solution to these complicated issues related to economics, resources and building capacities in developing countries is by improving, restructuring or changing education systems. Similarly, Psacharopoulos (1985, p.5, cited Chimombo, 2005), believes that 'education is widely regarded as the route to economic prosperity, the key to scientific and technological advancement, the means to combat unemployment, the foundation of social equity'. This indicates that when education is good, the society will be safe. Undoubtedly, achieving any significant progress in the educational systems of developing countries can be seen as the key to the improvement of the whole society in those contexts. Therefore, when it is well planned and structured, education can play a vital role in creating societies and cultures, and improving economics and the quality of people's lives.
Moreover, Glewwe and kremer (2005) and Chimombo (2005) argue that governments in many developing countries are working on achieving their economical progression and social welfare through developing their education systems. Hence, there is a great emphasis on the governments of developing countries to establish a conductive environment, and to facilitate the access to 'education for all'. Based on this notion, many developing countries are now in a race with time, and trying their level best to maintain advanced economics and education.
Nevertheless, governments in some developing countries face the challenge of being unable to take the responsibility of improving the quality of education by themselves alone. Hence, depending on the public (government) education might be insufficient due to some challenges such as the large number of students engaged at schools, the inadequate facilities of schools/classrooms, the challenging geographical contexts of the country, and the lack of the financial support from the government side. Therefore, those governments tend to encourage some private educational institutions to work in their countries. They believe that some individuals or institutions might have the financial and human resources (HR) for establishing well prepared/equipped educational buildings that serve as a platform for achieving high levels of literacy, knowledge and awareness among people. Thus, they facilitate the work of the private education institutions and non government organizations (NGOs), and cooperate with them for establishing shared goals. They also try to benefit from the successful experiences by applying the new methods of teaching and the integrated curriculum, developed by these private institutions, in their government education institutions.
Being a teacher in a developing country, I have many good examples of the successful partnership and cooperation between the government and private education institutions in my country. They both coordinate to complement each other, and to make their efforts fruitful. Although the government education system in Syria is very strong, and proved to be one the best government education systems in the Middle East. However, the Syrian government have permitted many private institutes and universities (local and from abroad) to work within the Syrian lands, and to establish their educational buildings, based on high criteria of providing quality education and variety of specialized areas related to the needs of the Syrian society and markets. Consequently, the quality of education and averages of university graduates are high now in Syria due to the wide range of opportunities that the private universities are providing to students. In addition, the levels of English language literacy have increased among learners because of the wide spread of the private institutes for English tuition and learning. These private education institutions have opened the door wide in front of many students and learners to choose among variety of choices what might match and fulfil their learning needs. They have given students and learners the hope to continue the journey of learning, regardless their ages or social backgrounds.
The above mentioned examples are essential. So, what about other developing countries, where governments are incapable of meeting the educational needs of their people? I have many examples of the positive role that the private education can have on the progress of those developing countries. For example, during my two-years academic study in Pakistan, I was exposed to both the private and government education systems in Karachi. I came to know that the private education plays a significant role in Pakistan as the government, with its limited resources, difficult geographical contexts and complicated political issues, is unable to reach all the remote and rural areas. I visited many private schools and observed their successful experiences through different dimensions: students achievement, teachers' professional development (TPD), educational leadership and management, and the engagement of parents and the local community in the teaching/learning process. Moreover, I observed that my colleague teachers, coming from the private education system or working there, were academically better than those coming from the government education system; their achievement and grades were significant. Furthermore, when visiting the private schools in Karachi, I examined the quality of students' work there to find them more critical and comprehensive than those of the students in government schools, and even better than of those of the same age level in my country; which indicates that private education can be a good twin or partner in the process of achieving the educational reform in developing contexts.This experience has stimulated me to think of how encouraging the work of private education, away from any commercial benefits, can be effective in pushing a developing country forward.
To sum up, as the main aim of education is to enable 'children and young adults to acquire the essential knowledge, skills, and attitudes that equip them to live as productive and fulfilled citizens' (Turnbull, 2007: 188); therefore, I recommend that the responsibility of governments should be to facilitate the establishment of private education which should, in turn, match the standards of high quality education, and supplement the government efforts in initiating any educational change. Moreover, I recommend the continuous supervision of the government for the private education institutions to mentor their progress and quality of work, and to support when required.
References:
Chimombo, J. (2005). Issues in basic education in developing countries: An exploration of policy options for improved delivery. Journal of International Cooperation in Education, 8(1), 129-152.
Dove, L. (1986). Teachers and teacher education in developing countries. (New Hampshire: Routledge).
Glewwe, P. & Kremer, M. (2005). Schools, teachers, and education outcomes in developing countries. Retrived September 9, 2010, from http://ideas.repec.org/h/eee/educhp/2-16.html
Turnbull, J. (2007). 9 Habits of highly effective teachers: A practical guide to empowerment. New York: Continuum.
[1] This piece of information is retrieved October 15, 2010 from http://www.wordwebonline.com/en/ DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Published on 8.44am on Friday, 8 July 2011.
By Kingsley Anyata. Kingsley, 19, lives in Abakaliki, Nigeria. He studies at the Ebonyi State University. Please read and add your thoughts and comments below.
WHO ARE THE ILLITERATE ONES?
Education is the bedrock of every society. It is a foundation on which this structure called society is laid. Without a foundation no structure will ever stand. A society standing or built on illiteracy will always topple over. When it crashes, rebuilding it takes much longer than it would have taken in just making education the bedrock of the society. Most of the first world countries could be said to have evidently made education a priority. This has led to the geometrical growth, both in economy and other aspects that they are currently experiencing. This lucidly explains it when I say that education is vital to a nation. For instance, the just concluded April presidential election that took place in Nigeria had a large turnout of cancelled votes. About 1.2million presidential votes were cancelled due to lack of education, probably being unable to learn, unlearn and relearn. Since at most polling booths, the procedure to follow or the actual process was described and demonstrated in their familiar regional languages. It is a thing of pity that in most polling booths which I experienced the casting of votes, most people who were doing the wrong thing were the young ones. Imagine a situation where the upcoming or anticipated generations are unable to learn and put into practice simple instructions given to them. As well they were unable to know the things to learn and relearn. Hence, they just did it anyhow and this led to waste of resources (materials) used for the election. Since the young ones are highly affected, that simply means that problem locks around if this trend is not reversed as soon as possible.
I would like to recognize a statement made by Alvin Toffler in my bid to explain what it means to be educated. He said that "The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn." He must have thought very well to have come up with such a wonderful self explanatory statement of what education entails. Any body who desires to, could read and write, but not everybody can go through the process of learning, unlearning and relearning. It takes wisdom for someone to learn, unlearn and relearn.
To learn means to gain knowledge or skill by studying, from experience, from being taught etc. Your ability to learn, unlearn and relearn gives you the opportunity to know the supposed things, sieve out the unsupposed ones and enhance the supposed ones into better supposed options. This ability gives you an edge over just being able to read and write. Reading just entails trying to or pronouncing letters coined together to get words. Writing is the act of putting down those words formed from the letters of the alphabet. It is quite true that reading and writing are the basics and vital steps towards a better learning, unlearning and relearning, but it takes wisdom for one to learn.
When I have the knowledge of how to teach, that means that I have learnt how to teach. I would not just read a textbook to my students or write what I see in a textbook because I can read and write. I will have to explain both from the knowledge I have and from my experiences in connection with the topic of discussion.
If one can just read and write without learning, unlearning and relearning, the person becomes a hindrance or nuisance wherever the person is. You will be termed an intelligent fool. Learning, unlearning and relearning helps you explain, even if not in details, what you have read or written.
There was a case in which a man was brought to deliver a lecture to people who were novice in a particular field. He started and ended the lecture by just reading to the audience without even making effort to drive home what he had read. After the lecture, the percentage that still remained novice was a hundred percent (100%). Who then do you think is the illiterate? The man who delivered the lecture of course. He was unable to achieve the concept for inviting him to deliver the lecture because he could only read and write. He actually hindered those people from learning things about that particular field. Looking at it from different perspective, if the man had been able to read, write, learn, unlearn and relearn, he would have explained his lecture and would have achieved if not hundred percent (100%) success, at least seventy-five percent (75%) success, which is a good attempt.
Therefore I am not mistaken, if I agree with Alvin Toffler that illiteracy is not only being unable to read and write.
I had aforementioned that education is the bedrock of every society. Education is the stepping stone for development. Without education (being able to read, write, learn, unlearn and relearn), a country/nation has nothing to do with development. For instance, if you are a person that only thinks in one direction without looking back or diverting to sides. You will definitely remain as you are. Thus, the same applies to a society without education.
Education is as important as life itself. The ability to learn, unlearn and relearn has led to great technological advancement in many fields which helps man to live happily on earth.
Food production has been improved, health service care intensified, communication broadened, structural facilities set in place and industries set up. Therefore the three basic needs (shelter, clothing and food) of human have been conquered by being able to learn, unlearn and relearn.
Published on 7.23am on Thursday, 9 June 2011.
By Twish Mukherjee. Twish, 21, lives in Kolkata, India. He writes and paints and has made a couple of short films. You can read his entry here. Please leave your thoughts and comments below.
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"Only the educated are free." Epictetus
Epictetus could have afforded to believe so. Education freed him from a slave’s life to that of a multiple-disciple-d-philosopher. How much the knowledge or possession of information does free us, is a question I’ve often pondered over, in my most analytical moods.
There are phases, yes; phases when you wish you didn’t know the truth, times when you wish you were entitled to ignorant illusions that offer solace, above anything else. At the same time, there are these times when you pride yourself on knowing something more and better than someone around you. The existence of opposites in an utterly harmonic discord isn’t new to mankind. Look at what education does. The more you know, the more you realise that you ought to know. The less you know, the less troubled you are. Let’s not talk about emotions now, and look at statistical skeletons only, for the time being.
Freedom comes at a price. A simple numerical amount in paper currency is all it takes to buy you the right to own all that your erratic human heart yearns for. Mind you, again, I’m not talking about abstract possessions like family and the love of a loved one. Not yet, that is. Today, there’s a grey sky outside, and there’s a mildly cold, damp breeze, that threatens to upgrade into a storm-of-sorts. If I erase all commitments and compulsions from my now-nerd-like nerves, the first thing that I want to do, is light a good fat cigar and go to the rooftop and watch the clouds swim and collide with each other. What stops me from doing it? My wallet is empty. I’ve got to accumulate all my indigenous training and execute its worth, so that, before the next monsoon-like-weather-day, I am empowered with the ability to buy a cigar. This sort of freedom is definitely dependent on education.
Education itself has broad and ambiguous meanings and implications. The internationally screamed about system of schooling, namely the primary-secondary-higher-and-then-college-process is neither absolute nor sufficient. I’ve met people who have all of it in their brains, like some information-packed-integrated circuit planted inside; but when it comes to application, they stop short. Various reasons might exist for the same. Imagine a crayon-coloured room with some thirty individuals and a single instructor. The individual-instructor-interaction is not only obnoxiously impeded, but also inadequate sometimes. We all know that. Competitiveness is not universally conducive for development. Why else would there be a need for private tutors in most third-world-developing countries? Talking about the Western way of schooling, irrespective of how much I seem to believe it’s better than my own Indian structure, the countries would not be absorbing ‘talent’ from the Middle and Far East if their own people were ‘smart’ enough. ‘Smart’, within quotes of course, because it’s not a parameter that the dictionary would define as the volume of information inside a bony skull.
It is also true that a child, in his formative years doesn’t know what he would want; although, I would like to debate the credibility of that universally-declared truth as well. Debates apart, some form of formal education is necessary to enable the brain to decipher the various other vocations available. Like I keep telling my seven-year-old friend who wishes to stop going to school in order to devote more time to playing games on the computer, he needs to sharpen his English reading skills, so that he doesn’t need my help for reading the game controls and other relevant details. So does a sportsman need to be well-conversant in some language that would enable him to fill up stupid forms that he would need to fill up, if he would want his sportsmanship to come of any use, the exhibition of athletic abilities this case.
Further illustration on professional prerequisites would be futile. Once the basic minimum has been met, the academic disciplines should provide freedom themselves, for the individual’s inherent intrinsic endowments. The point I emphasise on is that, the entire process of education itself must not be such that it drains a person of all that he is born with. If education should offer freedom for the individual’s fundamental faculties, its own elaborate designs must be controlled. Whether the human race is capable of measuring that is doubtful though!
Lastly, there is the freedom from the assortment of internal emotions that Epictetus himself had underscored. Does education free you from pain? How many times has a human being succeeded in overcoming grief, just by telling himself that it’s temporary? We all know that grief is temporary. So is intense joy. Does the knowledge of the facts that certain emotions, good or bad, creative or destructive, are ephemeral and immaterial, inhibit their occurrence in their intense-most incidences? Two thousand and eleven years after the birth of Christ, man is yet to find the answer. Maybe the androids would, if we install all the pituitary hormones in them.
Education is essential, yes. We need to know that what we do not know is not meant to be known.
