Importance of Education – Community Education
Education refers to the systematic process of gaining knowledge and skills through study and instructions. The person providing the instruction is known as teachers. And, the person who receives or gains education is called a student or pupil.Importance of Education
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Education has many benefits and has positive impact in our life. An educated person is an asset for any country.
In today’s world, human capital is considered the best national resource.
On one hand, he can explore better opportunities for himself, and on the other hand, the entire nation would get
benefited from his works.
There are many reasons why education is important.
1. World Citizenship: Education is a must for world citizenship or global citizenship. Such a person always works
for the benefits of humanity. He treats the entire human-race as brothers
and sisters. We all acknowledge the importance of education, knowledge and truth for promoting the world outlook.
Education produces citizens who are men of intellectual and moral integrity, who are neither fanatical nor cynical
, but are public-spirited, tolerant and wise. Education aims at producing
ideal human-beings. These people are truly cultured, wise, tolerant and public-spirited. Different ages have
different conceptions of ideal men.
2. Promotes National Interest: Education also promotes national interest. The highly educated people have a
critical intelligence of an exceptional order. They can form independent
conclusions from given facts. An educated person has the wisdom and knowledge to work for the good of the
country. The doctors, engineers, scientists, soldiers, police-officers, IAS,
etc. all work together in protecting the national interest.
3. True benefactors of human race: We must praise great writers, scientists, humanistic philosophers,
profoundly religious man with abiding faith in spiritual values, social
reformers and other men with a constructive genius because these educated men alone are the true
benefactors of the human race.
4. Backbone of developing countries: Education is the backbone of developing countries. Developing
countries should understand the importance of education and develop
a sound educational system. Sustainable development of economy and society is closely related to
education. The most important resource of a nation is its human-capital.
Educated people have more understanding of themselves and of the others. They have the ability to
become entrepreneurs, scientists and agriculturists. The world of today
is driven by Information Technology and education in this field may become a deciding factor for
the future economic development of developing countries.
5. Moral, spiritual and ethical values: Educated people promote equality of opportunity. Any privilege,
when based on merit alone, is bound to be more moral because
it has to justify no unmerited privilege, advocate no ethical system which promotes class-feeling or
social snobbery and defend nothing, which is unjust or ethically
wrong. The aim of education, whatever the social system, must be not only to disseminate knowledge,
but also to stimulate the questioning spirit.
Educational institutions cannot produce saints. But they can certainly inculcate among students respect
for spiritual and ethical values and make them
understand that the promotion of human welfare, not self-aggrandizement, is the end of life. No man,
however brilliant, however gifted, can be considered
truly cultured unless he identifies himself with the wellbeing of others, unless he has the passion
to make the Kingdom of God prevail on earth.
6. Education produces good citizens: Education also produce well-cultured and wise men. It is often
said that the children of today are the citizens of tomorrow. If children of today study hard to
become good students, then they will surely become good citizens in future. It is not easy to measure
the loss which the human race has suffered on account of want of education by men and women who had
exceptional talent but could not make full use of it.
7. Enjoy life: Education enables young men and women to develop all the latent powers and faculties
of their nature and to enjoy a good life.
8. Freshness of approach: A sound education system encourages freshness of approach. Education should
bring out the best in the student, not stifle his mind.
9. Transmit national culture: Education is an important medium to transmit national culture to the
students. Of course, educational institutions are not the only agencies through which the culture
of the nation can be passed on to the younger generations. The home exercises a powerful influence
on the youthful mind. Religion and churches have a big role to play in making men truly cultured
and moral. But schools and colleges have also a contribution to make to the transmission of national
culture.
10. Character: Education also helps in building the character of a person. The educational teachers
make attempts to give their students a moral outlook.
11. Literacy: Education enables a person to become literate. Literacy refers to the ability of a
person to read and write. Literacy is important not only for children but also for adults.
12. Curiosity: An educated man should have infinite curiosity, the passion to know and understand
things in a scientific way, with complete objectivity.
13. Wisdom: In democratic countries educational institutions earnestly try to arouse intellectual
curiosity, satisfy the appetite for more and more knowledge and develop the critical spirit which
alone brings wisdom.
14. Intellectual discipline: He cultivates intellectual discipline and intellectual humility. He
is an earnest seeker after truth and knowledge with an open mind.
15. Seeks perfection: A truly educated man always seeks perfection. He is not a specialist who has
perfected only his body or the intellect or the mind but one who seeks the development of all his faculties.
16. Earn a livelihood: Education enables a boy or a girl to earn his or her living. It is true that
employment does not depend upon intellectual attainments alone. It is also determined by the stage
of economic development of a country. However, there are chances that an educated person will get a
good job with income sufficient to earn him his livelihood. An educated person can easily meet the
basic material needs of life.
17. Adult Education: There is a dire need for education among adults. An adult engaged in economic
activity can join the night classes and educate himself.
Conclusion: The aim of education is not to develop one single virtue but to produce healthy normal human beings who understand the meaning of life and what it demands from them. From childhood to youth, students must be constantly reminded by educationists and psychologists that the fundamental law of life is co-operation, not self-aggrandizement or domination or conflict. If students are intellectually and morally brought up on co-operation, most of our troubles would be at an end and life would be much healthier, richer and nobler than ever before.
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Kumkum Bhardwaj
Founder Red Apple