EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT ---ESSAY

EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”.

- Nelson Mandela

Education in every sense is one of the fundamental factors of development. No country can achieve sustainable economic development without substantial investment in human education. Education enriches people’s understanding of themselves and the world. It improves the quality of their lives and leads to broad social benefits of individuals and society. Education raises people’s productivity, creativity and promotes entrepreneurship and technological advances. In addition to this, it plays a very crucial role in securing economic and social progress besides improving income distribution. Education is also an important contributor to technological capability and technical change in industry.

The importance of education was best described by the Greek philosopher, Diogenes, who said, “The foundation of every state is the education of its youth”. Education is the key to a successful future. It makes us aware of knowledge, skills and ethics that have been there in the world. Education in also the key to eliminate gender inequality, to create a sustainable planet, to prevent needless deaths and illness and to foster peace.

Education is a human right and like other human rights, it cannot be taken for granted. Across the world, 59 million children and 65 million adolescents are out of school. More than 120 million children do not complete primary education. It is education, which leads a person from poverty to prosperity. A country’s economy becomes more productive as the proportion of educated workers increases since they can more efficiently carry out tasks that require literacy and critical thinking. Statistical analysis of the textile and engineering industries in Sri Lanka, to cite an example, showed that the skill and education levels of workers and entrepreneurs were positively related to the rate of technical change of the plan.

Development, which implies positive values, has been the concern of mankind from times immemorial. Society cannot develop unless its population holds modern attitudes and values. We can see a direct relationship between education and socio-economic development, in that education brings about a change in outlook of the individual which promotes productivity and efficiency. Education has a modernizing influence on values, beliefs and behaviours which make human beings, more development-oriented. A country with a strong developing education system can more definitely develop in the future. In a developing country, improving citizens’ learning is very important, because their attitude towards a question can have influence on the development of a country. Every human being needs oxygen to survive in the world. Education is as important as this because education gives people the knowledge and skills they require.

Education is indispensable for a country’s development. No economic development is possible without good education. A balanced education system promotes not only economic development, but also productivity and generates per capita income. Its influence is noticeable at microlevel of an individual family. Education without development is meaningless. Unless there is a sense of meaning and purpose, life is empty and unhappy, regardless of how much prestige, money or degree a person has. The moral and spiritual foundation on which we structure our educational system alone can mould the future destiny of India. As Swami Vivekananda said, “We need a man making and nation-building education”. Education that can be practically used certainly leads to development.


Thanks   -  GK TODAY  MAY 2019  .    pl read the magazine for other sections