Education, simply stated, is
the process of gaining knowledge, learning forms of proper conduct and acquiring
technical competency in a specific field. It involves cultivating the mind and
instilling values that enable an individual to distinguish between the right and
the wrong. It includes developing skills pertaining to a specific field and also
aims at achieving overall development. Formal education is divided into phases
starting from primary school, continuing through higher education followed by
education in a specific field (specialization). But education never really ends.
You learn something from every incident you are exposed to, every experience you
have and every person you meet. The process of education is believed to begin in
the mother's womb and it continues throughout one's life.
We seldom think of what the real purpose of education is. We hardly think of the
reason why education is so important. It is while we grow up that we begin to
realize the role of education and understand how it applies to daily life. We
begin to realize the importance of education only after it begins finding
applications in our professional and personal life. If education is the process
of gathering knowledge, it can never really end as knowledge is infinite and one
can never claim to have acquired all of it.
The fundamental purpose of education is to teach a person to read and write,
that is to make him literate. Reading abilities that are acquired in school, go
a long way in enabling an individual to read more and more. And every bit read,
is a new lesson learned. The fundamentals of science and math which one acquires
during school, are pillars on which his understanding of life is based. How did
you know the Earth is round? Who told you why the sky looks blue? How did you
know 2 + 2 is 4? How did you know you have 10 fingers, two eyes and a nose? It's
through education that you learned about yourself and the world around you.
That's the basic purpose of education - to make an individual aware.
Education is believed to be responsible for the cultivation of a civilized
society. Imparting education to people enables the development of a responsible
society. Education helps in imbibing moral values in individuals and their
education, in turn, helps in the creation of a cultured society. Education gives
one a deep understanding of living, making him capable of living.
Education brings about overall progress of society. Education gives an
individual, better prospects of earning a living. It makes an individual
self-sufficient. Education produces individuals who are not just resources but
assets for the society. It develops individuals who can contribute to wealth
creation in the country. While people are earning for themselves, they are also
creating wealth for the organization they work with. With every flourishing
organization, the government earns (in the form of taxes paid or direct
profit-making in case of government organizations). Every organization thus
shares the nation's responsibility of achieving monetary gains. The educated lot
in a country helps it earn money, the means of living.
Education helps an individual acquire social skills, which enable him to
interact with people around, maintain social relations and blend well with
others in society. Educations is an individual's tool to thrive in society. As a
part of the educational system, every individual learns with a group of other
individuals of his age. Throughout education, he is part of a larger group.
These years expose him to competition. This is when an individual tastes both
successes and failures. Education also helps in the building of interpersonal
skills. This is what education is aimed at - development of social skills.
Bill Beattie, a famous author believes that education should teach us how to
think, rather than telling us what to think. Education does play a role in
developing one's creative thinking skills and imaginative power. Eric Hoffer, an
American social writer, believes that the main purpose of education is to build
a will and facility to learn. He believes that the objective of education is to
produce learning individuals and not necessarily learned ones. Bishop Creighton,
on similar lines states that education should aim at creating people who
continually ask questions. By this he means to say that education should fuel
one's thirst for knowledge.
It's on the basis of education that an individual can pursue his dreams.
Education helps a person meet his career objectives and achieve economic growth.
Education builds resourceful human beings out of illiterate individuals.
Education gives a sense of personal fulfillment. An educated individual having
experienced its positive effects, encourages the idea of education. An educated
individual promotes education in his family. Thus he contributes to the spread
of education, starting from a small unit of society - his family. The idea of
education and a strong belief in its benefits on individuals and the society,
are transferred from one generation to another. One educated individual can
prove to be instrumental in the educational development of his family, the
future generations and in turn, the society. The spread of education is one of
its purposes.
Education helps create good teachers. Why not? On acquiring education, an
individual gains the ability to share what he has learned with the less learned.
He acquires the ability to impart his knowledge to the less knowledgeable; he
gains the ability to teach. Now, not every educated individual is a good
teacher. But education is definitely a doorway leading to the field of education
- where one becomes the ambassador of education itself.
The true purpose of education is to bring profoundness to one's expression,
broaden one's perspective and build in the individuals, a better approach of
looking at life.