Education, if looked at beyond
its conventional boundaries, forms the very essence of all our actions. What we
do is what we know and have learned, either through instructions or through
observation and assimilation. When we are not making an effort to learn, our
mind is always processing new information or trying to analyze the similarities
as well as the tiny nuances within the context which makes the topic stand out
or seem different. If that is the case then the mind definitely holds the
potential to learn more, however, it is us who stop ourselves from expanding the
horizons of our knowledge with self-doubt or other social, emotional, or
economic constraints.
While most feel that education is a necessity, they tend to use it as a tool for
reaching a specific target or personal mark, after which there is no further
need to seek greater education. Nonetheless, the importance of education in
society is indispensable and cohering, which is why society and knowledge cannot
be ever separated into two distinct entities. Let us find out more about the
role of education in society and how it affects our lives.
Purpose of Education in Society
Education is Self Empowerment
Receiving a good education helps empower you, thus making you strong enough to
look after yourself in any given situation. It keeps you aware of your given
surrounding as well as the rules and regulations of the society you're living
in. It's only through knowledge that you can be able to question authority for
its negligence or discrepancies. It is only then that you can avail your rights
as a citizen and seek improvement in the structural functioning of governance
and economy. It's only when a citizen is aware about the policies of its
government can he be able to support or protest the change. As a whole, people
can bring about development only when they know where improvement is necessary
for the greater good of mankind. Education helps you understand yourself better,
it helps you realize your potential and qualities as a human being. It helps you
to tap into latent talent, so that you may be able to sharpen your skills.
Financial Stability and Dignity of Life
Another importance of education is that it helps you gain sufficient academic
qualification so that you are able to get suitable employment at a later stage.
A decent employment would be combined with hard-earned remuneration or salary
through which you can look after your personal expenses. While you earn for
yourself, you gradually begin to realize the true worth of money and how hard it
is to earn it. You realize the significance of saving for a rainy day and for
unforeseeable contingencies. You feel empowered because there is a new sense of
worth that develops within you, and you feel the need to be independent and free
from any further financial support. You take pride in the fact that you are
earning for yourself, and are not obligated to anyone.
Growth in Personal Aspiration
There also comes a phase when the amount you are earning presently will seem
inadequate because your aspirations and expectations from yourself would have
grown considerably. After this, you will want to change jobs so as to have a
higher profile. However, here is when you need to be prepared. A promotion of
this figure can occur in two given situations, which are, that either you have
the necessary higher academic qualification or a college degree which allows you
a safe passage, or that you have amassed enough practical experience which
allows you to be a suitable candidate for the employment you seek.
On the Job Efficiency
This is why college education is very important after high school and must not
be taken for granted. When faced with the option of choosing between a highly
qualified candidate and a not so educated candidate, the employers will most
probably go in for the qualified person. The reason being that, a qualified
candidate will not require much investment of the employer's time and money. The
organization need not teach him or her the tricks of the trade, or the various
ways of functioning and performing the tasks of the workplace. On the contrary,
a novice / amateur applicant would need to be taught everything from scratch,
which many employer's are usually not willing to do. The same applies for people
who seek higher education and get advanced diplomas while working. These people
are continuously improving their profile and their knowledge base so as to go
higher up on the competitive ladder.
Helps Plan Ahead
Those who have amassed enough education, steer the path of development and
progress for their country. It is these individuals who go ahead and become
teachers, scientists, inventors, welfare activists, soldiers, and politicians
who work together to form the very backbone of the society. Without this pool of
intellect, the economic and social framework would crumple and fall, paving its
way for anarchy, degradation, and violence. While this intricate balance of
growth is maintained, there will be a continuous rise in progress in all
quarters of life, whether that be personal growth, or development of the nation
as an entity. This progress has a very important role to play for the coming
generations, which will reap the benefits of our hard work, as they develop it
further. At the same time, the negative impact of our actions shall have its
collateral damage on the coming generation as well. Which is why we must be
exceptionally prudent about the decisions we make and the actions we take in the
present.
Job Seeker vs. Job Provider
There will come a time, when you will no longer feel the need to be working as
someone's mere employee. You would want to take charge and control over your own
life and income. This is when you will decide to become a self-employed
individual, who would like to watch his / her own ideas take realistic form. You
would prefer being the one offering job opportunities to others and aid in
providing income to them. At this stage of entrepreneurship, you may use your
own expertise as well as that of other trained and skilled associates. As a
team, you will find your business or venture expanding and yielding good
results. You may even gain the confidence and insight, which will help you
diversify and spread your expertise into other business arenas, which were
previously unknown to you, or you were unsure about. This ability, comes with
experience and knowledge amassed over the years.
An Idle Mind is The Devil's Workshop
Education and studying regularly, gives people of all age groups something
substantial and challenging to do. It helps them think and use their idle hours,
doing something productive and worthwhile. Education need not be purely academic
and may include reading for leisure or as a passion for literature, philosophy,
art, politics, economics, or even scientific research. There is no limit, to all
that you can teach yourself, only if you take the interest to learn and grow as
an individual. However, those who treat knowledge as trash, eventually find
themselves getting absorbed with thoughts of violence, and jealously against
those who are better off than themselves. It is people such as these who turn
towards drug addiction, unnecessary rebellion, crime, and plain inactivity. Such
people lack the self-esteem, that a good education often provides to its
followers.
Education plays its continuous role in all spheres of life. The reason being,
that if we are aware of the drawbacks of a decision and we know about the
possible contingencies and the collateral damage, our consequent actions would
be wiser, which would help us to keep danger at bay at all times. By: Pir Ali