The Importance of Education

By Mathew Antony

For most of the countries the age group between 15-25 years consists of an average of 16%. And this young group holds the role of development of a country. If the policy makers and stake holders can work hand in hand and execute the one key element in the most effective and poised way, then these youths can be the blessing of a country. And that key element is Education. If they fail in that, then it leads to the total disaster of the country's social, political and economic aspects. There is nothing more dangerous than unemployed, uneducated or undereducated young people. The aims and objectives of education have transformed drastically through each generation. Education should never be something that is static. It should be able to cater the needs of the people according to the society they live in. This can be easily understood by differentiating traditional education system and modern education system. Education is not a privilege of a particular community or group of people. Today almost all countries have accepted the truth that it is the Civil right of a citizen to get education. But here comes the real question, does this right to education is implemented in real meaning. To make this happen and to make this worthwhile to the people, the education system of each of these countries has to ensure four aspects. Let us find out what these aspects are.

Extensiveness

Effectiveness

Equality

Employability

The policy makers and education stake holders should consider many factors while implementing the structure and purpose of education, particularly the demography of that particular country. They should be able to cater education to all citizens who fall in the bracket of that age group. Thus the educational system of a country should be extensive as per the demographic requirements. The kinder gardens, schools, Universities should be established in proportion to the population ratio. Not a single aspirant should be denied the right to education due to the lack of educational infrastructure. So, Extensiveness has become the name of the game. There comes equality, for centuries education was confined to only a particular community or some group of people. A large number of people were excluded from the opportunity to get the chance for education. There have been changes in that attitude after long struggle. But still it is a key factor - Equality for education. All citizens irrespective of any kind of social, economic and political barriers should have access to education that they deserve. We have to ensure that excluded groups are getting chances to get involved in the process of education. Or else it is the greatest failure of the entire nation known as global family. It is the responsibility of the country to ensure that, GER (Gross Enrollment Ratio) works equally proportional to the specific age group of that country. Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) or Gross Enrollment Index (GEI) is a statistical measure used in the education sector and by the UN in its Education Index to determine the number of students enrolled in school at several different grade levels (like elementary, middle school and high school), and use it to show the ratio of the number of students who live in that country to those who qualify for the particular grade level.

Even though most of the countries were much focused in key aspects like extensiveness and equality in education, there is one crucial thing that they have ever failed or never focused much - Effectiveness. The quality of the education they were imparting. The quality of education became secondary to the quantity of the options that were given to the students. If the education is without a purpose, then how it can meet the needs of the people, so there arises the question, why this education? This can lead us to large mass of educated but unemployed people. Where we are going to utilize them or how we are going to work this out. If the education of a country never caters to the needs of the economic needs of a country or the skills expected by companies or organizations, then all these efforts to enrich the educational system will be futile. Various educational thinkers have always questioned the accountability of the education that was provided. Most of the employers have expressed their concerns that the most of the graduates are unfit for the job. There are job opportunities, but there is lack of skilled employees for the particular position. So there arises the question, what we have to teach them or make them capable of. Here the only solution is, the skills of individuals should be identified, and they should be given the chance to excel in their trade. And also the policy makers have to take into consideration what the employers require, what skill sets they expect from their candidates. Unless these are taken into consideration, our educated group becomes worthless for themselves and for the world. This should never happen.