Category: Essays, Paragraphs and ArticlesOn August 7, 2014 By Sanjay

Tripathi

What is 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.

School education includes primary or elementary education, secondary

education and higher secondary education. A school should
have competent teachers and well-equipped infrastructure. After
completing the school education, a student can join a college, university
or institute for further studies.

Illiterate Adults can join part-time courses to learn reading and

writing. They can also develop skills in a particular trade by enrolling
himself in a Vocational and Technical Education (VTE) institute.

Importance of Education

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. (Also read, Short Essay on
Education and its Advantages.)

In this article, we have made an attempt to discuss the need and

importance of education in our life, for the development of a nation, and
for the overall benefits of humanity.

21 Reasons why Education is Important

There are many reasons why education is important. They are discussed
below:
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. (Also read, Short article on Adult Education.)

18. Knowledge: Education is important because it provides us with the

knowledge that we need to navigate the world. Education can help us to
do everything from mathematical calculations to theatrical performances.

19. Empathy: As well as teaching us academic knowledge, education

helps us to be better people. With good education, we can become more
empathetic – for instance, widely read people are often said to have high
levels of empathy as they are able to see the world through the eyes of
numerous different people.

20. Help to our communities: The better educated we are, the more
able we will be to help out our communities – whether that is by means of
engineering projects or whether it is by means of writing literature for
them to enjoy.

21. Friendship and social bonding: Education brings people together

and helps them to make friends. Sitting in a classroom or a university
lecture hall with fellow learners is a social bonding experience that helps
to forge strong relationships.

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.

Edited with input from various contributors.