Education and Its Impact on our Society
Nupur Khare
“Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.” – Malcolm X.
Malcolm X was an African-American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a popular figure during the civil rights movement. He spoke these golden words in the first half of the 20th century, but they hold true even till date. To exemplify, there are a lot of statistical data easily available, which clearly reinforce the statement in various manifestations. Just a few facts stated below.
· Literacy is directly proportional to the development of a country. Education runs with literacy, and the nations which have more educated citizens are some of the most developed countries in the world. It lifts people out of poverty, improves the advancement of the wider community, empowers people. The effect of improving education not just has a positive monetary impact at a local and community level; however, the profitability of the workforce prospers at the national level also by upgrading a nation’s financial quality.
· More advanced countries boast of better quality of education. Better education lifts all boats. In general, people in underdeveloped and undeveloped countries do not have access to quality education. Education promotes gender equality, promotes peace, and increases a person's chances of having more life opportunities.
· The newer metrics of quality of living like World Happiness Index, Quality of Life Index, Standard of Living Index etc. are all positively correlated to the development of the country and indirectly related to the quality of education.
In UN World Happiness Report 2021, India ranks 139 out of 149 countries. Finland being the first followed by other Nordic nations. Source: India ranked 139 out of 149 countries in UN's World Happiness Report 2021-India News , Firstpost
Quality of Life Index 2021: India ranking 65 out of 83 countries where Switzerland leads. Source: Quality of Life Index by Country 2021 Mid-Year (numbeo.com)
Standard of Living Index 2021: India ranks 59 out of 82 countries. Denmark and Switzerland lead here too. Source: Standard Of Living By Country 2021 (worldpopulationreview.com)
Considering the importance of education, the Constitution of India recognises the importance of education for all. When Indians took charge of the country from the British during Independence, the Government had undertaken a number of initiatives. Various schemes have been launched and implemented since then, that have substantially enhanced literacy levels from 12% in 1947 to 74.04% in 2011. Source: 10 Facts on illiteracy in India that you must know | Oxfam India
Various provisions in the Constitution include Education of Minorities, Free and Compulsory Education and Equality of Opportunity in Educational Institutions. Many steps have been taken by the government to improve literacy standards in India.
• The government conducts various scholarship examinations and provides school uniform, text books and stationery in order to encourage students and adults to take up studying.
• The Mid-Day Meal Scheme was launched by the government in 1995 to provide students free food so as to improve enrolment, attendance, and retention in government schools.
• Samagra Shiksha Programme was launched by the government with the broader goal of improving school effectiveness. This will be measured in terms of equal opportunities for schooling and equitable learning outcomes.
• Awareness campaigns were launched in rural areas to create awareness among people about the importance of education. They were encouraged to attend or send their children to schools.
However, an important realisation occurred among the thinkers and potential reformists, that owing to the sheer dimensions and size of our country’s population, government efforts are majorly concerted around the masses for basic literacy on priority basis. This would enable the future of the nation to be self-dependent in dire situations, along with boosting self-confidence among its citizens. However, in order to achieve a better quality of life and in-turn, be competitive in the global scenario, a clear focus on the high-quality advanced education is must. This is the only way for progress of the nation as well as humanity on the whole.
Towards this noble cause, a non-benefitting initiative had been taken up bya few elite persons. Their main aim behind this initiative was to enable worthy and willing but under-privileged students, compete with the students from better segments of society at a uniform platform. The thought behind this drive comes from the basic fact that education shouldn’t be a privilege of any specific socio-economic class or geographical area, instead all should be give an equal opportunity basis their worthiness. This in-turn is a huge and a noble nation-building exercise.
“Responsibility educates" ~Wendell Phillips
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