Category: Importance of Education

Typically, the higher the level of education results in a higher amount of earnings, better health, and a longer life. Many people all over the world, across countries and within groups, face circumstances which they have little control but significantly impact their lives. These circumstances include location, gender, ethnicity, and wealth and are connected to many opportunities and resources related to education and life.

Education directly relates to social and economic factors that impact prosperity in life. Across the world education is identified as a positive tool that develops our skills and abilities, improves inequality, and decreases risk and vulnerability for all people. Education impacts employment opportunities, resources, and skills that people need to survive and prosper. Access to a public equitable education, one that is both inclusive and fair is globally-recognized as a factor of sustainability. Ensuring inclusive and quality education for all and promoting lifelong learning is one of the Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the United Nations. Goal four describes quality education as a major factor in escaping poverty, reducing inequalities, reaching gender equality, and more peaceful societies. Additionally, this goal aims to get children in school and ensure they complete their education (“Goal 4 targets | UNDP”, n.d.).

For many years, across the United States, stakeholders in education and civil rights have come together to address the social problem of equity in education. From these discussions, individual states recognized to achieve equity in education, policies and practices that support and meet the needs of all students were a necessity. To meet the needs of all students, social variables and determinants of all people must be considered. Social variables such as race, gender, ethnicity, language, disability, sexual orientation, family background, family income, and diverse personal experiences all can impact education (“States Leading for Equity:” 2018). In the state of Virginia, recent education initiatives identify education as being the most effective tool to reduce poverty, address racism, and sustain economic advancement for all people. This requires an approach focused on cultural competency and eliminating opportunity gaps for all people to maximize the potential of all students regardless of their race, economic status, or the languages they speak at home (“Navigating EdEquityVA-Virginia”, n.d.).

Globally, major progress has been made over the past decade to increase access to education and school enrollment rates, particularly for girls. In 2018, 258 million children and youth were not in school, majority of which are located in sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia. About one-third of countries in the developing regions have not achieved gender equality in primary education. In 2018 around 5.5 million more girls than boys were not in school. In 2019, the global primary school completion was approximately 85 per cent but had large disparities among groups (“Goal 4 targets | UNDP”, n.d.). In the United States, according to the latest data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the percentage of five year olds enrolled in prekindergarten, kindergarten, or first grade was approximately 90 percent with disparities between income level. In comparison, the lower income group had less enrollment in school and boys enrolled less than girls. Additionally there were 2.1 million dropouts which varied by race and ethnicity. Reflecting the dropout rate for those who were White was lower than all other racial and ethnic groups (“U.S. Indicators For The Sustainable Development Goals”, n.d.).

In other countries, additional barriers in education relates to a lack basic resources such as drinking water, electricity, computers and the internet. According to the latest available data, approximately 89 per cent have access to electricity, 85 per cent to basic drinking water, 74 per cent to computers, and 61 per cent to the Internet (“Goal 4 targets | UNDP”, n.d.). According to the NCES, 100 of all public schools have all the basic resources. When compared to other countries, the United states has a higher percentage of students with computer and internet access outside of school but overall has a lower level of computer literacy skills. Also, common barriers to these computer and internet access outside of school exist for low income and minority groups. These barriers include internet access being too expensive and access due to location. Additionally, Black and Hispanic students have lower rates of internet access outside of school than their peers (“U.S. Indicators For The Sustainable Development Goals”, n.d.).

Everyone should have the same opportunity to an education that provides them with the knowledge and skills needed to succeed, achieve their goals, and secure a healthy and stable life. Inequities in education have resulted in opportunity and achievement gaps in education created between groups in society. This consequently produces a wealth gap, which impacts the economy for everyone. In the United States, these persistent gaps across income levels and between white students and students of black and Hispanic heritage is occurring and tremendously affecting the economy. A recent study noted, on average a black or Hispanic student remains approximately two years behind the average white one. These inequities in public education over time has produced income inequality, especially in the United States. Over a lifetime, workers that have college degrees earn 84% more than those with only a high school education. The higher the level of education results in a higher amount of earnings, better health, and a longer life. The ongoing issue of these gaps has costs the United States hundreds of billions of dollars (Dorn, 2020).

Evaluating this social problem using the conflict theory suggests that because the public education is not an equal opportunity for all people, education impacts disparities and promotes social inequality. Across the world public education opportunities differ in quality learning environments that are not equally accessible for all people. Circumstances such as location, gender, ethnicity, and wealth add many additional barriers in life that continue to impact their access to education. Socioeconomic status impacts a person’s life. In particular, barriers of poverty, race, and ethnicity greatly impact the opportunities to prosper in both education and life. Globally the social issue is impacted more by poverty, while in the United States race and ethnicity are intertwined with poverty. The inequities of public education continue to reinforce inequalities in social classes.

Some solutions to this social problem in the United States have existed in the form of education reform efforts. For example in 2001, congress passed the “No Child Left Behind Act” which focused on ensuring every child is provided a good education, so no child is left behind. These efforts measure a good education in terms of standardized testing in math and reading as an indicator of success and a tool of keeping schools accountable and increased federal regulation of state schools (Nolen, 2008). The Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford University, which is a national database of academic performance, uses test scores measured against social variables such as socio-economic status, race and gender to provide a national perspective of educational opportunity. This recent data suggests test scores are not necessarily indicative of school effectiveness and highlights a strong correlation between family income and education (Boudreau, 2019).

A possible solution to education equity I would suggest is the development of a community tutoring program. Tutoring would serve as a tool to eliminate achievement gaps and advance cultural competencies. Tutoring helps to improve the performance of students and could serve as a method of improving issues related to racial and ethnic inequalities by the personal experiences shared during the tutoring process. Also, if funding allowed it would further contribute by providing a source of income to those who provided tutoring.

Knowledge is a necessity, much like food and water. People need to eat and drink to maintain good health and survive, but they also need to be enlightened on life’s amazing truths and harsh realities. Education has provided the knowledge to create physically and philosophically, with skyscrapers that are almost a hundred meters tall and the continuous building of quantum theory as evidence of how much power the human mind contains. Without education, any information needed to sustain the high standard of living built for today would not exist. Possibly, humans could have resulted in a more animalistic nature, not knowing how to read, write or communicate with one another, and primarily investing their time in the search for food, drink, and procreation. While schooling has blessed those with a much more quality life, philosophers, great thinkers and the alike still argue to this day the following question: what is the purpose of education? Such an important question that deserves challenging, one so vague, leads those who debate it into more questions. I believe that the purpose of education is to provide information so that students will have a place in their society.

The first reason for prioritizing integrating students into society is that education is supposed to provide the knowledge required in its relevant time period. The world is in a constantly changing state, as well as its flow of information. Throughout history, people would share their findings and current events via telegraphs, mail, newspapers, cellphones, television, and now the Internet, which practically gives us new knowledge at the tips of our fingers. However, the educational system has to keep up with this flow, and it is safe to say that they are performing rather efficiently with transitioning from textbooks to online books, online registration for some schools, and implementing technology classes into the curriculum. This idea that education accommodates the current climate is not uncommonly thought of, as Donald Kagan elaborates on this concept in his essay titled ‘What Is a Liberal Education?’. In this essay, Kagan shows how education “typically serves the interests and beliefs of an era” through several era educational themes. His first example is that the Greeks and Romans valued citizens that proved themselves knowledgeable enough to contribute to society, so much that they implemented a character-based four goals of liberal education as listed: to seek knowledge itself, to shape the character, style, and taste of a person so that he can fit into society, to prepare oneself for a future career, and to contribute to the educated citizen’s freedom. They met these goals by placing emphasis on the studies of literature, history, philosophy, and rhetoric. Kagan also provides an example from the English’s ideal liberal education, during a time of the powerful aristocracy. Englishmen seemed less interested in obtaining knowledge, rather their purpose of education was to “produce a well-rounded man who would feel comfortable and be accepted in the best circles of society and get on in the world”. In turn, this created an education system that trained future courtiers how to act like gentlemen. Evidently, these two eras differ greatly from one another in terms of values and curriculum, but they both share the common theme that their ideas of education had to meet the desires of the people during their time. Their educational system implemented their societies’ values, allowing younger generations to learn what they needed to know to graduate and adapt to their world.

Another reason why education should prepare those for a place in society is that universities are public environments for students. It should already be a necessity that those attending college communicate with one another, sharing their thoughts and ideas in an environment where gaining information is key. At some point in time, these same students will enter the same careers, or maybe different careers that coincide with one another, and overall integrate themselves into the same society. John Henry Newman is an advocate for this sense of unity within universities, and he goes into detail in his essay titled ‘The Idea of a University’. He first makes his stance on education with his opening statement: “I have said that all branches of knowledge are connected together, because the subject matter of knowledge is intimately united in itself, as being the acts and the work of the Creator”. Newman believes, from a more religious standpoint, that all knowledge ties in with one another, and to deny or place more focus on one subject would be improper, as God has created all knowledge. He then proceeds to create a visual of this scale between subjects by comparing them to a painting where its effects are produced by the different combinations of colors and the way they influence one another. Education is similar in that sense, where “if [one’s reading] is incorporated with others, it depends on those others as to the kind of influence it exerts upon him”. Newman implements this idea of a balanced focus of knowledge in a university setting, where he acknowledges students would not be able to study all the courses, however, they will benefit by just living amongst each other. He defends this point by saying that “an assemblage of learned men… are brought… to adjust together the claims and relations of their respective subject of investigation. They learn to consult, to respect, to aid each other. Thus is created a pure and clear atmosphere of thought, which the student also breathes, though in his own case he pursues a few sciences out of the multitude”. By presenting themselves in front of others who are studying subjects that differ from oneself, students can create a circulatory flow of information they gained that day. This ideal displays a sense of group thinking, and it prepares a future generation of citizens that can communicate efficiently with one another.

Some may argue a contrary point of view that education should not prioritize a place in society, rather it is a destructive view to have, and that its purpose should solely be to attend for the sake of learning. In their defense, a fundamental aspect of education is mastering different subjects, and there would be no point in going to school if students failed to learn. Going back to Donald Kagan’s example of the English’s idea of a liberal education, he shows the problematic direction a system that prioritizes having a higher social standing can lead. As he describes, universities at the time were “meant to shape character and manners much more than intellect” and they were viewed as “irrelevant, useless, and damaging” to the social and economic goals that the forefathers from the Enlightenment era sought after. Higher education did not value the training that “turned philosophy into a keen and powerful tool for… the discovery of truth” and it was only accessible to those “born and rich enough to afford it”. This arrogant curriculum deemed those gaining new insight for its own sake were considered pendants, and consuming their time on ‘useless’ facts. This is a terrible attitude towards learning, as this curriculum seems to only train those for socializing with higher-end cliques instead of nurturing an intellectual mind that could help advance society.

However, there is a clear effect when education does not prioritize a secure place for students and thus fails them once they enter the outside world. This is evident in Mike Rose’s writing in ‘Lives on the Boundary’, in which he even explicitly states that “a failed education is social more than intellectual in origin”. He goes on to point out that the problem the American education system faces is “how to create both the social and cognitive means to enable a diverse citizenry to develop their ability”, meaning that it needs a way to teach a more diverse group of people. In his essay, he provides examples of students who learned through alternative routes instead of formal schooling. One of these examples was his uncle, Frank Marrel, an Italian immigrant who moved to the States at the age of eight. He struggled with attending school in a new country, feeling embarrassed that he could not read, write, or even understand the teacher. Frank would have to rely on the other Italian kids to translate their lessons for him, and eventually, some of them dropped out of school as they could barely keep up with the English language themselves. After school, Frank would work at a dry cleaners where he “listened to the radio, trying to mimic the harsh complexities of English… He tried talking to those whose shoes he was shining, exchanging tentative English with the broken English of Germans and Poles and other Italians”. The obstacles Frank and the other Italian students had to face as children who could barely understand English highlight the downsides of an education that placed curriculum above inclusiveness. The fact that some of these children had to drop out not because they were less cognitively able but rather because they were not included in an English-speaking classroom is undoubtedly more the reason to believe that schools should help students integrate into society. The text does not mention whether these same children received help from the school, but considering that Frank had to learn English on his own as a working grade schooler only proves how little involvement the school had with the immigrant children. Educational systems should balance an environment that is collective and brilliant. They should actively get involved with their students who should receive the information needed, and neither simply recite the information and expect students to figure out the rest on their own, nor teach students that they can only get by in the real world through connections to the higher-ups and how to efficiently communicate with them.

There is a wide spectrum of what it means to have an education, and we may never find a ‘correct’ answer anytime soon. The world is constantly finding new solutions and new problems all for the sake of survival, and the curriculum has to adapt to these new conditions to stay relevant. However, it is also necessary that the human mind remains stimulated, and education should benefit the individuals who desire to learn, as much as it benefits from being used as a means to inform. Learning is an essential part of education, but so is the need to get involved with one another. Communication is a healthy part of learning as it creates a circulatory system of information being passed around, allowing us to be more aware and even contribute or change the ideas being presented to one another. In a world where people are now more immersed in technology than with each other, it is more important than ever that this spread of ideas is maintained. A society cannot function without those within it working together as a whole.

Works Cited

1. Kagan, Donald. ‘What Is a Liberal Education?’. ​Reconstructing History: the Emergence of a New Historical Society​, by Elizabeth Fox-Genovese and Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn, Routledge, 1999.
2. Newman, John H. ​The Idea of a University​. 1959. Print.
3. Rose, Mike. ​Lives on the Boundary: The Struggles and Achievements of America’s Underprepared​. 1989. Print.

Helping to strive for better education within third-world countries will aid in creating a better and more efficient global economy. Our world is filled with visionaries, entrepreneurs, and tycoons, all of whom have access to education, equity, and credit, subsequently playing a major role in the development of the economic situation in their countries. Education is the center of building human capital. Research by Chris Drew, Ph.D., states that educated children, more specifically women, are a lot less vulnerable to HIV infection, human trafficking, and other forms of exploitation. Education can help decrease the spread of infectious diseases, creating more opportunities for access to full healthcare services. Unmet education standards in underdeveloped countries have led to increased unemployment rates and labor conflicts. Education along with the human capital it generates can benefit individuals and societies. For individuals, education raises self-esteem and furthers opportunities for employment and earnings. And for a country, it helps strengthen institutions within societies, drives long-term economic growth, reduces poverty, and spurs innovation. Obtaining a better-quality education is the foundation for creating sustainable development in the economy. In addition, to improving quality of life, access to inclusive education can help equip locals with the tools required to develop innovative solutions to the world’s greatest problems. By obtaining the necessary standards in education, disadvantaged children will be able to succeed in creating a better economy while building a solid foundation for future generations.

If we as a society continue doing nothing, there will soon be no hope for future generations in developing countries. A 2016 article written by Dwyane Barbeer estimates that by 2030, 10 years from now, half of the world’s children and youth will either be out of school or failing to learn. That’s 1.6 billion children that will be robbed of their childhood if something doesn’t start happening soon. In a country such as Ghana, 50% of children complete 5th grade, and out of that 50% most of them are unable to comprehend a basic paragraph. A well-developed country such as Australia could change hundreds if not thousands of children’s lives who aren’t awarded the same opportunities we are. People who lack education are proven to have difficulty getting ahead in life and experience more negative outcomes with their health. Things such as poor health, shorter life spans and minimal employment rates are things that have all been associated with being uneducated. The reasons for the lack of quality education are due to lack of adequately trained teachers, poor conditions of schools, and equity issues related to opportunities provided to rural children. For quality education to be provided to the children of impoverished families, investment is needed in educational scholarships, teacher training workshops, school building, and improvement of water and electricity access to schools. By spreading awareness and recognizing the issues most of these countries are facing, we can save and prevent our future generations from being consumed by poverty and limited education. Amongst reducing poverty, improving health, and sanitation a large extent ensuring that children, youth, and adults benefit from good quality learning opportunities, enabling them to better the future lies in sending unused and excess resources to those impoverished countries. Which ultimately by extension will benefit developed countries.

If developed countries such as Australia don’t help in assisting third world countries, our economy will suffer as well by extension. The concept that education equips and enlightens people toward a brighter future is not revolutionary or unusual. At the World Economic Forum in January 2005 in Davos, Switzerland, business and political leaders ranked education as a leading global concern, recognizing it as a key to beating poverty. Decades of study examining the effects of education on the lives of children in the third world reveal that it has extremely positive effects socially, culturally, politically, and economically, as the single most determining factor in improving the lives of women and children. A majority of third-world doctors, nurses, and teachers are barely educated, meaning that a lot of children who are taught and treated by them have higher risks of poorly treated wounds and very limited knowledge. Many third-world countries such as Uganda, Guinea, and countries in the southern parts of Asia play a huge role in participating in the global economy. These countries play a significantly large role in producing most of the goods and products that are shipped internationally for us to use, and by striving for a better education, people in third-world countries will get earn higher incomes, overall benefiting the economy. If we strive to help and better aid these countries, developed countries could excel and achieve a far more improved economy domestically and internationally.

A majority of countries invest more in their armed forces than they do in their classrooms. Lack of education in third-world countries is a serious issue that is gravely affecting us, even though we might not realize it. A majority of countries invest more in their armed forces than they do in their classrooms. Nations are more interested in fighting and endorsing violence than teaching half of their population, the future generation, how to read. Education enables human beings to develop capacities that assist in leading fulfilling and dignified lives. Due to the lack of education in developing countries, families and children suffer from extreme poverty. However, millions of people have been pulled out of poverty within the past decade and will continue to do so, but only with our support. To defeat the global concern of lack of education in developing countries, we must educate ourselves on the flaws in the system and correct them. I would like to end with one final message. If all we talk about is equity and justice, why is it acceptable for us to receive an equal education but not theirs?

Throughout my life, I have spent ample time trying to incorporate the beliefs of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. into my daily habits. Though he was a civil rights activist, Dr. King made it his mission to act on faith, leadership, and equality. One belief that I can agree with is the importance of education. According to Dr. King, the purpose of education is to teach a person to think intensively and critically. Education allows leads to intelligence, which leads to the enhancement of character. The topic of education is seemingly controversial, simply because every person does not believe in its power. There is a constant debate between humanities and STEM majors. Additionally, people are often downplaying the impact of education getting a job, and being a successful businessperson. However, I believe that education is more than just learning concepts and passing tests. I am a firm believer that individuals with higher education have the potential to think critically and solve complex issues. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. earned two bachelor’s degrees and a Ph.D. Any person can see the impact that Dr. King had on society. Therefore, in alignment with this belief, I have plans to obtain my higher education degree. Though a bachelor’s degree will be beneficial, I believe that the world has more to offer. I believe that by expanding my education, I will expand my ability to succeed in life. I am a firm believer that individuals who obtain higher education have potential and opportunities that people who did not go to school do not.

Another value of MLK Jr. that I apply in my daily life is the concept of love. Love is a subjective term, and it means different things depending on the person. MLK made a statement – “hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” Throughout my life, I have always prided myself on being a loving and caring person. In certain instances, I feel like I am too loving and too giving. Over the years, I have experienced some situations that have made me upset, bitter, and resentful. As any human being would, I reacted off of these feelings. I began to realize that when I acted out of spite or resentment, the odds were never in my favor. The situation will either remain bad or get even worse. In my efforts to become a better person, I have realized that what is done in the dark will always come to light. This means that if a person is wicked, their intentions will always be displayed. On the other hand, if a person is full of love, forgiveness, and hope, these characteristics will shine through like a light. I continuously try to act in love, because I am confident that my actions will work in my favor. Ultimately, I can agree with MLK’s outlook on education and love. Nonetheless, all of his values are impactful and significant in society today. Understanding how MLK Jr. applied these concepts, could positively contribute to the advancement of society.

What is Education?

The term education is derived from the two Latin words Educare and Educere. Educare means to nourish or to bring up, while Educere means to lead out. It is a systematic process of gaining knowledge and skills and applying it to real life. You can read Educare and Educere: Is a Balance Possible in the Educational System?, by Randall V. Bass and J. W. Good.

It cannot only be obtained from bookish knowledge but it can be gained through practical learning also. Education helps in developing understanding. It inculcates creativity and innovation too. Education helps in making the person capable of expanding vision and thinking towards life and people. You may read our article on reasons to go to college for higher studies.

Someone has rightly said, “Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.” –John Dewey

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” –Nelson Mandela

Why is Education Important?

1. Importance of Education in Life

Stable Life

If you are educated and received a degree in your respective fields, then no one can snatch the opportunities from you. Education is a tool that maintains stability in life. It paves the way for different opportunities in life, and your chances of getting selected increase. So, education is a must as it makes your life stable.

Equality

Education is necessary for all. It will help in ensuring equality by providing equal status and equal opportunities to all. If every person gets the same rights to education, then the gaps will be reduced between diverse social classes. Every citizen of our country will get equal rights and equal chances in their career. Therefore, education is needed for equality, whether it is social or gender equality.

Safety and Peace

A peaceful world is a requirement for all. Education not only helps personally, but it also helps people across the globe. If provided to all, it will make the world a better place where all the citizens will remain safe and enjoy a peaceful life. It helps in differentiating between right and wrong and opens the mind of people to think and act reasonably and smartly.

Smart Personality

Education plays a significant role in ensuring your protection, both personally and financially. Through education, you will get the knowledge of reading and writing. When you are educated, no one can mislead you, and you will become smart enough not to sign any false documents which can lead you into trouble.

2. Importance of Education for Career

Importance of education for career

Education is essential for a career as it opens the door to becoming a successful person, that is “Why is education important?“.

Financial Security

This fact is known to all that education provides financial security. A well-educated person will earn more than an illiterate one. It is an education only which develops your mind by the required skills which help in getting good higher-paid jobs. Education makes you financially stable. Quality education, knowledge, and teachings will help you sustain a career and equip you with the necessary skills required for the profession.

Self-Dependent

Everyone should become self-dependent. Self-dependency can be attained through education. Education not only helps you to become financially independent, but it also gives you the right to make your own decisions and make choices accordingly. A self-independent person only relies on himself. Only educated and skilled people can become self-dependent. In today’s world, self-dependency is the need for the hour.

Achieve Your Dreams

If you are an educated person, then your dreams are not far from you. You can achieve those dreams if you have knowledge and understanding. It is only through education; that you can make your dreams come true. However, hard and smart work plays a significant role. Without hard work, you cannot achieve those. So, education, hard work, and smart work are complementary. They go hand in hand, and both are required to make your dreams come true.

3. Importance of Education in Society

Productivity

For a society to become productive, education is strongly required. With the increasing population of the country, the needs and demands of people also increase. An effective workforce of knowledgeable people is required to fulfill the market demands of a growing population. These experts provide the services needed in daily life. Therefore, education has a crucial role in increasing the productivity of society.

Healthy Relationships

Education has a great hand in establishing and maintaining relationships. It is an education through which people acquire values of life like honesty, truthfulness, loyalty, love, affection, brotherhood, and so on. These values inspire us to form connections with people and maintain strong relationships with them. It is only education that inculcates values and makes people better citizens of society.

Wealthy Life

If a person is educated, he can fulfill his dreams and get a good job by getting paid. Through his salary, he can achieve all the needs and demands of his family. So, in this way, education helps in eradicating poverty and making a person fulfill his necessities and comforts even.

Better Citizen

Education makes a person a better citizen in life. If a person is well-educated, he will not indulge in domestic violence or other crimes like theft. Education will help them in becoming smart by attaining knowledge and applying it in real life. If people are educated, they will not practice violence, and also they would not become a victim as they will be capable enough to fight against crime. It, in turn, establishes a healthy and loyal relationship.

Better Society

Education helps in creating better citizens and a better society. If people are not educated, they will indulge in wrong and harmful activities like superstition, domestic violence, poor health, theft, lower living standards, etc. Education is a strong weapon that helps in forming a better society by creating equal opportunities for both men and women.

Innovative and Skilled Society

Education will enhance creativity and encourages innovation. If people are well equipped with skills and knowledge, they will easily be able to work on different technologies. It will also help them to get better ideas and solutions to deal with various problems. They will get the know-how of technologies.

4. Importance of Education in Personality Development

Confidence

Education generates self-confidence. Confidence is a vital element for becoming successful in life, and education teaches that. If you are well-educated, you will be confident enough to express your thoughts and opinions on any platform. Your education will prove your knowledge in your field, and if you are knowledgeable, then you are automatically confident enough to speak wherever.

Optimistic Life

Education soothes the mind by removing all the negativity and inculcating positivity in minds. It is through education that you can differentiate right and wrong by making use of all the values you achieved through it. Education connects the mind with the body. So, a healthy mind will lead to a healthy body and soul too.

Personal Growth

Education improves personal growth. You might be wondering how. If you are educated, you will have a thirst to gain more and more knowledge and acquire more thought. This process of getting more will lead you towards success and transform you by increasing growth. You can’t even imagine what level of growth education provides.

Understand Yourself

Education helps in developing your overall personality. If you are educated, you will get to know more about yourself, your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats also. This SWOT process will shape your personality. You will also be able to find your talents and innate qualities.

5. Importance of Education for Nation

Education and national development are co-related.

Law and Order

Education helps in establishing law and order in the country. It is responsible for development and growth. If you are well-educated, you become capable enough to serve the nation and develop a positive outlook toward it. Education is a must to support and build a good political ideology.

Commerce and Trade

If the citizens are well-educated, the trade and commerce of the country will be increased. It will help in becoming self-dependent and fulfilling the tasks required. Education boosts confidence levels and self-dependency. It teaches to handle difficult tasks. A confident and self-dependent citizen can become a successful business owner to increase the standard of living.

Economic Growth

When people become educated and equipped with the required skills, they will flourish in the field of research. They will find ways and means of innovation to increase economic growth. A more educated population will get more employment, which will increase the economic development of the country too.

No Wars and Terrorism

The value of education must be known to all to lead a happy, safe, and peaceful life. People should actively participate in productive activities so that they get the knowledge to lead a peaceful life and they avoid indulging in wars and terrorism. They should receive the knowledge of subjects valued education daily to become a better citizen in life.

6. Importance of Education to Health

Education serves as the backbone of one’s life. An educated person knows the value of life and how to take care of your health. Knowledge will make you feel confident about yourself and will enhance personal growth. It will significantly affect mental health and physical well-being too. Education will generate positivity all around. Education is responsible for increasing the years to live.

7. Importance of Education for Children

When it comes to our children then it is essential to learn “Why is education important?”.

Better Childhood

Education is responsible for the development of children starting from the very childhood, infancy, and teenager to adulthood. It is needed in all aspects. Through it, children learn cognitive and social skills. They learn how to live life for future growth. Education empowers children to explore their talents and interests.

Goal-Setting

Through education, from the very beginning years, children start developing goals for the future. It is an education that makes them career-oriented, and they set their mind accordingly to achieve a particular goal.

8. Importance of Education for Worldwide Value

Peaceful Life

Education teaches the importance of peace by teaching the values of life. It teaches us sustainability and adaptability. Through education, we come to know about the place we live in and also our responsibility towards humanity and life.

Moral and Aesthetic Values

Education teaches values, both moral and aesthetic. Values are taught not only in classrooms by teachers, but they are taught everywhere in life. Be it our homes from parents or society from peers and friends. Education imparts values and values that transform us into better human beings.

9. Importance of Education for Cognitive Development

Stay Up to Date

It is through education that you remain informed about the outside world and its happenings. It makes you know about various kinds of people. Education also enables you to make correct decisions by making the right choice between right and wrong. Through education, you will be aware of your capabilities, potential, and weaknesses.

Logical Ability

Education develops critical thinking and logical reasoning. It helps you to act, think, and reason out in complex situations or bad times. If you were uneducated, the chances to win are low. Education makes you determined and focus and enables you to think logically in all aspects of life.

Never Distract

Education makes you remain focused and concentrate. It helps you to follow the right path and make the right decisions in life.

Street-smart

Education means gaining skills and knowledge. If you are well-educated, you will become street-smart and gain the necessary life skills to survive in the world. It helps you make smart citizens. It is through your skills and values that you learn to tackle different situations and express yourself in the best and most positive way.

10. Importance of Education for Freedom

Truly Live Your Life

If you have enough knowledge and skills, nobody can stop you from living your life according to your terms and conditions. If you are well-educated, you get the confidence to live your life to the fullest. It also enables you to become a learner each passing day. You can learn from various forms, whether from diverse people, experiences, newsletters, research, or magazines. In totality, if you become a learner in life, you can truly live your life in your way.

Connecting People

Education removes all the barriers between people, society, and nations. It has brought people across the world closer to each other by developing strong bonds and connections between them.

For instance, there are a few online universities that charge no tuition fee and give students from all backgrounds equal rights to receive an education. It is an excellent example of revolutionary education.

Therefore, education breaks all the barriers between people and helps in establishing harmonious relations by connecting them from various parts of the world.

You Become the Best

Education transforms you to your full potential. You get to know about your interests and your talents, and you become self-aware about how to become the best. It helps you to establish your place in this world and feel a unique and complete version of yourself. So, you become your highest you just because of education and your knowledge and skills.

Conclusion

Education has become an essential part of life. It has its importance in all fields and aspects of life. Be it in society, or a nation it has its own need and place. Education gets started at an early age and is a never-ending process. It continues until death. So, I hope you might have understood the importance of education and the need to become educated. Education transforms you and shapes your personality. It makes you feel like a bird. It also opens the door for your future success.

Now, I hope you know “why is education important?“ and would not think that it is just a waste of time. Be thankful to your parents who made you educated to live your life and understand the diverse situations of life.

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world” (Nelson Mandela). Assignment deadlines, holding down a job, upcoming exams, etc. can be very difficult for students to balance, causing many of them to register for online courses. Online classes were first introduced in 2014 and have been a popular source of education since; they provide students the amenity to access courses at their convenience. Student’s chaotic lives cause them to undertake online classes; the effects can hurt students’ grades due to the lack of directness, impair a student’s integrity with easier access to cheat, and balance priorities by learning time management skills.

Online classes cannot provide the same intimate learning environment that in-person teaching can. An on-campus course helps students better retain information and they are forced to pay attention, unlike an online course. The average age of college students is 18-24; at this age, adolescence has a very short attention span. This becomes a dilemma when students are taking online classes, due to the lack of directness, which generates difficulty for students to focus and effectively get their work done. Lack of time and effort can cause students to miss deadlines, not do homework, and not study; this can cause them to fall behind and hurt their grades.

There is a greater chance of cheating in online courses because students have no active supervision when taking the course. Cheating gives an unfair advantage, and the grades received aren’t earned justly. In addition, participating in this atrocious act can lead to consequences that can jeopardize a student’s permanent record and corrupt one’s integrity. By doing this, students aren’t learning vital material; only hurting themselves.

However, taking an online class can also be beneficial for students; in an era where people struggle to deal with their priorities efficiently. Taking online courses can provide stability and order in a student’s daily life. Online classes give students the opportunity to work at their convenience, allowing them to be able to put their full effort into the class. It can improve their grades not only for the online course but for their other classes as well; these classes give students the flexibility to balance their priorities and provide assistance in bettering their time management ability.

In conclusion, students take online courses to implement ease and flexibility into their overwhelming lives. The effects of these classes can damage student’s grades, due to the lack of intimacy; this leads to less effort and focus on schoolwork. The absence of supervision presents a predominant influence to cheat, it can corrupt their morals by earning them a grade they didn’t merit. Yet students can also profit from taking online classes because they provide flexibility to ensure balance in their lives and can teach them effective time management skills. Taking an online course will provide barriers for students (distractions, cheating, etc.) as well as, opportunities (flexible schedule, improved time management skills); conclusively the effects depend on the specific student’s dedication to the class.

Introduction:

The focus of this essay is to discuss the purpose of education and how it is essentially a contested concept. Or, one that has a vast range of definitions, none of which is satisfactory, Harris (1999, cited in Bates and Lewis 2009, p.21). Education derives from two terms, the first is ‘educare’ which is to draw out and realize the potential, and the second is ‘educere’ which is to bring up and nurture (Jordan, Stack, Carlile, 2008, p.6). The whole purpose of education is conceptually connected to what some people would say is a meal ticket toward getting a job, Peters (1966, cited in Bailey, 2010, p.36). On the other hand, some philosophers state that if you have a modicum of common sense, you should find no difficulty in it (Barrow, Woods, 2006, p.1). Education is the integral development of a child and as a result, it allows a child to benefit and fulfill a ‘better’ life.

The two educational aims I will be taking a deeper look into are our ‘knowledge and curriculum’ and ‘the benefit to society’. Knowledge is known as a set of information that one can recall when asked for. Repetition can help one to stick the information in the memory.

The national curriculum has never come from teachers, it has come from the government, in 1988 this was given to all schools as a guide to teaching their children (Jordan, Stack, Carlile, 2008, p.248). Furthermore, the benefit to society can allow an improvement of efficiencies for existing organizations, institutions, and economic structures Oliver (1982, cited in Morrison and Ridley 1988).

The school I have placement in is situated in County Durham and their values and ethos are at the very heart of their community. This school provides support to both the children and their families in the ever-changing world, especially since COVID-19 has hit. The class has thirty-one students with an age range between nine and ten (Year five). This school consists of two classes per year group, meaning there are over sixty pupils in the school. This essay will begin by discussing how the aims of ‘knowledge and curriculum’ link to the purpose of education. It will then go on to discuss how ‘the benefit to society’ also links to the purpose of education. Subsequently, it explores different aims and how these all link to the purpose of education.

Main Body:

Firstly, how is the transmission of knowledge catered to by schools and the learning environment? Transmission of knowledge is when the teacher has ‘something’ that a learner does not have at that given point. This allows these learners to greater their knowledge in that specific topic area (Whitehead, 1916,192-205). According to Aristotle, there are three kinds of knowledge, ‘episteme, techne, and phronesis’. To start with, episteme is a philosophical term that refers to the theory of scientific knowledge. Techne is the practice of technical skills or craftsmanship and finally, phronesis is the practical wisdom, when to know what we are doing is correct Aristotle (338322, cited in Chappell, 2016 p.5). On the other hand, Piaget argued that there were four stages of the development of knowledge. The first is the sensorimotor stage which is when learning takes place through touch and feel. The second stage is the pre-operational stage, where the ability to arrange objects logically starts to develop. The third stage is the concrete operational stage which is when their abilities to think logically about objects and events start to become structured. Finally, the formal operational stage is where abstract thinking and verbal reasoning start to develop Piaget (1896-1980, cited in Bates, 2019).

In school, in particular, a lot of the time the knowledge the students learned was done seven out of ten times using the internet. The children at the school were more likely to obtain this information easily using the internet rather than asking the teacher for help (Jordan, Stack, Carlile, 2008, p.249). As well as this the children would find this conventional for the environment, is technology slowly taking over? However, the teacher would float around the classroom to help the children who needed assistance with their work. Sometimes, some knowledge that the teacher was giving the children went through one ear and out of the other, and as a result, my teacher took a much slower approach to new topics with which they were not too familiar to allow them to improve their baseline knowledge (Young, 2013, p.102).

The school’s main aim is to create a welcoming, happy, and safe environment for children, staff, and parents whilst enabling children to achieve their full potential. In the fraction (maths) lesson I overlooked the main objectives were to understand the basics of how to convert a decimal into a fraction. When the teacher said this there were many puzzled faces in the classroom, but some felt they could do it. The teacher used a rainbow fraction tile and with this could show the children the fractions and how fractions looked like in comparison with one. (Mooney et al, 2021, p.71). This use of her prior knowledge allowed the class to pick up the topic and because of this, they could progress at a faster pace than what was required. The school’s curriculum links very closely with its main aims as it allows a vision for the knowledge, skills, and value that all its pupils will learn whilst using the development of a coherent and progressive national curriculum, Medwell et al., (1998, cited in Medwell, 2021 p. 16).

The main purpose of education for Plato’s knowledge theory was described using the allegory of a cave to explain his theory. His theory was his belief in the separation of two worlds, one of appearance and the second of reality. His true belief was that truth and knowledge were to be found within someone, Plato (427-327BC, cited in Bates, 2019). Whereas his student Aristotle thought the opposite of this, his theory was that people needed to use the wisdom of others for truth and knowledge in the world. This sparked an argument of ‘nature vs nurture’, and this debate still goes on among modern-day users, Aristotle (384-322BC, cited in Bates, 2019). In the school placement, both theories were implemented in the school environment, education for transmission of knowledge was seen when the teacher accepted that some children misbehave in the class, and as a result, the teacher used the school’s behavior scheme, red and yellow cards. The teacher would give the child a warning using the yellow card and if the behavior did not change a red card would be implemented using Plato’s theory. As well as this, the teacher made the class discuss and share the findings that they have learned and for the children that do not quite understand to support them in allowing them to learn from their own mistakes, this is using Aristotle’s theory.

The main purpose of education is to build a child to become the best for themselves in society. To stand out from the rest, and not to be the sheep in the classroom environment. Instrumentalism, in philosophy, is being used as a tool for something else also known as a strategy derived from a concept of understanding and instrumental understanding. Improving the education standards to match the rest of Europe can have a significant advantage over in years to come. Currently, the UL is facing very large issues with their GDP, and as a result of improving these standards could lead to the addition of £8trn over the lifetime of a child born today or in other words increasing GDP by one percent every year Cridland (2012, cited in CBI, 2012). On placement, the schoolteacher demonstrated excellent subject knowledge and curriculum knowledge as well as fostering children’s interest and understanding their misunderstands. This shows the school made sure their teachers were to their best abilities in this department and if the teacher needed to broaden their knowledge, they could visit the specific subject lead in the school for help. This links directly with their school’s ethos and values webpage which states it enables children to reach their full potential (School A, 2021).

Furthermore, Dewey’s theory of critical democratic ideal sends across the message that the purpose of education is to shape the experiences of the young, they should become better habits and the future of adults should therefore be improved within society, Dewey(1916, cited in Cambridge Assessment 2016). He believed in the importance of a rigorous curriculum that will allow children to develop new methodologies and knowledge. This purpose of education can be seen in the school environment as teachers have to attend compulsory training so that they are up to standards with the curriculum and any new additions that are implemented to it, in particular when new subjects are made compulsory for children to be taught. On the other hand, Piaget (1896-1980) believed that the curriculum was not the most important influence on education. Instead, his theory talks about how children’s active engagement with their environments leads to the children being able to explore the processes for themselves instead of being taught by the curriculum. Piaget discovered the ‘discovery learning’ school movement of the 1960s which encouraged children to discover principles of subjects through exploration, Piaget (1960, cited in Jordan, Stack, Carlile, 2008, p.57). In school A they were most focused on Piaget’s theory, this was because they want the children to be independent and work things out by themselves instead of using the teacher for every question. This could be seen when the teacher said to the children that they would have to use ‘three before me’, this process meant that the children had to use their knowledge and others in an attempt to answer the question first.

Education for the transmission of knowledge can be seen through empiricism, in philosophy, is the theory that knowledge can be found when a child experiences the information for themselves. All humans are born as a ‘tabula rasa’ (Latin for blank slate) knowing little information about anything and as we start to see more of the world it starts to develop the child more as they have started to gain knowledge through their senses or their minds reflections on sensory experiences (Smith, J., Clark, K., Lints, R., 2004). Empiricism can lead to children being able to fill gaps in their knowledge, however, it means a child has to be willing to want to learn and if a child wasn’t willing, they wouldn’t be able to experience empiricism. This links very closely with behaviourism; this is a theory of learning which concentrates on behavioural changes in a school environment. Pavlov’s argument emphasises the careful structure of the stimuli and the observational learners. This then goes on to argue how some children learn in these environments, especially those who are associated with physiological functioning or emotion. Pavlov set up an experiment that included dogs and how the smell of food causes dogs to salivate. Then Pavlov began to ring a bell in which he discovered that the bell was sufficient enough to cause saliva. This can link to the school environment as an in-particular child could be distracting the whole class resulting in it becoming a hard environment to learn from. As a result of this, many children will start to become off-task as well as imitate what that child is doing. For instance, a child in school A was making funny noises and as a result, the class had to be paused by the teacher, other children started to join in. Due to this happening the teacher had to implement the school’s behavioural scheme giving that child a yellow card. This child continued to carry on resulting in the child being moved seat, the child moved next to an introverted child where for the rest of the lesson the child made no more noises. Furthermore, due to the disruptive child making no more noise the child was rewarded with 15 minutes of playtime which the student used this time to play football, this reward links directly to another theorist Skinner. Skinners suggest that if positive reinforcement is used then a child will respond in a positive way back in the school environment (Skinner, 1938).

The main purpose of education is to make a better society and worldwide democracy, and this can happen through the theory of social reconstructionism. This theory was founded by Theodore Brameld who recognised the potential for human annihilation through the advancement of technology as well as human cruelty. This theory was discovered in a reaction against the realities of World War Two. Social reconstructionism allows children to address a more realistic realisation of the world that allows the children to address social questions (Reed, 1999, p.292). In a school situation, this allows children to identify problems, methods, needs, goals and to be able to implement aggressive strategies on a day-to-day basis. The teacher is the class played a vital role in the social reconstructionism curriculum as they allow children to create and identify life goals and academic goals and students find interest in wanting to find a solution for the social problems that surround them. In Year five, the teacher emphasized how vital group learning experiences and being involved within the community, such as being part of the football team was to society. This as the teacher talked about was vital for her students to live a successful life.

Conclusion

Throughout this essay, the main purpose of education can be seen by many different theorists in different ways. This is then linked in with the school’s environment and what different stakeholders of the school can affect or support a child’s development. For teachers in School A, they played such a vital role in every child at the school from supporting their emotions to helping them through the worksheet. Specifically, the adults can support a child’s future by allowing the children to have a vast variety of support from books to different information the child could need throughout their years in school. As well as this, children need to be motivated by the adults in school to become the best of themselves. As stated in the values and ethos, the school believes that by motivating the children both intrinsically and extrinsically (School A, 2021, values). The school did this extremely well, as the teacher used extrinsic motivation with some children who were more extroverted, in particular, child A’s behavior set a negative atmosphere throughout the classroom, so they were motivated by the teacher saying that if they were to behave for the rest of the lesson then they were allowed to have a fifteen-minute reward time with one other child and a teacher of your choice. This motivated this child resulting in the atmosphere becoming one that is relaxed and where children feel comfortable to work in. Whereas child b had selected mutism and as a result, much preferred to be given another worksheet as they saw this as being a motivator as they were understanding what was meant to be done and was becoming fondness towards mathematics. ‘Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow, D’Angelo (cited in Souders, 2021).

Intersectionality, as espoused by Kimberle Crenshaw, is a theoretical framework that we can use to identify how those with identities that are othered and oppressed by mainstream society are pushed to the intersections of society. The use of an intersectional framework helps us to be able to highlight how those who are othered by the mainstream are left to fend for themselves. They may not be entirely accepted into their communities because of an aspect of their identity and therefore they are left on the intersections and are harmed even more. As class teachers, adopting an intersectional framework will support us in identifying how our children are impacted by social inequalities in society on a macro scale, and on a microscale within the classroom and how to tackle this. The identification of these social inequalities, enables the teacher to begin to ensure these inequalities are challenged and that they are continually reflecting and evaluating the power relations within their classroom and addressing any problem that may occur. Without an intersectional framework such as this, it can lead to these inequalities being exacerbated within the classroom. In this essay, I will be demonstrating how a class teacher’s positive view and adoption of an intersectional framework can greatly improve their relationships and the teaching and learning of their class. I will be presenting my argument through three main areas of study: the grouping of children, the curriculum, and the teacher-student relationship.

Lit Review:

Intersectionality, as a theoretical concept, was first developed by Crenshaw to address the marginalization of Black women in the United States to highlight how Black women are not only oppressed by their ethnicity but also their gender and vice versa. As Crenshaw emphasizes, intersectionality is a lens that we can use to look at the oppressive power relations in society, and where they also collide, interlock, and intersect. Crenshaw demonstrates that focusing on one central point such as; ethnicity, gender, and class also means that the lives of those who are subjected to all of these oppressions are erased. Originating within Black feminist theory activism in groups such as the Combahee River Collective, it has been prominent within theorizing since the late 1980s especially by Women of Colour to examine how people are impacted in regards to gender, ethnicity, and sexuality. These ideas developed by Crenshaw have been adopted throughout academia, to address the impacts on those who are othered by the mainstream and this is why it is so essential within education also. Through the use of an intersectionally informed pedagogy and methodology, we as educators can begin to examine, critique, and reconstruct the power relations of oppression and privilege that are so entrenched within our education system, schools, and classrooms.

I must acknowledge the criticisms of intersectional analysis within academia and its narrow focus on identity. However, I believe that intersectionality is not a simplistic focus on identity but is a framework of analysis to investigate how the power relations within society, which exacerbate social inequalities formulate and shape individual and group identity. Our understanding of ourselves and the world is shaped by how we experience society and how as members of certain groups we are impacted by the power dynamics within our social structures. Through an intersectional framework, we can begin to uncover and spotlight the impact that these experiences have on how we interact with everyday life and begin to draw on connections between people’s experiences of ‘discrimination, marginalization, and privilege within and across different groups’. This as a starting point can begin the process of dismantling the power relations that are underlying throughout our society and beginning to ask the question of who is missing.

As identified in ‘Intersectionality in Education: A Conceptual Aspiration and Research Imperative’ Tefera, Powers, and Fischman emphasize the need for the adoption of an intersectional framework within education to respond to the convoluted way that class, race-ethnicity, gender, sexuality, religion, disability, citizenship transform our identities and how we interact with society. The diversity strategies used in education research which are mainly simplistic, one-dimensional, and lack nuance need to be transformed into an analytical framework that analyses how the identities of our pupils can be impacted and mitigate these. I believe that an intersectional framework can support class teachers to do this. Unlike many of the broader diversity strategies implemented in institutions, intersectionality is not a moment but a long-standing reflective process in which we dismantle the oppressive power relations within our education system and challenge how we organize our schools and classrooms to account for the ways that oppression shapes the power dynamics and perpetuates inequalities within our classrooms. Intersectionality is an ongoing journey with no end point and must transform and adapt according to how identities are understood within different times and different spaces. Classrooms are a microcosm of the institutionalized social structures which shape identities based on individual’s experiences and how they are interacted with based on their social group. Through a class teacher’s adoption of an intersectional framework, we can begin to tackle the power dynamics within the classroom identify the gaps that focusing on single-category identities leaves, and tackle the erasure that comes from categorizing a person as being within one section of society and not the multiplicity of identities that make them themselves.

There are two central elements within intersectionality as envisaged by Crenshaw and other Critical Race Theory (CRT) activists to be able to actually implement and use an intersectional framework effectively: an empirical basis and a core activist component. CRT activists argue that there must be an empirical basis when using an intersectional approach to better understand the nature of social inequities and the processes that sustain them. They also argue that there must be an active component, in which an intersectional approach must encourage and generate connections between different social groups to challenge and transform the status quo. Therefore, to effectively use an intersectional framework as a class teacher, it cannot only be empirical and based on theory but be implemented actively by supporting and providing spaces for different groups within the school to create coalitions and challenge the status quo. It is also important to clarify here that the African American Policy Form (AAPF) emphasizes the importance of using ‘intersectionality as a tool of analysis and resistance rather than as an academic tactic or fashion’. By creating clear, reachable goals we can begin to adapt our teaching and learning with an intersectional focus and use it as a tool for analysis instead of using the buzzword of intersectionality without the implicit intention of transformative change.

Grouping:

The United Kingdom has a long history of grouping children within its education system. This has mainly involved separating children based on their ‘ability’ or ‘attainment’ and determining their position in the league table of the class according to their perceived ability from the teacher. The structured grouping of children has been prominent in schools following the 1988 Education Reform Act and continues to be present within the majority of classrooms. According to Dr Alice Bradbury in her lecture at UCL IOE on the 15th of October 2020, teachers’ using grouping by ‘ability’ to allow for the teacher to support children on varying ability as well as ensuring that there is equal progression for both ‘higher’ attainers as well as ‘lower attainer’s. However, as Bradbury emphasizes, the research on grouping demonstrates that the negative aspects of grouping dramatically outweigh any positive elements, especially for the pupils. Bradbury identifies how grouping can impact learners negatively both: emotionally and academically. Research demonstrates that grouping negatively impacts pupils’ self-esteem, self-actualization, perceptions of their academic abilities, and their feelings toward school. Pykett, emphasizes this by highlighting how students ‘quickly learn how the school, local authority or educational establishment perceive, pigeonhole’ and limit the children their aspirations and their future possibilities based on this arbitrary view of ‘ability’. It also simultaneously severely impacts academics by placing limits on children’s learning the teacher deciding that they cannot access specific content instead of adapting it to make it more accessible, while also damaging further attainment for those children in lower groups, as it continues to reproduce a ‘spectrum of attainment’ in which the children are continually reminded they cannot reach, re-inforcing negative self-perceptions and the idea that they cannot while others can.

A key area grouping impacts children is how it can exacerbate social inequalities and the pre-conceived notion of ‘ability’ is impacted by teacher’s racialized, gendered and ableist assumptions and unconscious bias against certain social groups. As Jackson and Povey identify in their work, the allocation of groups is not based solely on the attainment of children but is massively impacted by social factors privileging those with greater cultural power and capital and systematically disadvantaging those who are already worse off in society. Unless, a teacher uses an intersectional approach and actively reflects and addresses the power relations within their classroom and their own unconscious bias and racialized, gendered, ableist, etc assumptions they will continue to perpetuate and reproduce social inequalities within their classrooms. Ability groupings are a clear example of a way this continues to happen, with the largest amount of people in the ‘lower-ability’ groups being from ethnic minorities, having English as an additional language, and being disabled. Disproportionally placing children in groups based on the teacher’s understanding of ‘ability’ and without the teacher’s active role in reflecting on their unconscious bias and prejudices leads to children from oppressed groups being placed in ‘lower-ability groups’ which inadvertently creates a lack of confidence within themselves, and the education system perpetuating negative stereotypes and internalized prejudice in which they are ‘less-able’ because of an or multiple aspects of their identity; their ethnicity, disability, gender, etc. This is identifiable in two certain circumstances: the impact of grouping on Black boys and Black disabled boys students with English as an Additional Language (EAL).

There is a long-entrenched history of Black children being over-represented within lower ablower-abilitygs and seen as requiring special or assisted education. The intersecting oppression of Black boys and Black disabled boys has been continually reproduced through ability groupings within education systems around the world. Klinger highlights how in the US Black students are categorically labeled as having Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) although they are not necessarily diagnosed but based on teacher perception. The process of setting and ability grouping within Western Education systems has continually disproportionately impacted Black students according to Paulette in Gillborn – the boys are in sets from the time they come in and those boys are in the bottom sets. And the bottom set has been written off as boys who are just not going to get anywhere. (p.282). There is a general exception that due to these pupils being placed in the lower ability groups, their futures are pre-determined and their aspirations limited because of their teacher’s arbitrary decision on their ability. The reality that all these boys are Black is not a coincidence, but an example of the impact that these racialized assumptions and unchecked prejudice can disproportionately limit and impact these boy’s futures. Those boys who have SEND and require extra support from their teachers are either placed in the lower sets and accept that their abilities are limited or removed from mainstream provisions and placed in alternative provisions. According to Gibbon Black students are more than twice as likely to be labeled as having these difficulties than their white peers (282). Those who can stay in mainstream provision are placed in bottom sets and do not always receive the support they need, in Gllborn’s work he highlights the case of a boy who because he is dyslexic was placed in the bottom set for everything even though he was an able student who required some focused support. Instead of being given the support he needed, he became de-motivated and apathetic towards school, feeling like the school and therefore, himself gave up on him. In different circumstances, with teachers who had used an intersectional approach and been able to identify how this boy was being oppressed because of his ethnicity and his disability, the teacher decided he was not able based on their racialized assumptions of the abilities of Black boys instead of viewing the child as an individual and individualized support he required to handle his dyslexia. The combination of his ethnicity and his SEND resulted in him being relegated to the lowest teaching group without any possibility of progression, ultimately as shown this damaged him emotionally and academically. Without an intersectional approach, we fail to see how our understandings of identity, both of others and ourselves, are shaped by oppression and biased assumptions that can ultimately severely impact our student’s progress and futures.

If a class teacher adopts an intersectional framework and continues to analyze the power relations within their classroom and reflect on their biased assumptions, they will be able to see how grouping by ability continues to reproduce social inequalities, and the understanding of ‘ability’ is shaped by privilege.

There are still many poor people who don’t have enough money to let their children go to school, many of them are smart and talented, but they do not have the chance to be educated. This is a loss to society. So how can we make sure this does not happen? By international human rights law, primary education should be free of charge; compulsory education and secondary and higher education should be progressively provided free of charge. From my point of view, providing free education all over the world will be a good solution to let all the children have the chance to be educated. Free education should be supported because it can help achieve better social equality and more social harmony, and it can help enlighten society.

Firstly, free education helps to improve social equality. In 1879, Matthew Arnold first put forward the concept of social equality, including that all humans should have equal rights and opportunities. Free education can help to maintain equality. In a website article titled ‘John Locke on Equality, Toleration, and the Atheist Exception’, the author depicts John Locke’s idea as follows: a man is free and equal in nature, and he must believe that he is still free and equal when he enters society. Therefore, for Locke, the establishment of the state is based on guaranteed equality. Without such equality, there is no motivation to enter society. In an article titled ‘Overcoming Inequality Through Education’, Heather Munroe-Blum explains the relationship between education and social equality. She suggests that education may be the most important means of improving the welfare of the disadvantaged, especially as more and more of the world enters the global knowledge society, and is a cornerstone of improving social justice and economic productivity. In a nutshell, free education can let all the children have the chance to go to school. A family could be poor, but the children still could still be educated. Education can change the social status of disadvantaged groups and make them get better treatment in society. That will make society less despairing, and each person in society will be more equal.

Also, free education should be supported because it promotes social harmony. In ‘Role of Education in Building a Harmonious Society: Challenges and Opportunities’, Rajasingham Narendran defines social harmony as follows: “Social harmony refers to the building of a harmonious society within a country”. In addition, the author also explains that when a society is inherently unjust, unequal, and does not provide equal opportunities, it is not harmonious. The ‘America and South Africa Homicide Rate’ data shows that for every 100,000 people, there are, on average, 33 people murdered, in America, just 8. This shows that when a society is fair and equal, it will be harmonious. Free education will let people become equal and have equal opportunities. America has more people being educated than South Africa, which makes society safer, the number of people murdered is also relatively small. To promote a safe and harmonious society, we need to have free education all over the world.

Last, free education should be supported because it promotes enlightenment, meaning the act of enlightening or the state of being enlightened. Enlightenment can be achieved by free education. ‘The Roots of Educational Theory’ describes John Locke’s views on education. John Locke believes that a gentleman must receive an education that will lead to a successful life in the practical affairs of society. In today’s words, vital subjects would include subjects like math, science, and language. There is no better measurement of education systems than that of the PISA tests. The book ‘PISA 2015 Results’ tested children from different countries’ math problems and it demonstrated, with graphs, the average math score of them. The data shows that countries with a higher education background and more people are educated generally achieve better. Countries that do not provide a universal system or only very basic education achieve only a margin of what those that provide free education. Hence, free education would help to create, as Locke would have said, an enlightened society.

My opponents might argue that free education will cost the government a lot of money. The government makes money by collecting taxes, about 65 percent of the taxes the federal government collects come from individuals. According to ‘The Declaration of Independence and Natural Rights’, Locke wrote that all men are equal in the sense that they are born with certain inalienable natural rights, the natural rights being life, liberty, and property. The government takes tax from people’s wages to achieve free education, this is the deprivation of people’s property. Still, overall, my position is stronger because free education is good for the whole society and can let every citizen get rights. People are a part of society, and although free education will cost some money from the government, it will let society be better and everyone will get rights.

Free education around the world needs to be supported because it helps to achieve equality and social harmony, and it helps to enlighten society. Thanks to this, our society will become better. When our society achieves equality, every individual in society can get the same rights and opportunities. Equality is the basis for promoting this social harmony. Social harmony will decrease conflict and make our society safe. When society achieves equality and harmony, everyone’s life will be better. Free education can make the world go forward, everyone in society can be educated, it is a way to reduce the gap between rich and poor and create a better society. Free education can change a person’s status in society, let everyone’s life become better, and make society go forward.

Background

Education is a human right and a force for sustainable development and peace and the very goal of the 2030 Agenda requires education to empower people with the knowledge, skills, and values to live in dignity, build their lives, and contribute to their societies (UNESCO, 2021). Inequality is a barrier to ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all (ESCAP, 2021).

Education inequality is simply defined as the unequal distribution of academic resources which may include school funding, textbooks, experienced teachers, and, technology. The spread of the novel COVID-19 also known as coronavirus created the largest disruption of education systems in human history, affecting nearly 1.6 billion learners in more than 200 countries (Pokhrel & Chhetri, 2021). The first case was identified in Wuhan, China in December 2019. As of 29 August 2021, Worldometer had recorded 217,100,627 Coronavirus cases, 4,513,249 deaths, and 194,031,701 recoveries. Malawi had a total of 60,313 cases, with 2157 deaths and 47,014 recoveries. Countries around the world cautioned the public to take responsive care like practicing social distancing, wearing face masks and, regularly washing hands with soap. The Covid-19 pandemic has led to dramatic changes in every aspect of humanity (Magomedov et al., 2020). It greatly affected the world as it has led to several problems in various sectors such as social life, industry, and education.

Inequalities existed along many dimensions before the pandemic hit, across the population and between different groups – by gender, ethnicity, age, and geography (Blundell et al., 2020). Source: Inequality in Education: A Critical Analysis, 2009.

Jacob and Holsinger (2009) argue that the range of inequality in schooling attainment across countries is much greater than the range of inequality in income or consumption. The figure above shows the worldwide distribution of the education Gini Coefficient. Countries in sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean display the highest levels of inequality as compared to countries in Europe, Central Asia, and North America. The COVID-19 pandemic widened the already existing gap in education and this exposed the many inadequacies and inequities in our education systems – from access to broadband and computers needed for online education, and the supportive environments needed to focus on learning, up to the misalignment between resources and needs (Schleicher, 2020).

While the need for distance learning was clear from the outset of the pandemic, achieving effective reach to students was more complex (eLearning Africa, 2020). The transition to distance learning was much easier in developed countries than in developing countries because the infrastructure needed for facilitating distance learning was not easy for schools in developing countries (Saeed, 2020). Developing countries in sub-Saharan Africa were against online education primarily due to poor internet services and a rejection of online education. This created discrimination among the students of poor and rich or urban and rural because those from the urban areas or rich families had the capability of learning in these difficult times. Educational institutions were also affected by Covid-19 in Malawi and this resulted in the closure of public and private education institutions on 23 March after President Mutharika declared the Covid-19 pandemic a national disaster.

Problem statement

Most studies on education inequality have found that the poor are the most disadvantaged. According to Mussa and Masanjala (2015), the acquisition of educational qualifications in Malawi becomes more regressive as the qualification level rises. The percentage of boys and girls in urban areas with a given education qualification is higher than that of those in rural areas because the gap between the haves and have-nots in all societies is a significant factor that contributes to inequality in education. Wilson (2021) argued that inequality in education can be measured through the relationship between educational attainment and family background. The attainment gap affects the rate of a person’s enrolment in secondary and tertiary education. Pokhrel and Chhetri (2021) focused mainly on the impacts of the Coronavirus pandemic on teaching and learning. They emphasized that there is a paradigm shift in the way teachers deliver quality education through various online platforms. Different subjects and age groups require different approaches to online learning because of the varying needs each subject has. A study that was done by Baulch, Botha, and Pauw (2020) suggested that the closure of schools would account for substantial shares of total GDP losses due to social distancing. There hasn’t been enough literature on how the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted students by widening the gap that has already existed in the education sector.

The closure of schools in Malawi required the government to replace classroom teaching with distance learning (online learning) so as to keep students busy in their respective places of abode. The majority of private schools were able to adopt online learning and this further widened the inequality gap that already existed in the education sector as students from public schools and those from low-income families or extreme poverty were completely left stranded. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a number of impacts on the education sector which has exacerbated the already existing gap in inequality and these include; the digital divide due to limited access to technology, mental health consequences, girls being negatively affected disproportionately, children receiving no education, children with disabilities not being in touch with their teachers and children learning less through online education (Human Right Watch, 2020).

This paper will look at the impacts of COVID-19 on the inequality gap in the education sector in Malawi because most researchers have only focused on the causes of inequality in education during the pandemic without giving the extent to which the pandemic increased the inequality gap in education.

Justification of the study

This study tries to fathom the reasons why education inequality has been exacerbated during the Coronavirus pandemic in Malawi. Magomedov, Khaliev, and Khubolov (2021) only focused on the positive and negative impacts the pandemic has had on the education sector. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 which aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities is very far from being reached (Hughes, 2021). Not all learners can access education to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote development during the pandemic because of different factors like their socioeconomic status and gender. Goal 3 which aims to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being at all ages is also far from being reached because children who go to school are taught how to take care of themselves and others during the pandemic. Those that could’ learn like those from rural areas were not fully aware of how they could reduce the spread of Coronavirus which will eventually lead to increased numbers of people contracting the deadly virus. There hasn’t been enough literature on how the pandemic has intensified the already existing inequality gap in the education sector. The most probable reason for the widening inequality gap in education is due to the poverty levels in the country that brought about obstacles to the effectiveness of distance learning proposed by the government (eLearning Africa, 2020).