Education is the greatest driver towards a future free of ills and full of growth, maturity and prosperity. Since different people perceive education differently, it is imperative to define what education actually is. Is it a systematic process one goes through merely to attain a job? That is also true, but viewing education entirely from this perspective is a grave injustice. In reality, it is a means to achieve freedom from ignorance, poverty, violence, etc.
For example, a study by Stanford University showed that individuals with higher education levels are less likely to fall for political propaganda. As a result, an educated society would be ruled by those who will prioritise transparency, accountability and progressiveness, as the leader of such people would seldom rely on agenda-driven populist tactics. Rather, the collective will of the people would influence the leader’s policies and not the opposite.
Furthermore, as per Unesco, 171 million people could be lifted out of poverty if all students in low-income countries left school with basic reading skills. This is because ignorance breeds poverty and its associated problems. An educated society would know the causes of poverty. Consequently, they would try to eradicate them, instead of contributing to them. Hence, even a moderately aware society would not just desire prosperity but practically work for it.
Moreover, violence would also decrease significantly. It is not because disputes would come to a halt. Instead, people of an educated society would aim for amicable settlements of disputes rather than entrenching them. As per RAND Corporation and World Bank research, each year of schooling reduces the probability of a youth engaging in violent crime by about 30%.
Therefore, education must be promoted at all times. A society that disregards this liberating endeavour would sooner or later succumb to its ignorance. On the other hand, an educated society would access and learn from its mistakes and strive for the collective betterment of its inhabitants and even of contemporaries.
Hamza Mustafa Soomro
Shikarpur
