“Live as if you were to die tomorrow, learn as if you were to live forever,” said Mahatma Gandhi. Most of our generation defines that education is the delivery of knowledge, skills, and information from teachers to students. While the above metaphor, education as a delivery system sounds reasonable, but it misses what is most important about education? This mistaken idea of what true education is and how it can be achieved is the root problem in every student of today.
For many young adult the importance of education lies in future job prospects, for others it's quality of citizenship, and yet others just want literacy. What is it worth becoming educated? The very basic idea of what an educated person is, is someone whose purpose is to 'learn,’ and by learning everything they are able to understand others ideology, wants, needs. An educated person should understand their families and peers and people from other religions, cast, creed or colour. Education teaches tolerance of others.
Education also equips one with tools to handle different situations and circumstances. Education is a means to an end in itself. It effects generations to come. An educated family will try hard to educate their children and not discriminate between a son and a daughter; they would give both of them equal opportunities to have a better future. The purpose of education is to fill an empty mind, an old adage “empty mind is a devils playground” is very accurate. People with no education find that they are more interested in what others are doing rather than their own work.
Education teaches one to have high ethical and moral standards and also promotes selflessness rather than selfishness. I don't believe that we have to be better than everybody else, only better than what we thought we could be.
MEHNAZ SHAH,
Karachi, April 29.