The role of education is very crucial for the development of the society and welfare. Education plays an important role in enlightening and creating awareness and removing dogmatism and backwardness among members of the society (Apple 27). From early childhood education through primary education to advanced learning, humans undergo a process of learning to hone their critical thinking, spur creativity and build a society of knowledgeable men and women (Golub 10). As a major in education, I am concerned about the roles of education in the society, and in particular, how the socio-economic development of a community can be transformed through education. In this research paper, I shall discuss the roles of education in the socio- economic development of communities in both developing and developed societies. Since the roles of education in the society are numerous and diverse; I decided to separate the roles into two major ones- social development and economic development.
The interpersonal skills that an individual is born with may not be enough to enable the person to live a quality life in the society. There is a need to develop the skills that an individual possesses; this is what makes education necessary in the society (Szirmai 79). Education helps in developing an individual's skills and abilities to a level that can help him or her apply the acquired skills in solving otherwise common problems in societal activities. In particular, education helps in the development of the literacy levels of the society. By so doing, it becomes possible to identify and develop the other aspects of the society such as the cultural practices and the development of the people's talent (Ottaway 37).
Through education, people in a society can interact and learn new facts that may not be available in the social-cultural organization of their society. For example, before the introduction of formal education to most traditional African societies, there were witnessed some forms of informal education such as apprenticeship that were devoid of developmental concepts. The cultural practices during the pre-education days were also crude and uncivilized (Tettey, Korbla & Bruce 19). After the introduction and incorporation of formal education in these societies, we have witnessed increased levels of civilization and social development in the societies (Golub 43). Besides, through interaction and common learning, individuals in a society can exchange values and personal abilities, which help in the development of interpersonal relationships within the community. Through interaction and common learning in the current education system, we can conclude that education bears a quintessential social role in uniting the people in the society for a common goal (Apple 22).
During the setting up of the United Nations millennium development goals, education was identified as one of the key pillars that would enable the achievement of the set development goals. Basic primary education and education for women were seen as major drivers to increase literacy levels and spurring thinking and innovation (Golub 39). The millennium development goals emphasized the need to embrace education in most societies so that the achievement of the other set goals can be possible and easier to achieve. The socio-cultural organization of societies across the world can be improved if education is taken to be the key driver of promoting knowledge and abhorring dogmatism (Apple 25). In achieving the socio-cultural advantages of education, there is a need to campaign for equity and access to education, especially in developing countries. The United Nations through UNICEF can advise the governments in most countries and encourage the governments to embrace and promote the education sector in the countries (Amaral et al. 52).
Education not only improves the social and cultural well-being, but it also helps in improving the economic development of the societies. From increasing the interpersonal skills and the literacy levels, society will benefit from education and the benefits will be witnessed in the elaboration of the economic development of the society (Szirmai 79). The development of the economy of the organization of the society will be seen from the governance changes and the change in general behavior and cultural practices of the society (Golub 24).
Knowledge acquired through higher education is an important driver of economic development especially since the times of industrial revolution to date. Through skills and capacity, employees are able to augment productivity and continue to place countries in better competitive advantages due to literacy levels and skills (Golub 32). For instance, China is becoming a net exporter of labor because it has a larger population of educated persons with cutting-edge skills required elsewhere in the world. In particular, studies conducted in the United States shows that higher education and higher literacy levels have strong influences in economic growth and development (Apple 37). In a sense, education increases human capital necessary in developing a labor with relevant skills, which increases levels of labor productivity and transitional development elevated towards higher equilibrium in the volumes of output. More importantly, education increases capacity to innovate and create new technologies, products, and processes, which translate to endogenous growth of output (Caruana 48).
In developing countries, education has become the beacon of hope for eliminating inherent gender inequalities, creating sustainable development and reducing poverty levels. In addition, research and discoveries made in institutions of higher learning have been pivotal in combating preventable diseases, thereby reducing mortalities, and fostering peace (Golub 27). Notably, empirical evidence shows that literate mothers can better protect their children from child-mother infections, chronic diseases, and HIV/Aid. In fact, a child born of a literate mother has 50% chances of survival above 5 years compared to children brought up by illiterate mothers. Devastating statistics show that 1.8million lives of children who die in Africa, their lives could have been saved if the mothers had at minimum secondary education (Tettey, Korbla & Bruce 24). In today’s modern economies, education has become the currency by which global players, nations, and individuals maintain and trade global prosperity and economic competitiveness. Ultimately, human capital development and economic growth are inseparable concepts from education. Education is a mainstay game-changer in spurring human development and growth. It is for this reason that the Millennium Development Goals uses education as a pillar to eliminate gender inequality, and reduce poverty levels especially in developing nations (Amaral et al. 109).
Studies indicate that education among a multiplicity of other factors help save lives. In addition, education is the onus of great prosperity and peace among communities. The world cannot become a better place to live without global commitment to provide equity, access and quality education to women and young people (Apple 41). According to UNICEF, there are over 70million children who lack access to basic education. In fact, an estimation of 40million of these statistics is children from countries affected with perpetual armed conflict. Notably, when communities are educated, the world becomes safer. Statistical figures show that low education penetrations in communities have a direct correlation or even predictors of violence (Amaral et al. 64).
Education is a quintessential tool for influencing social change. It is a primary agent of socialization, where teachers and institutions socialize children from young age. In comprehending the role of education as a tool of social change, it is important to notice the agents of change involved, the background of the social change and content of the change (Golub 14). Accordingly, through education, teachers have an opportunity to impart desired mores, values, and aspirations to children. In essence, education removes caste restrictions, abhors evils social practices and customs and instead becomes a tool for gender equality, formidable voice of checking government accountability and a steering wheel for instituting democratic principles. It is through education that humans learn liberal philosophies of transforming societies and dispelling of whims of ignorance (Ottaway 98). Ideally, in static societies education plays the role of transmitting cultural heritage values to other generations. However, in contemporary societies change becomes deliberate and oftentimes planned through creativity and innovations. It can, therefore, be concluded that the nexus between education and society is mutual. Because education influences change within the society and the society may also influence the education system (Tettey, Korbla & Bruce 14).
A handful of countries around the world have experienced political instability and other infinite social challenges. Most of these challenges are caused by corruption, inequality in wealth distribution, unemployment, inflation rates and insecurity. One of the root causes of these challenges is education (Ottaway 41). The lack of education can be attributed to collapse or success of nation states across the world. However, in societies with high literacy rates, education allows citizens to elect right leadership. On the contrary, illiterate societies cannot tell right or wrong bad and good leaders. They lack a criterion or basis of ensuring accountability and performance capacities. In fact, they select/elect leaders based on their tribal inclinations, cast, financial capabilities or geographical belonging (Apple 34). Communities with such tendencies remain backward and a taken advantage of by few elites in the oligarchy. It, therefore, arguable that education becomes a strong pillar for a nation’s political development and democratic practices (Amaral et al. 51). In particular, political leadership should belong to educated men and women. These are individuals who develop policies, guidelines, and laws that govern the larger society, without education the political system becomes abyss. In extension, education makes all members of the society to become aware of their political rights and freedoms, responsibilities and duties as citizens. Such an awakening is important to remove elements of authoritarianism, public theft, impunity, and abuse of power (Szirmai 54).
Finally, education builds character and cultivates civilization through imparting desirable behaviors and expectations. Notably, education is the foundation of a vibrant culture and civilization and becomes an instrument for teaching children values and virtues. In many ways, it cultivates individuals to become mature, aware of responsibilities, able to plan for future and make rational decisions (Ottaway 85). Rationalism is about making decisions through evaluating different alternatives and options and making proper judgment. It is only through education that individuals can acquire the judgmental skills and rationalism in order to arrive at sensible decisions. In extension, education equips humans with capacity and insights for living right, energizing self-confidence and esteem and ability to judge and think. It has to be noted that education does not make us more human but better individuals within in cohesion with other individuals (Caruana 24).
Education programs in developing countries ideally adopted the Western model of education, which placed focus on teaching children language, science, social studies, and mathematics. The greatest challenge with this model of education programs is the fact that constrained resources are allocated to teaching disciplines such as prime numbers, Greek mythology and tectonic plate movements (Hill and Elizabeth 47). These disciplines provide learners with the capacity to conduct intellectual simulations, however, for developing countries; such skills do solve the daily perpetual challenges of poverty. Besides, the education programs do not provide learners with financial literacy and the necessary skills to innovate and create opportunities (Takala 89). As opposed to education programs in developed countries, education programs in developing fail to equip students with necessary assistance to improve their physical health, which is quintessential in spurring economic stability and better living standards. In essence, children with better educational performance in developing countries encounter different future in relation to those from developed nations (Hill and Elizabeth 49). The UNESCO program for education in developing countries is a component of the Millennium Development Goals with the sole purpose of providing affordable access to universal basic education. Unfortunately, these goals have not been attained in developing countries (Glewwe 37). According to UNICEF an estimation of about 115millon, children in developing countries within the age of 6 and 12 do not attend schools. Unfortunately, three fifths of the statistic is girls. In addition, 150 million school going children begin studies but never complete the first four years especially in Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa, and North Africa (Takala 105).
On the contrary, education programs in developed countries are successful to a large extend. For instance, in the United States, by the time it was gaining independence in 1776 only a small proportion of white children attended school with no records for black and other minorities groups. However, UNICEF indicates that today, nearly all children in America complete primary education and join secondary school (Takala 117). While the United States has almost 100% of its children completing basic education, other countries in Africa such as Ethiopia have 31% of their children completing basic education, while Niger is 30% and Sudan only 53% (Hill and Elizabeth 56). United States in its Education Programs spends estimated $6800 annually on every child’s basic education in public schools. Comparatively, a developing country such as India spends only $64 annually for every child’s basic education, while Iran spends $156 and Rwanda spends only $19 annually (Glewwe 31). These statistics show the deviations between education programs in developing against developed countries.
In conclusion, education plays an important role in socio-political and economic development. In a sense, it removes tendencies of dogmatism and backwardness among communities and instead imparts creativity, innovation and knowledge growth. In addition, education creates synergies for interpersonal relationships within the social universe but also builds relationships through globalization. In furtherance, education is a pillar for development of human capital, which is necessary for driving economic productivity. Without human capital, the economy lacks quintessential skills for spurring business, promoting cohesion among communities and building characters. At individual level, education improves rational thinking and proper judgment in decision-making. More importantly, education is a great driver of social change through enlightenment of societies, empowering the populace to participate in leadership and promoting gender equality.
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