Why Education is Important?

As a former educator myself, it is but natural for me to have an advocacy on the significance of education. To add, my personal experiences confirms how my education aided me in achieving things I have never even imagined before. However, I am quite aware how strange the concept of education to some. Even others think, it is not as crucial as the experiences we acquire after formal schooling.

By saying education; it is not simply attending class and excelling in it because it refers to the state of ongoing learning aided by a structured environment and relevance of experience to inculcate the values of determination and workmanship. In this blogpost, I will highlight the core aspects of education that helps one, not just in his or her career but also in one's life.

Education serves as springboard for other opportunities.

This however does not say that education guarantees better life and higher achievements because more than education is the ability of an individual to efficiently distinguish and optimally utilize these so-called opportunities education bring forth. Without these abilities, education itself becomes meaningless and unnecessary.

The question perhaps is how does one realize an opportunity is to present and is due for usage. It takes either a long process of self-awareness of what one really wants in life, or effective guidance from mentors to be more receptive and open to opportunities at hand, rather than being too choosy and restrictive. Thus, one must accommodate for one to receive opportunities, requiring an open and non-restrictive mind and will to accept challenges experiences will bring no matter what it takes.

Education provides an avenue for core value formation necessary for one to endure and survive in the future.

Due diligence is the key for education to work. Attendance in school does not itself show adequate diligence for this is a mere shallow expression of mere interest and compliance. On the contrary, the genuineness of education lies on one's thirst to learn further without end and/or restrictions. Thus, one must find more rationale to pursue learning than alibis why one cannot.

Furthermore, diligence yields grit personality that aims to prioritize long-term goals; rather than immediate gratification of needs and wants. This personality in itself is essential for anyone to survive in a highly-competitive world in terms of employment and opportunities. However, more than developing values that promotes one to cope well in competitive and demanding circumstances are meekness to accept one's learning needs and real zeal for continued learning to meet these needs.

Education minimizes the socio-economic gap between the rich and the poor.

This argument is perhaps the most contentious because there are multiple factors one must consider before making such conclusions. Firstly, access to education must be ensured to be present and well-facilitated. This requires a concerted effort of both public and private sectors to make education available to everyone regardless of their background and beliefs. The absence of the access to education due to uncontrollable factors and force majeure provides a hurdle for the attainment of social equality through education.

Furthermore, it is essential for anyone to ground this statement on reality. Perhaps, the social gap between the "poor" and "rich" should clearly be defined. The poor does not necessarily include those living in extreme poverty where meeting basic needs hinder education in itself. Since for this groups, the recognition of the importance of education is significantly compromised. On the other hand, the so-called rich excludes those living in extreme luxurious lifestyle for education in itself cannot serve as deciding factor for one from the lower economic strata to be equal with the higher counterparts. Thus, it is safe to say that education serves as a equalizer among the middle, below and above average economic hierarchies in the society.

To conclude, the question is not entirely providing access to education, but more importantly ensuring the quality of each time alloted for education. This entails teachers and mentors must not just focus on delivering the content, but also facilitate learners to develop the enthusiasm and drive to crave for more learning. It is indeed a difficult challenge for both learners and mentors; but nonetheless, education is important.