State of education depicts nations growth

http://www. uvm. edu/~debate/watch/? C= M; O= D for debate videos- TOPIC: The state of education depicts the growth of nations development. (for the motion of topic) INTRODUCTION In the modern times education is most effective tool of empowerment. You empower a man with this magical wand and he will create his own world of idea and imagination . It is this tool which has changed the topography of world from scrambled mass of continents to a global village. Great men like Abraham Lincoln used this weapon of mass awakening to create a country which believed in social justice and inclusive growth. Whereas our own A. P. J. Abdul kalam used this weapon as to prepare a range of Agni missiles to give India a clear edge in security development. In order to understand the fundamental relationship between education and development we need to answer basically two questions. They are: why we require education? And after all what is development? When the two question is answered it explains the relationship between development and education by its own. WHY WE REQUIRE EDUCATION? According to swami Vivekananda education is process by which character is formed, strength of mind is increased and intellect is sharpened as a result of which one can stand on one’s own feet. And when this jewel coronate maximum people of country then nation becomes developed. Education enhances one’s knowledge and as the saying goes; knowledge is power. However, power that a person possess will be dependent on how an individual uses it. This is where the education should be given importance. As education is geared towards individual development, such development should eventually transform into nations development. It is one important policy that a state must promote, as education is the only means to understand its history, culture and to some extent their state policy. Education is the only means to unite a country, a people as nation. Educated people are better positioned to contribute positively to country’s growth, âœ� in developing countries, education is viewed as means to alleviate poverty and engineer social change. It isn’t a magic pill for solving all the problems. But it can surely be a ladder to climb out of poverty, exclusion, ignorance, oppression, and war. WHAT IS DEVELOPMENT Development is A purposeful change in a society that contributes to social and economic wellbeing and Advancement of its people without creating any disharmony. Development empowers people and promotes important changes in their lives. However, development cannot take place by itself. It requires an educated, skilled and competent people. Seen from this angle, education becomes the most important factor for development as well as for empowering people. People having reasonable literacy and numeracy skills tend to produce more farm crops, have limited number of children and enjoy a relatively better quality of life as compared with uneducated families. It is because of its tangible contributions in changing the lives of the people that education becomes an important part of the development policy in every country. REBUTTAL our worthy opponents may argue that education can only be useful and meaningful when it brings about positive changes in one’s life and empowers a person to face day-to-day challenges. On the same grounds, they may assert that education becomes meaningful only when it provides knowledge and skills of reading, writing, simple arithmetic, and problem solving and for improving the quality of life. Education organised and oriented on these lines is certainly going to have a lasting impact on income, agricultural productivity, fertility rate, birth spacing, pre- and postnatal health, nutrition, knowledge, attitudes and values. STATISTICS An investment in knowledge pays the best interest. Benjamin Franklin India has made progress in terms of increasing primary education attendance rate and expanding literacy to approximately two thirds of the population.[3] India’s improved education system is often cited as one of the main contributors to the economic rise of India.[4] Our worthy primeminister Dr. Manmohann Singh, himself a former economics professor at Delhi University, and one of the renowned economist of the world have duly underlined the need to accelerate education reforms in order to achieve growth which reaches to all sections of society . He has promised t o open 72 new post-secondary schools over the next five years, including eight new Indian Institutes of Technology, seven new Indian Institutes of Management, five new Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research and 20 new Indian Institutes of Information Technology. To fund them, he’s promised to boost the government’s higher education spending ninefold, to $20 billion annually, during the five-year period that began in 2007. The world is filled with success story where the education have transformed the economic and political demographies of many countries. The direct impact of education on economic benefits has been noticed in many countries. For example, it is observed that each additional year of schooling for men and women increases wages by between 10 to 20 per cent, and farm output by up to 5 per cent. In contrast, a population with a low level of education has little or no capacity to increase productivity. An educated person can make effective use of new technology, engage in entrepreneurial activity, and be responsive to market demands and changes. Apart from the powerful direct economic benefits of basic education, its indirect benefits in changing human attitude and improving human welfare are equally important. The relationship between women’s education level and population growth is dramatic. Women with more education have fewer children than uneducated women. An extra year of schooling reduces female fertility by as much as 5 to 10 per cent. Those children who are born to an educated mother have a much better chance of surviving and being healthy. The rate of child mortality is twice as high for uneducated mothers as compared to mothers with a basic education. The effects of improved education are cumulative over Better-educated mothers have healthier, better-educated children, who themselves as parents are better prepared to nurture and educate their own children. Recently, it has also been noticed that there is significant relation between the level of female education and HIV/ AIDS prevalence. Educated women also tend to participate more actively in political processes, and decision-making within their family and community. A common and universal system of basic education is necessary for democratic society to function properly. To participate with knowledge and understanding in policy issues and decision-making processes requires literacy, knowledge of the world, and the ability to think independently based on evidence. The full impact of education is found where sustained investments in people are accompanied by respect for individual human rights and participation in democratic institutions. Following from the above arguments, you will certainly agree that education is very important for economic prosperity and a decent quality of life. Eradication of the widespread illiteracy from your community is essential. Education, thus, should occupy the topmost importance in our community development programmes and activities. HISTORY OF INDIAN EDUCATION SYSTEM Even in the ancient times education was believed to be very important , The important urban centers of learning like Taxila (in modern day Pakistan) and Nalanda clearly speaks about our belief in education and development . These institutions systematically imparted knowledge and attracted a number of foreign students to study topics such as Buddhist literature, logic, grammar, etc. But even in ancient India education was limited to few sections of society like Brahmins and Kshatriyas . Later when we were not ready to accept flaws in our education system and refused to impart knowledge to all sections, we became prey to those who have realized the importance of education much before us, like Britishers. With the arrival of the British Raj in India the modern European education came to India. British Raj was reluctant to introduce mass education system as it was not their interest and they were very well aware of its implications in development of political and democratic awareness in India. EDUCATING WOMEN AND NATIONS DEVELOPMEN “ Give a girl an education and introduce her properly into the world, and ten to one but she has the means of settling well, without further expense to anybody. ” ― Jane Austen A survey that was conducted in India showed results which support the fact that infant mortality rate was inversely related to female literacy rate and educational level.[80] The survey also suggests a correlation between education and economic growth. Education, particularly of girls and women, helps to control excessive population growth by promoting the concepts of family planning, collective health and well-being. An educated family makes informed choices with respect to having a child as well as for maintaining their own and their children’s health. Thus, in summary, educated families: – Are more empowered and confident – Have fewer children – have fewer of their children die in infancy – have healthier and better educated children – are better equipped to enter the paid labour force, which is particularly important to the survival of female-headed households – Enjoy higher levels of economic productivity. DESTRUCTION OF CIVILAZATION After all how does a nation die? One way is by physical destruction as Europeans who settled in America destroyed whole civilizations there. Another is that people lose faith in their own way of life, their philosophies, their principles, their thought currents etc., and the nation is destroyed. Take for example, the Greek and Roman civilizations. What great civilizations they were! But there came a time when the intelligentsia lost faith in their own way of life, in their own wisdom. They adopted a totally different philosophy in their lives and where are these nations and their civilizations now? In a sense, in the museums civilizations now? In a sense, in the museums and monuments! Compare that with India! The land with the most ancient cultural continuity, the oldest living nation Greece did not physically die. People did not die. People now in Greece, Italy and Persia are the descendants of those who were the originators of those great civilizations. But today if we ask them what are the ideals that sustained their nation they would say,” we do not know, it is in the books; it is in the museum; you may refer to it better there.” That is how a nation is destroyed, rather mummified. Now these countries are nothing more than geographical or political entities trying to evolve a nation out of their statehood. How does a nation get weakened? A nation gets weakened when the ignorance of the people about their own roots increases, or when they become ashamed of themselves or of their forefathers. Actually that is where real regression of a nation starts. A nation which wants to forget about itself and imitate other nations cannot redeem itself but is on the path of self-destruction. The regression is there in our nation at present. And if we truly do not want to weaken ourselves as a nation, we need to extricate our educational system out of its Macaulayian traits, and obtain a fresh and untainted understanding of our ideals; for these have held us together as a nation for nearly ten thousand years. Then put them up for renewed enquiry before the younger generations so that if at all they are imbibed, they are expressed with feelings that become stronger, nobler and grander with t The Rationale for a Positive Education—Economic Growth Relationship. Individuals are willing to take more years of schooling partly because they can earn more and get better jobs, on average, with more schooling. For many, more schooling can also be a source of social mobility. Similarly, nation-states and regions are interested in raising the average level of schooling in their population, in part, because they think that doing so will improve productivity, raise the quality of jobs in the economy, and increase economic growth. The frequent observation that individuals with more education have higher earnings is another indication that education contributes to growth. The education—higher earnings connection reflects a microeconomic approach to the relation between education and economic growth. Greater earnings for the more educated represent higher productivity– hence, an increase in educated labor in the economy is associated with increased economic output and higher growth rates. The direct impact of education on economic benefits has been noticed in many countries. For example, it is observed that each additional year of schooling for men and women increases wages by between 10 to 20 per cent, and farm output by up to 5 per cent. . Recently, it has also been noticed that there is significant relation between the level of female education and HIV/AIDS prevalence. Educated women also tend to participate more actively in political processes, and decision-making within their family and community. A common and universal system of basic education is necessary for democratic society to function properly. To participate with knowledge and understanding in policy issues and decision-making processes requires literacy, knowledge of the world, and the ability to think independently based on evidence. The full impact of education is found where sustained investments in people are accompanied by respect for individual human rights and participation in democratic institutions. Following from the above arguments, you will certainly agree that education is very important for economic prosperity and a decent quality of life. Eradication of the widespread illiteracy from your community is essential. Education, thus, should occupy the topmost importance in your community development programs and activities. Human resource and education In order to achieve the indices associated with development, the human resource of a nation must be developed. This is because, it is the human resource in a nation that would manage the other available resources to achieve national development. It is perhaps in this regard that Harbison and Myers (1964) opined that human resource development is: The process of increasing the knowledge, skills and the capabilities of all the people in society. In economic terms, it could be described as the accumulation of human capital and its effective investment in the development of an economy. In political terms, human resource development prepares people for adult participation in political process, particularly as citizens of democracy. From the social and cultural point of view, the development of human resources helps people to lead fuller and richer lives, less bound by traditions. EXAMPLE OF BRAZIL ’ At the Lumiar Primary Schools in Brazil, for example, the pupils — aged 4 months to 14 years — are probably too young to complete internships in the community, so the schools connect with the outside world in a different way — by inviting ‘ experts’ from the local area to come into the schools to design and deliver courses on topics that are of interest to the students, from piano playing to building models of volcanoes. These so-called ‘ masters’, ranging from local university students to retirees, work on a part-time and temporary basis in the schools in partnership with ‘ tutors’, who provide the students with the more continuous pastoral support. At La Bastille Technical Agricultural College, the school is actually 60% funded by small businesses that the students run themselves, selling products to people in neighboring towns and nearby farms. The very survival of the school is intimately linked with the ecosystem of the local area. And off course these new paradigm’s to education offer great potential for student to get transformed into best possible human resource of country to become drivers of future growth. INTERESTING FACTS Educated people live longer . SEX | HIGH LITERACY COUNYRIES (AVERAGE AGE IN YEARS) | LOW LITERACY COUNTRIES(AVERAGE AGE IN YEARS) | MALE | 68 | 47 | FEMALE | 62 | 44 | Literacy enhances earning capacities INCOME(IN US $) | HIGH LITERACY COUNTRIES | LOW LITERACY COUNTRIES | GROSS PER CAPITA INCOME | 2600 | 50 | | | | These impacts may look simple to you but all of them are convincing and Concrete arguments to support the importance of education. They clearly Demonstrate that a literate environment is an integral part of an individual’s development as well as for the development of the community. Without Educating every member of your community, it will be nearly impossible for you to attain your goal of community development and fulfill the needs and aspirations of its members. EDUCATION AND ECONOMIC GROWTH Development refers to qualitative and structural changes in an economy for the betterment of the social and economic conditions of the people. This requires people to acquire new knowledge, information and skills so that development is faster. Development is not merely growth in the economic sense but is closely related to the notion of quality of life. It should ensure fulfilment of basic needs properly and with dignity. Experience suggests that it is not enough to teach the illiterate, one has also to transform the environment to sustain literacy. Basic education empowers entire nations because educated citizens and workers have the skills to make democratic institutions function effectively, to meet the demands for a more sophisticated workforce, to work for a cleaner environment, and to meet their obligations as parents and citizens. Poverty and illiteracy are closely linked and go together everywhere in the world. Both poverty and illiteracy are part of the complex system of deprivation and discrimination. When literacy programed are linked with schemes aimed at the eradication of poverty, the poor develop a genuine interest in literacy. They are assured of a better life. A large body of research has established a strong correlation between literacy and social development indicators, such as health and nutrition life expectancy and fertility in developing countries. Widespread basic education is also a prerequisite for economic growth. The importance of education for economic growth has been demonstrated more recently by the newly-industrialized countries, such as the Republic of Korea and Singapore. The real stunt in India’s growth story is the education deficit According to a analysis done by economic times India’s declining growth story has been a victim of education deficit. The steady deterioration in India’s economic growth indicators should not surprise anyone. But what is surprising is the complete lack of understanding of most fundamental growth drivers (education) by the political leadership and those entrusted with planning for India’s future, and the magnitude of effort and resources required to provide a growth thrust to the (currently) 1. 25 billion inhabitants of the nation. Beyond the fiscal deficits, lending rates and taxation slabs, India’s future is and would continue to be determined by how the nation grapples with rising deficits in education. With the 21st-century world widely claimed to be a ‘knowledge’ — and, increasingly, ‘technology’ — driven one, a sharp focus on education — primary, secondary, higher and vocational — would have been one of the top priorities of all governments. Yet, the gap in absolute terms has continued to increase since 1951, and has actually increased the most since 1991. India has to think beyond the conventional and look aggressively at technology and mass electronic communication-based solutions that can mitigate the need for physical schools, colleges and universities, and the need for teachers and even trainers. The consequences of not doing so are too dire to even think of. Agricultural development and education Agriculture is the back bone of indian economy, even today it remains largest employer in our country. But in recent times the share of agriculture in G. D. P have gone down rapidly. Therefore there is urgent need to equip our farmers with latest technology and skills in order to rekindle growth in this sector of economy. it is clear that education in agriculture plays an important role in preparing farmers, researchers, educators, extension staff, members of agri-businesses and others to make productive contributions. A critical issue in the 21st century will be the changes and adaptations required in agricultural education in order for it to more effectively contribute to improved food security, sustainable agricultural production and rural development. CONCLUSION So in order to overcome the darkness of various impurities of country, we need the light of education. The same thing is even expressed in bible where god himself says: – “ let there be light and there was light” which means he made his light in our hearts to give us the light of knowledge of the Glory of god. On the same line in order to achieve inclusive growth light of knowledge is the demand of today. Education is the constitutional right bestowed to every children of country despite of this our country have 25% illiterate population. I feel infectiously satisfied when I see numerous indian contributing in development of not only their own country but also to the countries like USA , England and Canada but beneath it run a current of quiet rage : rage at a society that allows children to live beneath bread line. Rage at a society that conveniently ignores the women education,. Rage at a society which still sits like lame duck when it comes to combine the benefit of education and development. QUOTATIONS THOMAS JAFFERSON EDUCATION: ” The objects of this primary eduction determine its character and limits. These objects are To give to every citizen the information he needs for the transaction of his own business; To enable him to calculate for himself, and to express and preserve his ideas, his contracts and accounts, in writing; To improve by reading, his morals and faculties; To understand his duties to his neighbors and country, and to discharge with competence the functions confided to him by either; To know his rights; to exercise with order and justice those he retains; to choose with discretion the fiduciary of those he delegates; and to notice their conduct with diligence, with candor and judgment; And, in general, to observe with intelligence and faithfulness all the social relations under which he shall be placed. To instruct the mass of our citizens in these, their rights, interests and duties, as men and citizens, being then the objects of education in the primary schools, whether privet or public, in them should be taught reading, writing and numerical arithmetic, the elements of mensuration… and the outlines of geography and history.” Education is more than a luxury; it is a responsibility that society owes to itself. Robin Cook Education is a human right with immense power to transform. On its foundation rest the cornerstones of freedom, democracy and sustainable human development. Kofi Annan