Education to Build a Better Future for All

source: www.thisissierraleone.com

Education, according to Oxford Dictionary, is the theory and practice of teaching.  Today, education is one of the topics most often discussed all over the world; it is said that education is responsible for making human civilization the way it is right now and therefore is also the main concern to build a better future for us all. The question now is, how would education improve our quality of living in the future? Is there any of the education principles that needs changing?

In my opinion, the reason of education’s importance is because it is the guidance of what the currently-young people will do in the future; when they will already have the strategist positions to change rules, principles, etc.  If those successor generations study well, they will be able to decide wisely so that the effect of the choice will bring good to everyone. There are several definitions of “well-studied”, it really varies between people, but by considering the way the world is working at the moment, I guess “well-studied” that could bring prosperity for all is not seen from the students’ scores in the report card, or their ranks at school, their ability to solve Math questions, etc. Those things, unfortunately, are the way most people think at this era. At the very least, the way my country’s residents think.

There are three important things that are missing from the current education curriculum, in my opinion; first, schools today don’t teach leadership and entrepreneurship. Second, students are being given only theories, not how the theory could help them in their daily life. Third, the system has made the students focused only on how to get good scores, not on enjoying the beauty of learning. Those things, in my opinion, are the things that define the quality of people.

Leadership. Why is that even an important thing? In order to get success, people need leaders. Good leaders. Not just a good leader for the society, but at the very least, people should be taught how to be a good leader for their own selves. A good self-leader will not be late, throw rubbish anywhere carelessly, or do any other thing that is against the society’s norm. In my opinion, obedience is one of the most important things that could bring society into a better way of living. Before we are able to lead, we need to obey, so that is why leadership needs to be taught at school. Beside, the condition of the world right now demands people to stop being an employee; and instead, begin businesses that could open new employments. The world right now needs entrepreneurs, and to start to be one, people need to have bravery and leadership.

Now, the questions probably have shifted to the way of teaching leadership in school. Do we need to arrange a new subject? In my opinion, it is unnecessary, but to make that shows that the policy makers concern at the problem seriously. The leadership, in my opinion, should be taught in every occasion. This is the solution of my second point; that education needs not only to enlighten students with new knowledge, but also on how to use it to solve daily life problems. The condition should not be applied only for teaching leadership, but also for students to understand each topic in every lesson. This way, the school will not only be preparing great theorists for the future, but also problem solvers.

Innovation is also an important thing for future’s life. In order to innovate, people need to be excited in learning new things first. Now, how would students be excited if what they learn is to be judged by how their scores in tests are? Instead, the joy of learning would be replaced by the fear of being false. In fact, being false is what the scientists had faced before their invention changed the world. That’s not only the problem showing up; when students fear scores too much, they could choose wrong paths to be good, like cheating, etc. That kind of attitude is what would make students become a problem in the future; cheating, in my opinion, is how corruptors learn to do wrong, and corruptors is a really major problem right now.

There are three important things that education right now needs to change; teaching leadership, solving daily life problems and that learning is a joy and what enlightens people. With those things, there is no doubt that education will be able to build a better future for all.